Stockham Nebraska

Village · Hamilton County · Population 32 (2020 census) · ZIP 68818 · Founded 1887 · Peak population 239 (1920)

About Stockham

Stockham is a village of 32 people (2020) in southeastern Hamilton County, at 1,703 feet about 11 miles south-southeast of Aurora, near the forks of the Blue River. It has no post office and uses Aurora’s ZIP code, 68818. The village holds a community barbecue each August. Stockham is on Central Time.

History

Joseph and Susan Stockham homesteaded on the Blue River in 1870, near the county’s first settlement, and Joseph kept the post office that carried his name; Stockham Mills followed in 1877. When the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad built from Fremont to Hastings in 1887, it bought 320 acres from Stockham, and a new town was platted from August 1, 1887, about half a mile south; the businesses moved to the tracks. Stockham incorporated in September 1888 and peaked at 239 people in 1920, with banks, elevators and hotels. The banks closed in the Depression, the railroad left in 1941–42, and the high school ended in 1949. Orville City, the first county seat (1870–76), stood about 2 miles west and a mile north of old Stockham; its site later became the county poor farm.