Hayes Center Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Hayes County · County seat · Population 224 (2020 census) · ZIP 69032 · Founded 1885 · Peak population 361 (1950)

About Hayes Center

Hayes Center is a village of 224 people (2020) and the seat of Hayes County, at 3,058 feet near the geographic center of the county. NE 25 runs through town, north to Wallace and I-80 and south to US 6 and Trenton; NE 25A branches off south of town to Palisade. Hayes Center has the county courthouse, Hayes Center Public Schools, a public library and the county fair each July. No railroad ever reached the village. Hayes Center is on Central Time.

History

County-seat promoters laid out Hayes Center in 1885 near the center of the county and claimed a hundred residents; the Hayes Centre News began on April 9, 1885. A county-seat election that January among Hayes Center, Estelle and LaForest gave no town a majority, and Hayes Center won the April runoff against Estelle, which is now a ghost town. The county’s first offices were two rented rooms. The railroad never came: freight was hauled by wagon from Culbertson, then Beverly, and after 1891 from Palisade. A courthouse burned in 1891, a brick one followed in 1904–06, and the present courthouse was built in 1954–55. The village peaked at 361 people in 1950. In April 2021 the village board passed an ordinance banning abortion within the village, the first of its kind in Nebraska; Blue Hill passed one a week later.

Highways and trails through Hayes Center

Route	One way	Other way
NE 25Through the village	North to Wallace and I-80 at Sutherland	South to US 6 and Trenton
NE 25AA 6-mile spur from NE 25 south of town	South to Palisade and US 6

Nearby towns

Palisade	about 12 mi south-southwest	NE 25 and NE 25A
Hamlet	about 14 mi southwest	NE 25, US 6 and Spur 43A
Wauneta	about 19 mi west-southwest	NE 25 and US 6
Culbertson	about 22 mi south-southeast	NE 25 and US 6
Trenton	about 23 mi south	NE 25
Wallace	about 24 mi north-northwest	NE 25
McCook	about 30 mi southeast	NE 25 and US 6
Imperial	about 33 mi west	NE 25 and US 6

Things to see

the Grand Duke Alexis Buffalo Hunt marker, 4 miles east and 4 miles north of town · Hayes Center Wildlife Management Area (Camp Hayes), about 7 miles northeast · the Hayes County Historical Society, 73393 Highway 25 · the Hayes County Veterans Memorial at Hayes Center Cemetery on NE 25 · St. John’s “White Church”, about 10 miles east-northeast

Events in Hayes Center

Hayes County Fair
The Hayes County Fair is held annually in Hayes Center, Nebraska. This small-town community event features 4-H livestock and project exhibits, open class competition…

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools

Schools: Hayes Center Public Schools, 501 Troth St., (308) 286-5600: Hayes Center Elementary (PK–6), 318 Daniels Ave., and Hayes Center Secondary (7–12), 501 Troth St.

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Hayes County (hayescounty.ne.gov); History Nebraska (Grand Duke Alexis marker); NEGenWeb Hayes County (Hayes County Heritage Book, 1877-1977); Library of Congress; National Register; Nebraska Game and Parks; Nebraska Extension (Hayes County Fair); HMdb; courthouses.co; SchoolDigger. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.