Mullen Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Hooker County · County seat · Population 500 (2020 census) · ZIP 69152 · Founded 1888 · Peak population 811 (1960)

About Mullen

Mullen is a village of 500 people (2020), the seat of Hooker County and its only incorporated town, at about 3,209 feet in the Sandhills. NE 2, the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway, runs east–west through town beside the BNSF main line, toward Thedford and Broken Bow on the east and Whitman, Hyannis and Alliance on the west; NE 97 runs north to Valentine and south to Tryon and North Platte. Mullen has the county courthouse and library, Mullen Public Schools, a medical clinic, a nursing home, a bank, a motel, a nine-hole golf course and the Hooker County Historical Museum. The Middle Loup River flows just north of town and the Dismal River crosses the south of the county. Mullen is on Mountain Time; Thomas County, to the east, is on Central Time.

History

The Burlington’s Grand Island & Wyoming Central built through in 1887 and put in a siding, with a boxcar for a depot; it was named for a Burlington railroad man, a contractor on the line by most accounts (Wikipedia names Charles D. Mullen of Lincoln, chief clerk to the division superintendent). Amos and Mary Gandy and George and Mary Trefren platted the town on May 7, 1888, with a block set aside for a courthouse, and when Hooker County was created on March 29, 1889, Mullen became the seat; a small frame courthouse followed that year. The village incorporated in 1906–07. The present brick courthouse, designed by Oscar R. Kirschke, was finished in 1912 and is on the National Register. Kinkaid Act homesteaders filled the county after 1904, and Mullen grew to 811 people by 1960. The Hooker County Tribune has been published here since 1895. PBR world champion and country singer Justin McBride and Super Bowl XXXVII safety John Howell are among the people associated with Mullen.

Highways and trails through Mullen

Route	One way	Other way
NE 2Through town, the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway	East to Seneca, Thedford and Broken Bow	West to Whitman, Hyannis and Alliance
NE 97Crosses NE 2 here	North to Valentine	South to Tryon and North Platte

Nearby towns

Seneca	about 11 mi east	NE 2
Thedford	about 25 mi east	NE 2
Whitman	about 25 mi west	NE 2
Brownlee	about 27 mi northeast	NE 97 and county roads
Tryon	about 34 mi south	NE 97
Hyannis	about 37 mi west	NE 2
Halsey	about 41 mi east-southeast	NE 2
Ashby	about 45 mi west	NE 2
Arthur	about 47 mi southwest	NE 97 and NE 92
Stapleton	about 48 mi southeast	NE 97 and NE 92
Valentine	about 63 mi north-northeast	NE 97

Things to see

the 1912 Hooker County Courthouse (National Register) and History Nebraska marker No. 471 on its grounds · the Hooker County Historical Museum, 114 NW 1st St., in the 1917 Commercial Hotel (special events or by appointment) · canoe, kayak and stock-tank floats on the Middle Loup and Dismal rivers from Glidden Canoe Rental, and the Polar Bear Tank Race on the Middle Loup the first weekend of March · Mullen Golf Club, a 1938 nine-hole public course · Sand Hills Golf Club (Coore & Crenshaw, 1994–95) and the Dismal River Club, both private and among the most celebrated courses in the country · the site of Hecla, marker No. 472, about 10 miles west on NE 2 · the Hooker County Fair in summer

Events in Mullen

Hooker County Fair
The Hooker County Fair is held annually in Mullen, Nebraska, the county seat in the heart of the Nebraska Sandhills.
Polar Bear Tank Race
Polar Bear Tank Race is held in Mullen, Nebraska, on the first or second weekend of March.

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: Mullen Public Schools (Broncos), 404 N. Blaine, (308) 546-2223: Mullen Elementary (PK–5), 106 NE 2nd St., (308) 546-2292, and Mullen Middle and High School (6–12), 404 N. Blaine

Health care: Sandhills Family Medicine clinic and Pioneer Memorial nursing home in Mullen; nearest hospitals in Broken Bow, Valentine and North Platte

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Hooker County (hookercountyne.gov); Village of Mullen; Hooker County Historical Society archive; NEGenWeb Hooker County; WPA Nebraska guide (1940); Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names (1925); 1890 Nebraska State Gazetteer; National Register nomination (Hooker County Courthouse); History Nebraska markers 471 and 472; SchoolDigger; NCES; Golf Digest; GOLF; LINKS; VisitNebraska; Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.