St. Paul Nebraska

City · Howard County · County seat · Population 2,416 (2020 census) · ZIP 68873 · Founded 1871 · Peak population 2,416 (2020)

About St. Paul

St. Paul is a city of 2,416 people (2020), its largest census count yet, and the seat of Howard County, at about 1,811 feet in the Loup valley; the North Loup and Middle Loup rivers meet about 5 miles northeast to form the Loup. US 281 and NE 92 run together through town, US 281 reaching Grand Island about 21 miles south-southeast and NE 92 running west to Loup City and east to Central City. St. Paul has Howard County Medical Center (a 10-bed critical access hospital and clinic), St. Paul Public Schools, the National Register courthouse, a waterpark, a country club, two museums of local history and the weekly Phonograph-Herald. St. Paul is on Central Time.

History

Surveyor James N. Paul saw the site in 1870 while hunting with Maj. Frank North, and with his brother Nicholas J. Paul he organized a colony that arrived on March 31, 1871; a committee first drew "Athens" from a hat, but Nebraska already had an Athens, so Sen. Phineas W. Hitchcock suggested St. Paul, for the brothers. The town was named the temporary county seat in May 1871 and won it outright over Dannebrog in an 1874 election, 226 to 208. The Union Pacific branch from Grand Island arrived in 1880, the Burlington later in the decade, and St. Paul incorporated as a village in April 1881. Danish, Polish and Czech settlers filled the surrounding country. Frank Iams made St. Paul the nation's biggest importer of European draft horses, a local mill made the region's first self-rising flour, and Dorothy Lynch dressing was first made at the Legion Club here. Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, born near Elba in 1887, made St. Paul his home and died here in 1950; Lt. Gen. Clarence S. Irvine, the Army Air Corps gunnery champion who flew in the film Wings and later ran the B-29 program, was born here in 1898. The courthouse opened in November 1914.

Things to see

the Museum of Nebraska Major League Baseball, 619 Howard Ave.: Nebraska's big-leaguers from Alexander and Sam Crawford to Richie Ashburn and Bob Gibson; weekdays, (308) 754-5558 · the Grover Cleveland Alexander marker in the city park and Alexander's image on the water tower · the Howard County Historical Village and Gruber House, 1005 Indian St.: a depot, church, schools and shops moved from around the county; summer weekends · Tubby's Firehouse Museum, 726 Howard Ave., in the 1906 city hall and firehouse; by appointment · the 1914 Howard County Courthouse (National Register), 612 Indian St. · North Loup State Recreation Area, 4 miles north on US 281 · Loup River Distilling and Miletta Vista Winery · GCA Days the weekend after the Fourth of July and the Howard County Fair in mid-July