Reynolds Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Reynolds Area Cameras

Village · Jefferson County · Population 57 (2020 census) · ZIP 68429 · Founded 1881 · Peak population 271 (1890)

About Reynolds

Reynolds is a village of 57 in southwestern Jefferson County on NE 8, about 10 miles southwest of Fairbury and 4 miles north of the Kansas line. Buckley Creek Recreation Area is about 1½ miles east.

History

Rose Creek, also called Marks' Mill, grew up around the county's first mill, built in 1863 by Elder Ives Marks, with a school and a United Brethren church. In 1881 the Republican Valley branch of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad passed about 1½ miles north, Reynolds was laid out on the line, and Rose Creek emptied. The name honors the father of a Mr. Reynolds, a contractor for the railroad.

In 1887 Reynolds was called second only to Fairbury in size and trade, with a roller mill on Rose Creek, stone quarries, Methodist and Baptist churches and a two-story school; the census peak was 271 in 1890. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Eddie Hickey (1902–1980) and Duane G. Hunt, Catholic bishop of Salt Lake City from 1937 to 1960, were born here.

Highways and trails through Reynolds

Route	One way	Other way
NE 8Through the village	Northeast to Fairbury (about 10 mi)	Southwest to Hubbell

Nearby towns

Gladstone	about 7 mi north-northeast	County roads
Gilead	about 7 mi northwest	County roads
Hubbell	about 9 mi west-southwest	NE 8
Fairbury	about 10 mi northeast	NE 8
Endicott	about 13 mi east	NE 8 and county roads

Things to see

Buckley Creek Recreation Area (Little Blue NRD): 78 acres with a 20-acre lake, a nine-hole sand-green golf course and campsites · Rose Creek Cemetery · Helvey Cemetery · the Sixth Principal Meridian initial point, about 4 mi south-southwest on the Kansas line (National Register)

Health care

No clinic in Reynolds; nearest hospital: Jefferson Community Health & Life, 2200 H St., Fairbury (the county hospital, with a 24-hour emergency room; called Fairbury Hospital until 2017)

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890–91); Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names; History Nebraska and its historical markers; National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Game and Parks; Little Blue and Lower Big Blue NRDs; Nebraska Department of Transportation; NEGenWeb Jefferson County; Visit Oregon Trail (Jefferson County tourism); city, village, school, museum and hospital websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.