Knox County, Nebraska

Knox County is in far northeastern Nebraska, where the Niobrara River joins the Missouri. The Missouri forms its northern border with South Dakota, and Gavins Point Dam backs the river up into Lewis and Clark Lake along its northeast edge. Inland it is rolling farmland cut by Bazile Creek and Verdigre Creek. The county covers about 1,140 square miles and had 8,391 people in 2020.

The county seat is Center, a village of about 75 built in 1901 near the middle of the county. Creighton is the largest city and has the county's only hospital; Bloomfield hosts the Knox County Fair; Crofton is the gateway to Lewis and Clark Lake; Niobrara sits at the confluence beside Niobrara State Park; Verdigre is Czech and Wausa Swedish; and Santee is the main village of the Santee Sioux Reservation.

All of the county's highways are state routes: NE 12 crosses the north end from Verdel through Niobrara to Crofton; NE 14 runs north from US 20 through Verdigre to Niobrara and the Chief Standing Bear bridge; NE 84 runs east from Verdigre through Center and Bloomfield; NE 13 and NE 59 meet at Creighton; and NE 121 serves Wausa and Crofton. US 20 runs just south of the county line.

Towns of Knox County

Cities and villages

Center

Village · County seat · Pop. 73 · ZIP 68724
NE 84 · NE 13

The county seat, on NE 84 where NE 13 ends, built in 1901 on two cornfields near the middle of the county. Home of the 1934 Knox County Courthouse, on the National Register. No traveler services.

Bloomfield

City · Pop. 986 · ZIP 68718
NE 84

City on NE 84 in eastern Knox County, founded in 1890 and settled by many German families. Home of the Knox County Fair each August, with a K-12 school, clinic, pharmacy, motel and a city-park campground.

Creighton

City · Pop. 1,147 · ZIP 68729
NE 13 · NE 59

The largest city in Knox County, where NE 13 meets NE 59. Settled in 1871 by an Omaha colony. Avera Creighton Hospital (the county's only hospital), schools, motel, groceries, a museum and BerryPepper Days each June.

Crofton

City · Pop. 756 · ZIP 68730
NE 12 · NE 121

City on NE 12 at the start of NE 121, the gateway to Lewis and Clark Lake and Gavins Point Dam about 10 miles north. Clinic, schools, the Historic Argo Hotel, golf, and campgrounds and cabins at the lake.

Niobrara

Village · Pop. 365 · ZIP 68760
NE 12 · NE 14

Village where the Niobrara meets the Missouri, founded in 1856 and moved twice, in 1881 and the 1970s. Niobrara State Park, the Ponca Tribal Museum, the Chief Standing Bear bridge to South Dakota and the Ponca powwow each August.

Verdigre

Village · Pop. 554 · ZIP 68783
NE 14 · NE 84

Czech village on Verdigre Creek where NE 14 meets NE 84, platted in 1887 and called the Kolach Capital of the World. Kolach Days each June, the 1903 Z.C.B.J. Opera House, a clinic, school, bakery and a campground at Wildwood Acres.

Wausa

Village · Pop. 592 · ZIP 68786
NE 121 · NE 59

Swedish village on NE 121 in southeastern Knox County, first called Thorson, then Vasa. A Dala horse greets visitors; the Swedish Smorgasbord each October has run for more than 75 years. School, clinic, groceries and golf.

Winnetoon

Village · Pop. 54 · ZIP 68789
Spur 54B to NE 59

Village at the end of Spur 54B, 3 miles north of NE 59 and about 6 miles from Creighton. Its 1907 jail and old school are on the National Register, and the Winnetoon BBQ fills Main Street each August.

Santee

Village · Pop. 424 · ZIP 68760
Spur 54D to NE 12

Main village of the Santee Sioux Reservation, on Lewis and Clark Lake at the end of Spur 54D. The Isanti Dakota came here in 1866; their 1870s churches are on the National Register. School, health center, casino resort and river access.

Verdel

Village · Pop. 38 · ZIP 68760
NE 12

Village on NE 12 near the mouth of Ponca Creek, about 10 miles west of Niobrara. A 1902 railroad town; Verdel Landing on the Missouri has a boat ramp and primitive camping.

Bazile Mills

Village · Pop. 24 · ZIP 68729
County road, 3 mi north of Creighton

Village on Bazile Creek about 3 miles north of Creighton, named for its 1870s water mill. The railroad passed it by; the 1888 hotel (now a home) and the Christ Lutheran steeple remain.

Lindy

Unincorporated · Pop. 13
NE 12

Small community on NE 12 between Niobrara and Crofton, on the Santee Sioux Reservation. Surveyed in 1928 and named for Charles Lindbergh. A Lewis and Clark campsite marker is nearby.

Former towns and post office communities

Pishelville

Former post office · 1874–1927
County roads, about 9 mi southwest of Niobrara

Czech settlement in northwestern Knox County, named for Bavarian-born Anton Pischel. Its 1884 Rad Sladkovsky lodge hall is on the National Register.

Venus

Former post office · 1880–1959
County roads, about 8 mi north of Orchard

Former post office (1880–1959) in southwestern Knox County near the head of Verdigre Creek, named for the Roman goddess. Its store ran a century, 1879–1979.

Mars

Former post office · 1886–1910
County roads, just north of the Antelope County line

Ghost town just north of the Antelope County line. Jessup residents moved their post office into Knox County in 1886 and named it Mars, to go with nearby Venus.

Knox County Cameras

See road conditions and live cameras for Knox County and the highways around it.

Knox County Cameras →

Travel Corridors

Nebraska Highway 12 (Outlaw Trail Scenic Byway) — east–west across the north of the county through Verdel, Niobrara and Lindy to Crofton, with Spur 54D to Santee. NE 12 Corridor →

Nebraska Highway 14 — north–south from US 20 in Antelope County through Verdigre to Niobrara and the Chief Standing Bear Memorial Bridge into South Dakota. NE 14 Corridor →

Nebraska Highway 84 — east–west from Verdigre through Center and Bloomfield toward Hartington. NE 84 Corridor →

NE 13, NE 59 and NE 121 — NE 13 runs north from US 20 through Creighton to Center; NE 59 runs east–west through Creighton toward Wausa; NE 121 runs through Wausa and, in a separate section, from Crofton past Gavins Point Dam to US 81.

Knox County Business Directory

Find restaurants, lodging, health care and local businesses across Knox County.

Businesses within 20 miles of: Creighton · Bloomfield · Crofton · Niobrara · Verdigre · Wausa

All listings →

Region & Adjacent Counties

Region: Northeast Nebraska (Lewis & Clark)

Adjacent Counties:
Cedar County (east) · Pierce County (southeast) · Antelope County (south) · Holt County (west) · Boyd County (northwest)

Knox County also borders South Dakota: Bon Homme County (north), Yankton County (northeast), Charles Mix County (northwest).

KNOX COUNTY WEATHER

County Seat: Center
Founded: Created as L’Eau Qui Court, February 10, 1857; renamed Knox on April 1, 1873
Named For: Major General Henry Knox, first United States Secretary of War
License Plate Prefix: 12
Population: 8,391 (2020 census)
Area: 1,139 sq mi

History

Knox County was created in 1857 as L’Eau qui Court County — French for “running water”, the old name for the Niobrara — and renamed in 1873 for General Henry Knox, the first United States Secretary of War. Niobrara, at the mouth of the river, is one of the oldest settlements in Nebraska, and the town has been moved twice because of flooding, most recently in the 1970s when the rising bed of Lewis and Clark Lake forced it uphill.

The county seat is Center, and its name is its explanation: Niobrara, on the river at the north edge of the county, was the seat from 1857; in 1900 voters chose a site near the middle of the county, and the courthouse moved to the new town in 1902. Czech and Bohemian settlers gave Verdigre its lasting character, and the Santee Sioux Reservation lies along the Missouri in the north of the county.

The Ponca homeland lay in what is now Knox County, along Ponca Creek and the Missouri. In 1877 the tribe was forced south to Indian Territory; the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska has its headquarters at Niobrara today. See the Ponca Trail of Tears.

Geography

Knox County covers about 1,140 square miles along the Missouri River in the far northeast of the state. The Missouri forms the northern boundary with South Dakota, and the Niobrara enters it here at one of the last free-flowing, unchanneled reaches of the river. Gavins Point Dam backs the water up into Lewis and Clark Lake, Nebraska’s second-largest reservoir. Inland it is rolling farmland cut by Bazile Creek and Verdigre Creek. It borders Boyd County to the northwest, Holt County to the west, Antelope County to the south, Pierce County to the southeast and Cedar County to the east, with South Dakota across the Missouri.

Outdoors — Camping, RV, Hunting & Fishing

Knox County is the strongest water-recreation county in northeast Nebraska, with two state areas and a long Missouri River frontage.

Camping and RV

Niobrara State Park — 89261 522 Avenue, Niobrara. 1,236 acres above the Niobrara-Missouri confluence. Electric Plus sites plus about thirty basic non-electric, and equestrian camping on 120 acres of free range with a corral. Reported at 30- and 50-amp with a maximum rig length of 55 feet. Dump and fill station on site. Water is from scattered faucets — there are no individual water hookups, so bring a long hose. Modern restrooms and coin-operated showers, closed roughly mid-October to April. Nineteen cabins. Swimming pool mid-June to mid-August.

Lewis and Clark State Recreation Area — 54731 897 Road, Crofton. Nebraska’s second-largest reservoir, fifteen miles long. Five areas — Weigand, Burbach, Miller Creek, Bloomfield and South Shore — with over 150 electric sites and more than 100 basic, in every category from full hookup to equestrian, at 30 and 50 amp. Ten modern two-bedroom cabins. The dump station is in the Burbach area: if you are camped at Miller Creek, Bloomfield or South Shore you will drive to it. Modern facilities run April to October.

Weigand Marina is closed through 2026 for a multi-year upgrade, though the store remains open — do not count on renting a slip. The Bloomfield area has had tree-removal work in the fall.

Verdel River Access, a National Park Service site on the Missouri, has a boat ramp, accessible restroom, potable water and primitive camping, free. Bloomfield, Creighton, Wausa, Verdel, Niobrara, Verdigre and Santee all have municipal or private campgrounds; the county publishes names and numbers but not hookup detail, so call ahead.

One to know: Nebraska Tailwaters Campground, below Gavins Point Dam, is in Cedar County, not Knox, despite Crofton addressing.

Fishing

Lewis and Clark Lake holds walleye, sauger, largemouth and smallmouth bass, bluegill, crappie, catfish and white bass. Four boat ramps in the Weigand area; jetties give bank access; one fish-cleaning station. No-wake in the spillway portion and the Gavins Point tailrace. The lake and the Missouri are border water with South Dakota — confirm current reciprocity with both states before fishing from a boat.

The lower Niobrara at Niobrara State Park gives walleye, sauger, smallmouth bass, catfish and northern pike. A park entry permit is required at both state areas, on top of a fishing permit — including just to launch. Bazile Creek WMA and Verdel need no entry permit.

Hunting

Bazile Creek WMA is the big one, roughly four miles east of Niobrara where Bazile Creek meets the Missouri — riparian and grassland, deer, pheasant, turkey and waterfowl, with a boat ramp off 528 Avenue. Published acreage varies widely between sources; check the Public Access Atlas.

Unusually for a state recreation area, Lewis and Clark is open to hunting from the Tuesday after Labor Day — upland, big game and waterfowl — but special regulations apply in the Weigand and Burbach areas, so read the posted signs.

Trails and the byway

Niobrara State Park has fourteen miles of hiking, equestrian and biking trail including a two-mile hike-bike route. Lewis and Clark has four and a half miles from the South Shore area, plus disc golf at Weigand-Burbach.

The Outlaw Trail Scenic Byway — which is Nebraska Highway 12, not US-20 — runs 231 miles from South Sioux City to Valentine, crossing the county between Niobrara and Crofton.

Events

Events in Knox County

  • Annual Ponca Tribe of Nebraska Powwow (Niobrara)
    In 1994, the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska held its first annual Powwow after the Tribe’s federal reinstatement in 1990. The Tribe hosted its 25th Annual Powwow on August…
  • Creighton BerryPepper Days (Creighton)
    Creighton's annual summer festival, held the third full weekend in June. Features the town's signature BerryPepper frozen treat, along with a parade, road rally, dan…
  • Isanti Dakota Traditional Wacipi 2026 (Santee)
    Annual traditional powwow (wacipi) hosted by the Santee Sioux Nation. June 26–28, 2026.
  • Knox County Fair (Bloomfield)
    Knox County Fair is an annual county fair held in Bloomfield, Nebraska at the Knox County Fairgrounds, typically in mid-August.
  • Kolach Days (Verdigre)
    Annual Czech heritage festival in Verdigre, Knox County.
  • SantaLand  (Creighton)
    SantaLand is a holiday light display located within Bruce Park in Creighton. Visitors can drive thr
  • Winnetoon BBQ (Winnetoon)
    2026 Event — 10th Annual. Saturday, August 1, 2026, 5 p. m. at Main Street by Elaine's Tavern, Winnetoon, Nebraska (Knox County).

Know of another event in the county? Tell us about it.

Knox County at a Glance

Knox County, Nebraska — about 1,140 square miles along the Missouri River in the far northeast, where the Niobrara joins one of the last free-flowing reaches of the Missouri. County seat Center, so named because it was built near the middle of the county in 1901. 541 listings across 15 towns.

Getting there: NE-12, the Outlaw Trail Scenic Byway, runs the length of the county through Niobrara and Crofton; NE-13 and NE-14 cross north to south; US-20 lies just south.

For visitors: Lewis and Clark State Recreation Area, Nebraska’s second-largest reservoir, with over 250 campsites and ten cabins; Niobrara State Park above the confluence, with nineteen cabins and fourteen miles of trail; Verdigre’s Czech heritage; and the Santee Sioux Reservation along the Missouri.

Knox County · Northeast Nebraska · County Cameras

Vehicles registered in Knox County carry license plate number 12. See what every Nebraska county number means.

Knox County Businesses & Places

541 listings in Knox County.

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