Tryon Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Unincorporated county seat (CDP) · McPherson County · County seat · Population 107 (2020 census) · ZIP 69167 · Founded 1890

About Tryon

Tryon is an unincorporated community and census-designated place of 107 people (2020), the seat of McPherson County, which has no incorporated towns at all; it is one of only two unincorporated county seats in Nebraska. NE 92 and NE 97 run together for about 4½ miles through town: NE 97 leads north to Mullen and south to US 83 just north of North Platte (about 35 road miles), and NE 92 leads east to Stapleton and west to Arthur. Tryon has the county courthouse, McPherson County Schools, the county’s only post office; there is no clinic, bank or lodging confirmed in town. No railroad ever reached the county. Tryon is on Central Time; Arthur and Keith counties to the west are on Mountain Time.

History

When McPherson County was organized in 1890, the first officers met at D. P. Wilcox’s home, and a sod courthouse, built by sod-wall expert John Godfrey with a brick vault inside, was put up at the new seat; it also served as the clerk’s home, church, dance hall and inn. The place was often called McPherson, after a post office about 4 miles north, until the name Tryon was adopted in 1892–93; the McPherson post office moved into Tryon in 1894. The favorite local story is that Mrs. Jay Smith (or Judge William Neville of North Platte) told settlers to “keep on trying”; others link the name to colonial governor William Tryon. In 1895 Tryon was still only the courthouse and one home, but the Kinkaid Act of 1904 filled the county, and by 1910 Tryon had stores, liveries, a pool hall, a café and the Tryon State Bank. Glenn Miller’s family homesteaded in a sod house near Tryon from 1907. A two-story brick courthouse of 1925–26, on the National Register from 1990, was wrecked by a storm in the early 2000s and replaced in 2005–06. The county stayed dry until 2004.

Highways and trails through Tryon

Route	One way	Other way
NE 92Through town, with NE 97	West to Arthur	East past Ringgold to Stapleton
NE 97Through town, with NE 92	North to Mullen	South to US 83 and North Platte

Nearby towns

Ringgold	about 10 mi east-southeast	NE 92
Flats	about 20 mi west	County roads
Stapleton	about 24 mi east-southeast	NE 92
Gandy	about 27 mi east-southeast	NE 92
Hershey	about 27 mi south	NE 97 and US 30
Sutherland	about 29 mi south-southwest	NE 97 and US 30
North Platte	about 31 mi south-southeast	NE 97 and US 83
Mullen	about 34 mi north	NE 97
Thedford	about 36 mi northeast	NE 97 and NE 2
Paxton	about 36 mi southwest	County roads and I-80
Arthur	about 38 mi west	NE 92
Ogallala	about 49 mi southwest	NE 92 and US 26
Hyannis	about 51 mi northwest	NE 97 and NE 2

Things to see

the McPherson County Courthouse, 500 Anderson St. · the McPherson County Historical Society (a historic bank, a sod house and pioneer artifacts; by appointment) · the drive on NE 97 between North Platte and Mullen across the Sandhills · the McPherson County Fair in summer

Events in Tryon

McPherson County Fair
The McPherson County Fair is an annual summer event held in Tryon, Nebraska -- the county seat of one of the least-populated counties in the United States.

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: McPherson County Schools, 525 Hwy 92, (308) 587-2262: Tryon Elementary (PK–6), 625 Anderson St., and McPherson County Secondary School (7–12), 525 Hwy 92

Health care: No clinic in the county; nearest hospital: Great Plains Health, 601 W. Leota St., North Platte, (308) 568-8000, about 31 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; McPherson County (mcphersoncounty.ne.gov); NEGenWeb McPherson County (county history; Jim McKee, "Tryon"; post offices from the 1986 county history; 1990 historic buildings survey; 1890–91 gazetteer); Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names (1925); 1926 Nebraska Blue Book; Courthouses.co; Nebraska DMV; Nebraska 211; Nebraska Judicial Branch; SchoolDigger; NCES; Nebraska Extension; Library of Congress; VisitNebraska; Glenn Miller Birthplace Society; Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.