Broadwater Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Morrill County · Population 95 (2020 census) · ZIP 69125 · Founded 1909 · Peak population 368 (1930)

About Broadwater

Broadwater is a village of 95 people (2020) in eastern Morrill County, at about 3,586 feet less than a mile north of the North Platte. US 26 runs through the village, 15 road miles southeast of Bridgeport and 30 northwest of Oshkosh, and NE 92 rejoins it here after following the south side of the valley from Bridgeport. Broadwater has a post office, a public library and a Lutheran church, and holds Broadwater Days each June; schools, the hospital and county offices are in Bridgeport. Broadwater is on Mountain Time.

History

Broadwater began in 1909 when the railroad was extended up the north side of the valley; Fitzpatrick’s 1925 place-names book says a Union Pacific president named it for a friend, General Broadwater. The Broadwater News ran from 1911 to 1958, and the village reached 368 people in 1930. Nearby, Mormon pioneers climbed the Ancient Bluff Ruins on May 23, 1847, and on the south side of the river at the mouth of Rush Creek, about 4 miles southeast, soldiers fought Cheyenne, Lakota and Arapaho warriors in the Battle of Rush Creek in February 1865, days after the fight at Mud Springs; the battlefield was listed on the National Register in 2011.

Highways and trails through Broadwater

Route	One way	Other way
US 26Through the village	Southeast to Lisco and Oshkosh	Northwest to Bridgeport
NE 92Rejoins US 26 here	East with US 26	West on the south side of the valley to Bridgeport

Nearby towns

Bridgeport	about 13 mi west-northwest	US 26
Northport	about 13 mi west-northwest	US 26
Lisco	about 14 mi east-southeast	US 26
Dalton	about 14 mi south-southwest	NE 92 and US 385
Gurley	about 20 mi south-southwest	NE 92 and US 385
Angora	about 22 mi northwest	US 26 and US 385
Bayard	about 27 mi west-northwest	US 26
Oshkosh	about 29 mi east-southeast	US 26
Sidney	about 33 mi south	NE 92 and US 385
Alliance	about 35 mi north	US 385

Things to see

the Ancient Bluff Ruins, bluffs climbed by Mormon pioneers in 1847 · the Rush Creek Battlefield (1865), about 4 miles southeast · Mud Springs Station, about 10 miles southwest

Schools and health care

Schools: No school in the village; Bridgeport Public Schools, about 15 mi

Health care: Nearest hospital: Morrill County Community Hospital, 1313 S St., Bridgeport, (308) 262-1616, about 15 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Morrill County (morrillcountyne.gov); City of Bridgeport; City of Bayard; Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names (1925); NEGenWeb Morrill County; National Register nominations; History Nebraska; NPS; HMdb; Nebraska Game and Parks; NDOT; Nebraska DHHS; NE211; UNL Extension; westnebraska.com; Bridgeport News-Blade; Alliance Times. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.