Fullerton Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

City · Nance County · County seat · Population 1,244 (2020 census) · ZIP 68638 · Founded 1879 · Peak population 1,707 (1940)

About Fullerton

Fullerton is a city of 1,244 people (2020) and the seat of Nance County, at about 1,654 feet where the Cedar River joins the Loup. NE 14 and NE 22 meet in town and run together for about a mile and a half north; NE 14 continues north to Albion and south to Central City, and NE 22 runs east along the Loup to Genoa. Fullerton has the county courthouse, Fullerton Public Schools, two medical clinics, a care center, a library, a pool, a 9-hole golf course and the county fairgrounds. The nearest hospitals are in Central City, Genoa and Albion, about 18 to 22 miles away. Fullerton is on Central Time.

History

This was Pawnee Reservation land until the tribe was removed in 1874–75. When the reservation went on sale at Central City in 1878, cattleman Randall Fuller, who had driven a herd here from Minnesota in 1876, bought two sections and laid out a town with a 100-foot-wide Broadway; the plat was recorded on November 8, 1879, and the post office opened that August. Fuller deeded 60 acres to the new county, and Fullerton has been the county seat since 1879, after a disputed election with Genoa. The town incorporated on March 1, 1881, the year Nebraska Wesleyan University moved here from Osceola before going on to Lincoln. The Union Pacific branch arrived in the early 1880s. From 1898 to about 1930 the Fullerton Chautauqua, said to be the largest in Nebraska, drew speakers such as William Jennings Bryan and Billy Sunday to the Buffalo Leap grounds on the Cedar River, which became a Baptist camp in 1942 and is now Broken Arrow Wilderness. Fullerton reached 1,707 people in 1940. The present courthouse was built in 1973–74.

Highways and trails through Fullerton

Route	One way	Other way
NE 14North–south through town	North to Albion	South to Central City and I-80
NE 22With NE 14 for about 1.6 miles north of town	East along the Loup to Genoa and Columbus	West toward Greeley County
NE 52Begins at NE 14 about 7 miles north	North through Belgrade to Cedar Rapids	Ends at NE 14

Nearby towns

Merchiston	about 5 mi east-northeast	NE 22
Belgrade	about 9 mi northwest	NE 14 and NE 52
Clarks	about 12 mi southeast	County roads
Genoa	about 14 mi east-northeast	NE 22
St. Edward	about 15 mi north-northeast	NE 14 and NE 39
Cedar Rapids	about 16 mi northwest	NE 52
Silver Creek	about 16 mi east-southeast	NE 22 and NE 39
Central City	about 17 mi south	NE 14
Palmer	about 18 mi west-southwest	County roads
Albion	about 22 mi north	NE 14
Columbus	about 32 mi east	NE 22

Things to see

the Nance County Historical Society Museum, 501 Broadway, in the 1900 Evangelical United Brethren Church (National Register), with a one-room school · Broken Arrow Wilderness on the Cedar River: camping, cabins, tubing and trails on the old Chautauqua grounds and Buffalo Leap bluff (National Register as the Moses Merrill Baptist Camp) · Pawnee Hills Golf Course, 9 holes, 2 miles north · Headworks Park on NE 22 between Fullerton and Genoa: free camping at the Loup Canal headworks · the Nance County Fair in mid-July

Events in Fullerton

Nance County Fair
Nance County Fair, a county fair in Fullerton, Nebraska.

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: Fullerton Public Schools, 606 4th St., (308) 536-2431: Fullerton Elementary (PK–6) and Fullerton High (7–12)

Health care: Fullerton Medical Clinic (Merrick Medical Center), 901 Broadway, (308) 536-2458; Nance County Medical Clinic (Boone County Health Center), 405 Broadway, (308) 536-2446; nearest hospitals in Genoa, Central City and Albion

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); 1890 Union Pacific Gazetteer of Nebraska; Bassett, Fullerton's First 100 Years (1979); Nance County and City of Fullerton (history, offices); History Nebraska (markers); National Register listings and nominations; Nebraska Game and Parks; Loup Power District; Nebraska Department of Revenue; Genoa U.S. Indian School Foundation; Nebraska Public Media; KOLN 10/11; VisitNebraska. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.