Venango Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Perkins County · Population 157 (2020 census) · ZIP 69168 · Founded 1887 · Peak population 286 (1930)

About Venango

Venango is a village of 157 (2020) in western Perkins County, half a mile east of the Colorado line, where NE 23 crosses into Nebraska from Amherst and Holyoke. A grain town on the NKC railroad at about 3,590 feet, it is about 18 miles west-southwest of Grant.

History

Venango was platted in 1887 as the Burlington built its line west toward Colorado, and was probably named for Venango County, Pennsylvania; several streets, among them Pennsylvania Avenue and Washington, Westmoreland and Fayette Streets, carry Pennsylvania names. School District No. 65 was organized in August 1887, while the area was still part of Keith County. In 1890 the gazetteer counted about 150 people, with lumber and coal dealers, a grain elevator, the Venango House hotel, two stores and the Venango Argus, published by G. J. Richmond; Chas. T. Price also published the Venango Press, later the Independent.

On March 16, 1913, a snowplow train struck an iron pin left by surveyors at Venango, and the engineer was killed when the lead engine overturned. In 1921 voters approved $80,000 for a two-story brick school designed by Wilson & Wilson of Denver and Sterling, and students moved in that November. The village reached its peak, 286, in 1930, and a 1967 local history called Venango the "Buckle of the Wheat Belt." High school students went to Grant after 1992 and the school closed after 2001; it was listed on the National Register in 2018. Scoular opened a shuttle-train grain facility here in 2003. Dan Hughes, state senator for District 44 from 2015 to 2023, graduated from Venango High School in 1974.

Highways and trails through Venango

Route	One way	Other way
NE 23Begins at the Colorado line just west of the village	East to Brandon (about 7 mi) and Grant (about 18 mi)	West into Colorado as SH 23 to Amherst and Holyoke

Nearby towns

Brandon	about 7 mi east-northeast	NE 23
Lamar	about 14 mi south-southeast	County roads
Grant	about 18 mi east-northeast	NE 23
Imperial	about 27 mi southeast	NE 23 and NE 61
Madrid	about 28 mi east-northeast	NE 23
Ogallala	about 30 mi north-northeast	NE 23 and NE 61

Things to see

The Venango Public School, 201 E. Washington St. (1921; National Register; private, view from the street) · the Middle of Nowhere Bar & Grill, 213 N. Pennsylvania Ave. · the Scoular elevator · Venango Cemetery, about 2 mi southeast · Veterans Day flags along Pennsylvania Ave.

Schools and health care

Schools: Venango is in Perkins County Schools; its schools are in Grant, about 18 mi: Perkins County Elementary (PK–6), 419 Logan Ave., and Perkins County Junior-Senior High School (7–12), 740 Sherman Ave.

Health care: Nearest hospital: Perkins County Health Services, 900 Lincoln Ave., Grant, (308) 352-7245, a 20-bed critical access hospital, about 18 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Lilian L. Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names (1925); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890–91); Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries; History Nebraska (Perkins County records; Perkins County Museum spotlight); National Register of Historic Places nominations (Perkins County Courthouse, Grant Commercial Historic District, Grant City Park, Venango Public School); Nebraska Association of County Officials; Nebraska Department of Transportation; Nebraska Department of Revenue; OmniTRAX; Grant Tribune-Sentinel; Nebraska DHHS rosters; Perkins County and school, hospital and library websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.