Buffalo County at a Glance

Buffalo County, Nebraska — created in March 1855, organized for good in 1870, and named for the bison herds of the Great Plains. County seat Kearney. Population 50,084 at the 2020 census, the highest yet, and about 51,200 in 2025; Nebraska’s fifth-most-populous county. 760 listings across 18 towns.

Kearney is home to the University of Nebraska at Kearney and the Archway over I-80. Each spring hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes stop on the Platte between Kearney and Shelton.

Getting there: I-80 crosses the county with seven exits (257 to 291); US 30 follows the Union Pacific, US 183 runs north through Elm Creek and Miller, and NE 2 crosses the north through Ravenna. Kearney Regional Airport has United Express flights to Denver and Chicago O’Hare. Central Time.

Born here: Peter G. Peterson and Jon Bokenkamp (Kearney); criminologist Edwin Sutherland and educator Ben Cherrington (Gibbon); talk-show host Dick Cavett (Buffalo County, 1936).

Custer County at a Glance

Custer County, Nebraska — 2,576 square miles of the Loup valleys and Sandhills edge, the second-largest county in the state and the Sod House Capital of the World. County seat Broken Bow. 354 listings across 26 towns. Central Time.

Getting there: NE 2, the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway, from Grand Island; NE 92 and NE 70 east–west; US 183 and NE 21 north–south; I-80 is about 40 miles south at Lexington and Cozad.

For visitors: the Custer County Museum and courthouse square in Broken Bow, Victoria Springs, St. Anselm’s in Anselmo and the Dowse Sod House. Hospitals in Broken Bow and Callaway.

Dawson County at a Glance

Dawson County, Nebraska — created by the territorial Legislature on January 11, 1860, and organized in 1871 by proclamation of acting Governor William H. James (sources give both June and July for the day). The namesake has two candidates. The county’s own account credits Jacob Dawson, the first postmaster of Lancaster, the village that became Lincoln; History Nebraska found a January 1860 Council Bluffs Bugle report that the county was named for John L. Dawson of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, a congressman who wrote an early homestead bill. County seat Lexington, which has never moved, though it was called Plum Creek until residents voted in 1889 to rename it for the Revolutionary War battle. 460 listings across 11 towns.

Getting there: I-80 with exits at Gothenburg, Cozad and Lexington, plus US 30, which follows the Union Pacific’s Overland Route main line, and US 283 south from Lexington. Central Time.

A hard year. Tyson Foods announced on November 21, 2025, that it would close the Lexington beef plant, with 3,212 positions; it stopped operating on January 20, 2026, and the last of the closing crew left on July 24, 2026. The plant had opened on November 8, 1990, when IBP converted the closed Sperry-New Holland combine plant, and Tyson owned it from 2001. The University of Nebraska’s Center for Agricultural Profitability put the statewide effect at 7,003 jobs and $3.28 billion a year. That plant is why Lexington grew almost 52 percent in the 1990s and passed ten thousand people for the first time, and why the city is about 65 percent Hispanic or Latino today. History Nebraska calls it the first of a series of large packing plants in small Nebraska cities.

For visitors: Cozad sits on the 100th meridian, the traditional line between humid and arid America, marked by a 1933 monument on US 30. Gothenburg was founded in 1882 by Olof Bergström, a Swedish immigrant who recruited settlers on trips home; its Pony Express station in Ehmen Park and the Midway Stage Station south of town, on the National Register since 1969, recall the 1860–61 mail route. The Robert Henri Museum occupies the 1879 Hendee Hotel at Cozad. The Plum Creek station of 1864 stood south of the river, in today’s Phelps County. From 1879, African Canadian families from Elgin, Ontario, homesteaded near Overton, many later moving on to the DeWitty settlement in the Sandhills.

Born here: Mick Tingelhoff, born at Lexington in 1940, the Minnesota Vikings center who started 240 straight regular-season games and entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015. Ben Kuroki, born at Gothenburg in 1917 and raised at Hershey, flew 30 missions over Europe and 28 over Japan as a World War II gunner; his story is the documentary Most Honorable Son. Robert Henri grew up in Cozad, the town his father founded, but was born in Cincinnati.

Greeley County at a Glance

Greeley County, Nebraska — Irish Catholic country between the Cedar and North Loup rivers, with four villages and no city. County seat Greeley (Greeley Center). 130 listings across 4 towns. Central Time.

Getting there: US 281 north–south past Wolbach and Greeley; NE 91 to Spalding; NE 22 and NE 11 to Scotia.

For visitors: Happy Jack Chalk Mine near Scotia, the St. Michael’s complex in Spalding, the Greeley Irish Festival in September and Davis Creek Reservoir. Clinic: Spalding Clinic; nearest hospitals in Ord, St. Paul and Albion.

Hall County at a Glance

Hall County, Nebraska — created November 4, 1858, and named for Augustus Hall, an early territorial judge. County seat Grand Island. Population 62,895 at the 2020 census, the highest yet, and about 63,600 in 2025; Nebraska’s fourth-most-populous county. 587 listings across 5 towns.

Grand Island has hosted the Nebraska State Fair since 2010. The Stuhr Museum’s Railroad Town is open May 1 to September 15, and the Crane Trust leads sandhill crane tours each spring.

Getting there: I-80 crosses the south of the county (Exits 300, 305, 312 and 314); US 30, US 281, US 34 and NE 2 meet at Grand Island, whose airport has flights to Dallas/Fort Worth, Las Vegas and Phoenix–Mesa. Central Time.

Born here: actor Henry Fonda and the reformers Edith and Grace Abbott (Grand Island).

Hamilton County at a Glance

Hamilton County, Nebraska — created in 1867, organized May 3, 1870, and named for Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury. County seat Aurora. Population 9,429 in 2020 and about 9,700 now, below its 1890 peak of 14,096. 169 listings across 7 towns.

The county seat took five elections. Orville City, laid out in 1870 on a plateau above the Blue River forks south of Aurora, held it first; Aurora men carried off the records in 1874 and had to bring them back, and in the last vote Aurora beat a rival town called Hamilton, 481 to 400. The records moved on January 1, 1876, and Orville City became the county poor farm.

Getting there: I-80 crosses the south of the county with exits at Phillips, Giltner, Aurora and Hampton; US 34 and NE 14 meet in Aurora. Central Time.

For visitors: the Edgerton Explorit Center and Plainsman Museum in Aurora, Gjerloff Prairie on the Platte, the Danish church at Kronborg and the county fair in late July. Born or raised here: psychologist J. P. Guilford, born near Marquette in 1897, and strobe-photography pioneer Harold Edgerton, born in Fremont and raised in Aurora.

Howard County at a Glance

Howard County, Nebraska — the meeting of the North and Middle Loup rivers, settled by Danes, Czechs and Poles. County seat St. Paul. 234 listings across 9 towns. Central Time.

Getting there: US 281 north–south through St. Libory and St. Paul; NE 92 east–west through St. Paul; NE 11 and NE 58 through Dannebrog.

For visitors: the baseball museum and historical village in St. Paul, Danish Dannebrog, North Loup SRA and four WMAs. Hospital: Howard County Medical Center in St. Paul.

Keith County at a Glance

Keith County, Nebraska — the two Platte rivers, Lake McConaughy and Ogallala, the old end of the Texas cattle trail. County seat Ogallala; Mountain Time.

Getting there: I-80 and US 30 along the South Platte; US 26 from Scottsbluff; NE 61 from Grant and Arthur; NE 92 along the north shore.

For visitors: Lake McConaughy and Kingsley Dam, Front Street and Boot Hill in Ogallala, California Hill near Brule, the Little Church at Keystone and Ole's in Paxton. Hospital: Ogallala Community Hospital.

Lincoln County at a Glance

Lincoln County, Nebraska — 2,575 square miles at the forks of the Platte with 34,676 people, county seat North Platte. 568 listings across 7 towns. Central Time.

Getting there: I-80 and US 30 along the Platte; US 83 from McCook or Valentine; daily flights from Denver into North Platte Regional Airport.

For visitors: Bailey Yard from the Golden Spike Tower, Buffalo Bill’s Scout’s Rest Ranch, the Canteen story, Fort McPherson National Cemetery, two state recreation lakes and NEBRASKAland Days. Regional hospital in North Platte.

Merrick County at a Glance

Merrick County, Nebraska — the north bank of the Platte, the Lincoln Highway and the Union Pacific. County seat Central City. 127 listings across 7 towns. Central Time.

Getting there: US 30 along the Platte through Chapman, Central City, Clarks and Silver Creek; NE 14 through Central City; NE 92 across the north; NE 39 at Silver Creek.

For visitors: the county museum, Lone Tree monument and Wright Morris house in Central City, Bader Memorial Park, the Dark Island Trail and Prairie Creek winery. Hospital: Merrick Medical Center in Central City.

Sherman County at a Glance

Sherman County, Nebraska — the Middle Loup valley and Sherman Reservoir, settled by Poles and Germans. County seat Loup City, the Polish Capital of Nebraska. 125 listings across 5 towns. Central Time.

Getting there: NE 2 through Hazard and Litchfield; NE 92 and NE 58 through Loup City; NE 10 from Kearney.

For visitors: Sherman Reservoir, Polish Days, the Polish Heritage Center in Ashton and the Loup City courthouse square. Clinic in Loup City; nearest hospital in Ord.

Valley County at a Glance

Valley County, Nebraska — the North Loup valley around Ord, with Fort Hartsuff, popcorn country at North Loup and the Middle Loup at Arcadia. County seat Ord. 111 listings across 7 towns. Central Time.

Getting there: NE 11 up the North Loup valley through North Loup, Ord and Elyria; NE 70 through Arcadia and Ord; NE 22 to North Loup.

For visitors: Fort Hartsuff State Historical Park, downtown Ord, Popcorn Days and Davis Creek Recreation Area. Hospital: Valley County Health System in Ord.