Friend Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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City · Saline County · Population 954 (2020 census) · ZIP 68359 · Founded 1873 · Peak population 1,347 (1890)

About Friend

Friend is a city of 954 in northwestern Saline County on US 6, about 9 miles west of Dorchester and 12 miles south of I-80. It has Friend Community Healthcare System, the Exeter-Milligan-Friend middle and high school, and Warren's Opera House.

History

Charles E. Friend worked on railroad grading west of Lincoln in 1870, homesteaded here and opened a store in 1871; he became postmaster that June of an office named Friendville. The Burlington & Missouri River Railroad finished a depot in August 1873 and named the station Friend, and that November about 56 acres of his farm were surveyed into 16 blocks. Grasshoppers set the town back in 1874, but it was incorporated on June 19, 1882, when the district fair with its half-mile track was also organized here. The population peaked at 1,347 in 1890.

Warren's Opera House was built in 1885–86 for grain merchant Joshua Warren, and Norman E. Warren's 1919 bequest founded the hospital that bears the family name; in 2024 it became Nebraska's first rural emergency hospital. The National Coursing Association, now the National Greyhound Association of Abilene, Kansas, was organized in Friend in 1906. Ripley's Believe It or Not once called Friend's police station, a tool shed beside US 6, the smallest in the world; it was torn down in the mid-2010s and replaced by a neon Friend sign. Journalist Anna Louise Strong was born here.

Highways and trails through Friend

Route	One way	Other way
US 6 (1st St.)East–west through the city	East to Dorchester, Crete and Lincoln	West to Exeter

Nearby towns

Cordova	about 6 mi northwest	County roads
Exeter	about 9 mi west	US 6
Beaver Crossing	about 9 mi north	County roads
Dorchester	about 9 mi east	US 6
Milligan	about 12 mi south-southwest	County roads
Pleasant Hill	about 11 mi east-southeast	County roads
Tobias	about 16 mi south	County roads
Crete	about 17 mi east	US 6 and NE 33

Things to see

Warren's Opera House, 511 2nd St. (1885–86; National Register), being restored by the Friend Historical Society, with event space on the ground floor · the Richard R. Kiddle House, 819 8th St. (National Register; private) · Friend City Park, 10 acres with the pool, tennis courts and a ballfield · Friend Country Club, a public golf course on Cherry St. · Gilbert Public Library, 628 2nd St. · the Fourth of July celebration

Schools and health care

Schools: Exeter-Milligan-Friend Public Schools (Friend and Exeter-Milligan merged for 2025–26): the middle and high school are in Friend, 501 S. Main St.

Health care: Friend Community Healthcare System (Warren Memorial Hospital), 905 2nd St., Friend, 402-947-2541, a rural emergency hospital with a 24-hour emergency room and outpatient care; <a href="/directory/friend-medical-clinic/">Friend Medical Clinic</a> (Bryan Health), 1210 2nd St.

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Saline County and NEGenWeb Saline County histories; History Nebraska and its historical markers; National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Game and Parks; Lower Big Blue NRD; Nebraska Department of Transportation; Bryan Health; city, village, school, museum and hospital websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.