Towns in Sheridan County

Listings in Sheridan County

Sheridan County, Nebraska

County seat: Rushville · Created: February 25, 1885, from Sioux County · Named for: Gen. Philip H. Sheridan · License plates: prefix 61 · Population: 5,127 (2020 census); peak 10,793 in 1930 · Area: 2,470 sq mi, the fourth-largest county in Nebraska · Time zone: Mountain

About Sheridan County

Sheridan County runs about 69 miles from the South Dakota line and the Pine Ridge Reservation south through the Pine Ridge country of Beaver Valley, across the Niobrara River, and deep into the Sandhills and their lakes. Gordon is the largest city, Rushville the county seat and Hay Springs the third city, all on US 20; Clinton is the only village. Whiteclay sits on the state line, and Antioch, Lakeside, Ellsworth and Bingham are Sandhills railroad towns on NE 2. The county borders Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota, on the north and Cherry, Grant, Garden, Morrill, Box Butte and Dawes counties in Nebraska.

The Legislature created the county on February 25, 1885, from a strip of eastern Sioux County, and it was organized that year. The Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad, later the Chicago & North Western, built west from Valentine in 1885, founding Gordon, Clinton, Rushville and Hay Springs, and the Burlington crossed the Sandhills in the south in 1887–88. Rushville, Gordon, Hay Springs and Clinton fought over the county seat in 1885; Hay Springs won a disputed count, but the Nebraska Supreme Court confirmed Rushville in 1888. Earlier, from 1874 to 1881, Camp Sheridan guarded the Spotted Tail Agency on Beaver Creek, where Crazy Horse came in September 1877. The author Mari Sandoz was born in 1896 on her father’s homestead on the Niobrara and is buried in the Sandhills south of Gordon. During World War I the potash plants at Antioch, Hoffland and Lakeside boomed and then collapsed by 1922. The population peaked at 10,793 in 1930. The northern railroad was abandoned in 2006–07, and 16 miles of it between Gordon and Rushville are now the Cowboy Trail. The county has 10 National Register listings.

Towns of Sheridan County

Travel Corridors

US 20 — the Bridges to Buttes Byway, east–west through Hay Springs, Rushville, Clinton and Gordon. US 20 Corridor →

NE 2 — the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway, through Antioch, Lakeside, Ellsworth and Bingham. Highway 2 Corridor →

NE 27 — the Mari Sandoz Sandhills Trail, about 69 miles from Ellsworth north through Gordon to South Dakota. NE 87 — from Alliance north through Hay Springs and Rushville to Whiteclay. NE 250 — about 49 miles from Rushville south to Lakeside.

Cameras: View Sheridan County cameras → · Road conditions: Nebraska 511

Things to See

In Rushville, the 1904 Sheridan County Courthouse, the 1914 Plains Theatre and the Sheridan County Historical Museum; in Gordon, the Tri-State Old Time Cowboys Memorial Museum and the Scamahorn Museum; in Hay Springs, the Heritage Centers and the Camp Sheridan marker. Along NE 27 are the Spade Ranch, Japanese Balloon Bombs and Mari Sandoz markers, the Sandoz grave and Morgan’s Cowpoke Haven, the old Spade Ranch Store in Ellsworth; on NE 2, the potash ruins and marker at Antioch.

Outdoors

Walgren Lake State Recreation Area, east of Hay Springs, has 40 primitive campsites around a 50-acre lake, home of a legendary monster; water was very low from drought in 2026, so call (308) 665-2900 first. Smith Lake WMA (640 acres), 23 miles south of Rushville on NE 250, has a boat ramp, primitive camping and fishing for bass, bluegill, crappie, perch, pike and walleye. Metcalf WMA (about 3,200 acres), 10 miles north of Hay Springs, is open to hunting deer, elk, turkey and grouse. The Cowboy Trail runs 16 miles between Rushville and Gordon. Golf at Gordon, Hay Springs and Rushville.

Sheridan County Business Directory

Businesses within 20 miles of: Gordon · Rushville · Hay Springs · Ellsworth · All listings →

Adjacent Counties

Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota (north) · Cherry County (east) · Grant County (southeast) · Garden County (south) · Morrill County (southwest) · Box Butte County (west) · Dawes County (northwest).

Events

Each year: the Sheridan County Fair & Rodeo at the fairgrounds in Gordon in late July, with a PRCA rodeo and a parade; the Friendly Festival in Hay Springs the weekend before Labor Day weekend; and the Willow Tree Festival in Gordon’s Winship Park in September.

Sheridan County at a Glance

Sheridan County, Nebraska — from the Pine Ridge to the Sandhills lakes. County seat Rushville; largest city Gordon. 250 listings across 11 towns. Mountain Time.

Getting there: US 20 east–west through Hay Springs, Rushville, Clinton and Gordon; NE 2 across the Sandhills in the south; NE 27, NE 87 and NE 250 north–south.

For visitors: Walgren Lake, Smith Lake, the Cowboy Trail, the Mari Sandoz sites on NE 27 and the county’s museums. Hospital in Gordon; clinics in Gordon and Rushville.