Pilger Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Stanton County · Population 240 (2020 census) · ZIP 68768 · Founded 1880 · Peak population 578 (1930)

About Pilger

Pilger is a village of 240 people (2020) in northeastern Stanton County, at 1,407 feet in the Elkhorn valley, where NE 15 meets US 275; Wisner is about 7 miles east-southeast and Stanton about 9 miles west-southwest. The village has the Historical Society of Stanton County and Pilger Museum, the Pilger Public Library, a pool and the Cooper Family Community Center. Pilger is on Central Time.

History

Pilger was platted in 1880, when the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad (later the Chicago & North Western) came through, and named for Peter Pilger, who owned the townsite; it was incorporated in 1887. The population peaked at 578 in 1930. Rail service ended in 1982 after Elkhorn River floods, and the tracks were removed in 1985. On June 16, 2014, one supercell produced twin EF4 tornadoes, one of which went through the village. Two people died, a 5-year-old girl in Pilger and a 74-year-old man on the road, and about 20 were injured; more than half of Pilger’s buildings were destroyed or badly damaged, and damage from the main tornado alone came to about $14 million. The Wisner-Pilger Middle School was later torn down, and St. John’s Lutheran Church, left with only its bell tower, dedicated a new church on August 28, 2016. Thousands of volunteers helped rebuild, and by 2017 Pilger had a new co-op, bank, gas station and community center. Its nickname, “the little town too tough to die,” predates the storm.

Highways and trails through Pilger

Route	One way	Other way
US 275Through the village	East to Wisner and West Point	West to Norfolk
NE 15Joins US 275 at Pilger	North to Wayne	South to NE 32

Nearby towns

Wisner	about 7 mi east	US 275
Stanton	about 9 mi west-southwest	US 275 and NE 57
Winside	about 13 mi north-northwest	County roads
Hoskins	about 15 mi west-northwest	County roads
Woodland Park	about 15 mi west-northwest	US 275
Wayne	about 16 mi north	NE 15
Norfolk	about 19 mi west	US 275

Things to see

the Historical Society of Stanton County and Pilger Museum, 345 N. Main St. · the Stanton County historical marker on N. Main Street just south of E. 2nd Street · the Pilger Recreation Area, 119 acres about a mile north and half a mile east of town, with fishing; the NRD says many of its former amenities have been removed · the Red Fox Wildlife Management Area, 374 acres a mile south on NE 15, with a 25-acre sandpit lake · Pilger Days in early June

Events in Pilger

Pilger Days
Pilger’s community celebration in early June.

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Health care

Hospital: Faith Health, Norfolk, about 19 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Who’s Who in Nebraska (1940, NEGenWeb); Stanton County; City of Stanton; National Register; History Nebraska markers; NWS Omaha; Lower Elkhorn NRD; Nebraska Game and Parks; Norfolk Daily News. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.