Hoskins Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Wayne County · Population 267 (2020 census) · ZIP 68740 · Founded 1881 · Peak population 307 (1990)

About Hoskins

Hoskins is a village of 267 people (2020) in southwestern Wayne County, at 1,677 feet about 9 miles northeast of Norfolk and 17 miles west-southwest of Wayne. NE 35 runs along the south edge of town, with a short state spur into the village. Trinity Lutheran, a Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod congregation, has a parochial school here. Hoskins is on Central Time.

History

Settlers of German descent, from Wisconsin and from Germany, took up land here from 1869. Franz Puls, the first, called the settlement Donop after a town in Germany. When the railroad was built from Wayne to Norfolk in 1881, the station was named Hoskins, for a Mr. Hoskins, an associate of F. H. Peavey of the townsite company (accounts call him Peavey’s father-in-law or his secretary). The village had its most people, 307, in 1990.

Highways and trails through Hoskins

Route	One way	Other way
NE 35Along the south edge of town	Northeast to Winside and Wayne	Southwest to Norfolk

Nearby towns

Winside	about 8 mi northeast	NE 35
Norfolk	about 9 mi southwest	NE 35
Stanton	about 12 mi south-southeast	County roads
Carroll	about 13 mi north-northeast	County roads
Pilger	about 15 mi east-southeast	County roads
Sholes	about 15 mi north	County roads
Altona	about 16 mi east	County roads
Wayne	about 17 mi east-northeast	NE 35

Schools and health care

Schools: Trinity Lutheran School (WELS), Hoskins (call to confirm grades); public schools in nearby districts

Health care: Nearest hospitals: Norfolk, about 9 mi; Hospital: Providence Medical Center, Wayne, about 17 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Who’s Who in Nebraska (1940); Wayne County (waynecountyne.gov); City of Wayne; History Nebraska markers; National Register nominations; Wayne State College; Nebraska Game and Parks; Nebraska Dept. of Water, Energy and Environment; Norfolk Daily News. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.