Bladen Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Webster County · Population 205 (2020 census) · ZIP 68928 · Founded 1886 · Peak population 494 (1910)

About Bladen

Bladen is a village of 205 in northwestern Webster County, on a hill above the Little Blue River about 2 miles north of NE 4 by the S-91A spur. The Webster County Fair is held here each July, and the Pavelka and George Cather farmsteads, both tied to Willa Cather's novels, are nearby.

History

Silas and Sylvia Wells homesteaded at the foot of the hill in 1872 and started the Wells post office that May; the settlement was nicknamed "Pickleville" for Silas's cucumber crop. When the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad built its DeWitt–Holdrege branch through in 1886, the grade at Wells was too steep for a depot, so the railroad bought land just east, A. B. Smith surveyed a new town for the Lincoln Land Company in May 1886, and the Wells post office became Bladen on November 15, 1886. The name honors Ellen Bladen Gere, daughter of the founder of the Lincoln State Journal. The first passenger train arrived on Christmas Eve 1886, and Wells emptied as its people moved up the hill.

The Webster County Fair Association, formed in 1906 by 57 shareholders, bought land on Bladen's west edge, and the fair has been held here ever since; William Jennings Bryan spoke at the 1912 fair, and the county's first Baby Beef Club organized here in 1919. The Odd Fellows built their hall and opera house on Main Street in 1912–13. The village peaked at 494 people in 1910. Two buildings burned and the banks closed in 1929, the Bladen Enterprise stopped in 1936, and Bladen High School closed after the 1986 centennial; the district later merged with Roseland's as Silver Lake. G. P. Cather, Willa's cousin and the model for Claude Wheeler in One of Ours, was killed in France in World War I and is buried in East Lawn Cemetery.

Highways and trails through Bladen

Route	One way	Other way
S-91AState spur into the village	South about 2 mi to NE 4	North end in Bladen
NE 4About 2 mi south of the village	East to US 281 and Blue Hill	West to Campbell

Nearby towns

Campbell	about 7 mi west-southwest	NE 4
Blue Hill	about 8 mi east	NE 4
Holstein	about 10 mi north-northwest	County roads
Roseland	about 10 mi north	County roads
Ayr	about 11 mi northeast	County roads
Rosemont	about 12 mi east-southeast	NE 4
Cowles	about 13 mi southeast	NE 4, US 281 and S-91B
Red Cloud	about 17 mi south-southeast	NE 4 and US 281

Things to see

The IOOF Hall and Opera House, Main St. (1912–13; National Register) · the Pavelka Farmstead, 2031 Road 1100, about 4 mi southeast: the home of Annie Pavelka, the real Ántonia, with the fruit cave of the novel (Willa Cather Foundation; visits by appointment) · the George Cather Farmstead, about 5½ mi south-southwest (private; view from the road) · the Webster County Fairgrounds, 459 Crescent St. · East Lawn Cemetery · the Webster County Fair and Rodeo in late July

Events in Bladen

Webster County Fair
Webster County Fair, a county fair in Red Cloud, Nebraska.

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: Silver Lake Public Schools: Silver Lake Elementary (PK–6), 401 Webster St., Bladen, and Silver Lake High School (7–12), 9405 S. Lincoln Ave., Roseland

Health care: No clinic in Bladen; nearest: Blue Hill Medical Clinic, about 8 mi east; hospitals: Webster County Community Hospital, 621 N. Franklin St., Red Cloud, (402) 746-5600, a 13-bed critical access hospital, or Mary Lanning Healthcare, Hastings

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890); Who's Who in Nebraska, Webster County (1940); NEGenWeb Webster County; History Nebraska and its historical markers; National Park Service; National Register of Historic Places; Willa Cather Foundation; Visit Red Cloud; Nebraska Game and Parks; Nebraska Department of Transportation; school, hospital and library websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.