Fillmore County is a county located in the U.S. state of

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 5,551. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. The county was named for President Millard Fillmore. In the Nebraska license plate system, Fillmore County is represented by the prefix 34 (it had the thirty-fourth largest number of vehicles registered in the county when the license plate system was established in 1922).

History

Fillmore County was established, and its boundaries defined, by the Nebraska Territorial Legislature in 1856. It was named for Millard Fillmore, the thirteenth president of the United States, who had left office in 1853. The first homesteaders arrived in the county in 1866. Ohio natives William O. Bussard and William C. Whitaker filed claims on the West Fork of the Big Blue River in the county's northeastern portion. Settlement of the area was slow until 1870; it was concentrated in the county's northern part, in part because the surveyed route of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad ran through York County just north of the present-day York-Fillmore county line. In 1870, Fillmore City, the county's first town, was established on the Big Blue about north of present-day Grafton; in 1871, the county's first post office opened in Fillmore City. In 1871, the Burlington and Missouri laid its tracks through the area. A recent change in federal law allowed them to alter their route, shifting it about south of their original surveyed path. This placed the route on more level country, reducing the cost of cutting and bridging; it also shifted the line from York County to northern Fillmore County. The county was formally organized in 1871; up to this time, it had been administered from, and taxed by, Saline County, its neighbor to the east. In April, an election was held to choose officers to organize the county; at this time, it was decided to place the county seat in the county's center. The town site was surveyed and platted, and given the name "Henry". It could not be occupied, since it was on school land owned by the state; an act of the legislature was necessary before the land could be sold. The legislature passed a bill in the summer of 1872 to allow sale of the school lands. At about that time, the new county seat's name was changed from "Henry" to "Geneva", at the suggestion of the daughter of a local settler, who wanted it named after her family's old home of Geneva, Illinois. The county grew rapidly through the first years of the 1870s. Three towns were established along the Burlington line; in keeping with the railroad's practice of naming their towns alphabetically, they were dubbed Exeter, Fairmont, and Grafton. By 1873, the entire county had been "thickly settled". Its growth suffered a check in the mid-1870s, due to the worldwide depression following the

Panic of 1873 The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "L ...

and an infestation of grasshoppers in the late summer of 1874. As additional railroad lines were constructed through the county, new towns were established. In about 1886, the Burlington built a branch line from Beatrice to Holdrege, running east–west through southern Fillmore County; Shickley, Strang, and Ohiowa were founded on or near the route. A north–south line connected this branch to the Burlington's main line, running from Strang to Fairmont. Milligan was established in 1887, on the Kansas City and Omaha line. Several ethnic European enclaves developed during the time of the county's homesteading. An extensive Czech settlement covered much of Saline County and extended into eastern Fillmore County, including Milligan. A concentration of Swedish immigrants developed in eastern Clay County, extending into southwestern Fillmore County in the area between Shickley and Ong. German settlements formed in both the county's southeastern and southwestern corners.

Geography

According to the

US Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has an area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water. The county lies within the watershed of the Big Blue River. Water in the county drains via the West Fork of the Big Blue; via Turkey Creek, which runs into the Big Blue near De Witt, Nebraska; and via the Little Blue, which joins the Big Blue in Kansas. Fillmore County lies within the eastern portion of Nebraska's

loess A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits. A loess ...

plain, a region of soil deposited by the wind between 25,000 and 13,000 years ago, forming a plain that slopes to the southeast. The Big Blue and its tributaries have incised channels into the loess surface in places, but in much of the county the original plain remains. These loess-plain regions are characterized by extensive upland flats with shallow depressions, lined with fine-grained and relatively impermeable silt, and tend to form shallow ephemeral wetlands when filled with rain or snowmelt; such wetlands range in area from less than to more than . The county's surface is underlain by

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

sedimentary bedrock, topped with unconsolidated

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

sediments. The bedrock was eroded into hills and valleys before the deposition of the overlying sediments, so the thickness of the latter varies. The unconsolidated sediments range in thickness from ; they form an aquifer whose saturated zone ranges in thickness from .

Adjacent counties

* York County – north * Seward County – northeast * Saline County – east * Jefferson County – southeast * Thayer County – south * Nuckolls County – southwest * Clay County – west * Hamilton County – northwest

Protected areas

* Bluebill State Wildlife Management Area * Marsh Hawk State Wildlife Management Area * Morphy Lagoon National Wildlife Management Area * Rauscher Lagoon National Wildlife Management Area * Redhead Wildlife Management Area * Rolland Lagoon National Wildlife Management Area * Sandpiper State Wildlife Management Area * Sora Wildlife Management Area

Demographics

As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 6,634 people, 2,689 households, and 1,801 families in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 2,990 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.75%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.21%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.44% Native American, 0.06% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.83% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. 1.66% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. 48.6% were of German, 10.4% Czech, 7.1% Irish and 7.0% English ancestry. There were 2,689 households, out of which 30.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.10% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 5.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.00% were non-families. 30.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.95. The county population contained 26.30% under the age of 18, 5.10% from 18 to 24, 24.00% from 25 to 44, 23.30% from 45 to 64, and 21.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 93.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.30 males. The median income for a household in the county was $35,162, and the median income for a family was $41,725. Males had a median income of $29,813 versus $18,507 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $17,465. About 4.80% of families and 7.80% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 8.20% of those under age 18 and 10.00% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

* U.S. Route 81 – enters from Thayer County; runs northward into York County. * U.S. Route 6 runs east–west across the northern part of the county. * Nebraska Highway 41 runs east–west across the central portion of the county. * Nebraska Highway 74 runs east–west through the southern part of the county. *

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

– runs east–west across northern Fillmore County, passing Exeter, Fairmont, and Grafton. In the Nebraska license plate system, Fillmore County is represented by the prefix 34: when the state began using county numbers on its license plates in 1922, it had the 34th-largest number of registered vehicles.

Communities

City

(county seat)

Villages

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

* Fairmont * Grafton * Milligan * Ohiowa * Shickley * Strang

Unincorporated communities

* Burress *

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

* Martland

Ghost towns

*Dudley * Sawyer * Buxton * Turkey Creek *Martland *Lyman *Fillmore *Bryant *Eden

Townships

* Belle Prairie * Bennett * Bryant * Chelsea * Exeter-Fairmont * Franklin *

* Glengary * Grafton *

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

* Madison * Momence * Stanton * West Blue

Politics

Fillmore County voters have been reliably Republican since the beginning, selecting the Republican Party candidate in 80% of national elections (as of 2024).

Notes

Cordes, Henry J.
"A railroad history lesson: Union Pacific and Burlington Northern".Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen
originally appeared in ''Omaha World-Herald'', November 8, 2009. Retrieved May 8, 2013. The three towns listed formed part of a sequence: Crete, Dorchester, Exeter, Fairmont, Grafton, Harvard, Inland, Juniata, Kenesaw.
Retrieved May 2, 2013.
Retrieved May 2, 2013. Keech and Dreeszen (1968), pp. L8, L12, L15. . Retrieved May 1, 2013. "Map of Nebraska, published by the Burlington Route, 1886".
Retrieved May 8, 2013. Map: Nebraska Operating Division.

BNSF Railway.
Retrieved April 29, 2013. Gaffney (1968), p. 1; the Bussard and Whitaker homesteads were located on Section 8, Township 8, Range 3 West of the sixth principal meridian. "Grafton - Fillmore County".Nebraska... Our Towns.
Retrieved May 1, 2013. "Milligan - Fillmore County".Nebraska... Our Towns.
Retrieved May 8, 2013. "Ohiowa - Fillmore County".Nebraska... Our Towns.
Retrieved May 8, 2013. "Shickley - Fillmore County".

Nebraska... Our Towns.
Retrieved May 1, 2013. "Strang - Fillmore County".Nebraska... Our Towns.
Retrieved May 1, 2013. "General Highway Map: Fillmore County, Nebraska."Nebraska Department of Roads.
Retrieved April 28, 2013. Perkey (2003), p. 67.

Nebraska Department of Economic Development.
Retrieved May 8, 2013. Gaffney (1968), p. 3. Gaffney (1968), pp. 4-5. Gaffney (1968), p. 5. Gaffney (1968), p. 15. Gaffney (1968), p. 254. Sources differ on the source of Geneva's name. Lilian Linder Fitzpatrick
"Nebraska Place-Names"
1925, p. 59, states that it was named after

Geneva, New York Geneva is a City (New York), city in Ontario County, New York, Ontario and Seneca County, New York, Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is at the northern end of Seneca Lake (New York), Seneca Lake; all land port ...

. Gaffney (1968), p. 5., and Perkey (2003), p. 68, state that Geneva, Illinois was the namesake. Perkey's introduction (p. v) states that he was motivated by Fitzpatrick's work; this suggests that he was aware of the New York hypothesis, and had some reason for choosing Illinois instead. "History Of Nebraska Passenger Vehicle License Plates".Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles.
Retrieved May 8, 2013. Keech and Dreeszen (1968), pp. L1, L4-L5, L7; for age of loess deposits, see Muhs, Daniel R.; Bettis III, E. Arthur; Aleinikoff, John N.; McGeehin, John P.; Beann, Jossh; Skipp, Gary; Marshall, Brian D.; Roberts, Helen M.; Johnson, William C.; and Benton, Rachel (2008)
"Origin and paleoclimatic significance of late Quaternary loess in Nebraska: Evidence from stratigraphy, chronology, sedimentology, and geochemistry"
''USGS Staff—Published Research, Paper 162'', retrieved April 28, 2013. . Retrieved May 1, 2013. Murphy, D. Retrieved May 17, 2013. Hendrickson, Joan E., Norman E. Landgre, and Joni Gilkerson. Retrieved May 17, 2013. "Nebraska Railroads".Nebraska Department of Roads.
January 31, 2009. Retrieved May 8, 2013. "Fillmore County, Nebraska".Surf Your Watershed.U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Retrieved April 28, 2013.

References

* Gaffney, Wilbur G., ed. (1968). ''The Fillmore County Story''. Copyrighted by Geneva Community Grange No. 403. * Keech, C. F. and V. H. Dreeszen (1968).
"Geology and Ground-Water Resources of Fillmore County, Nebraska".United States Geological Survey.
Retrieved April 28, 2013. * Perkey, Elton A. (2003). ''Perkey's Nebraska Place Names''. Nebraska State Historical Society; revised edition.

External links

Fillmore County Official Web Site
{{authority control Nebraska counties 1871 establishments in Nebraska