Willow Island (also Willow) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

in western Dawson County,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 26. Willow Island lies near Interstate 80 along

U.S. Route 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route in the system of the United States Numbered Highways, with the highway traveling across the northern tier of the country. With a length of , it is the third longest ...

, between the cities of Cozad and Gothenburg. The city of Lexington, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Dawson County, lies southeast of Willow Island. Its elevation is .

History

Willow Island was laid out in the 1880s. It was named after a nearby island where

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

s were abundant. Because the community had two different names (Willow and Willow Island), the

Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal govern ...

ruled in 1902 that the community's official name was "Willow Island." A post office was established at Willow Island in 1874, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1991.

Demographics

References

Census-designated places in Dawson County, Nebraska Census-designated places in Nebraska {{DawsonCountyNE-geo-stub