Decatur is a village in Burt County,

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 ...

, United States, adjacent to the upper

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

. The population was 481 at the 2010 census. This town is named after one of its incorporators,

Stephen Decatur Commodore (United States), Commodore Stephen Decatur Jr. (; January 5, 1779 – March 22, 1820) was a United States Navy officer. He was born on the eastern shore of Maryland in Worcester County, Maryland, Worcester County. His father, Ste ...

. It developed around a trading post established by Colonel Peter Sarpy, the namesake for Sarpy County in the state.

History

The area was long occupied by the

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

Native Americans, who settled along the creeks and river Explorers

Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with ...

and

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...

passed through the area in 1804 as their expedition traveled via the upper Missouri River on their way to and from the Pacific Coast, in their exploration of the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...

. The first European settler in the area was a man named Woods, who settled at the mouth of Wood Creek (his namesake) in 1837.

arrived in the area in 1841. A former schoolteacher in New Jersey and New York, he had abandoned his wife and two children when he migrated to the West. Here he changed his name, dropping his former surname of "Bross." His farm was called Decatur Springs, after a spring which supplied water to the village for the next century. In 1854, the U.S.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

purchased 300,000 acres of land from the Omaha, including the area which is now Decatur. The town of Decatur was incorporated in 1856 under the name "The Decatur Townsite & Ferry Company." The other incorporators included Thomas Whiteacre, T. H. Hineman, George Mason, and Herman Glass. Peter Sarpy helped lay out the town, which developed around his Indian trading post at the mouth of Wood Creek. He also owned

Fontenelle's Post Fontenelle's Post, first known as Pilcher's Post, and the site of the later city of Bellevue, was built in 1822 in the Nebraska Territory by Joshua Pilcher, then president of the Missouri Fur Company. Located on the west side of the Missouri Ri ...

and is the namesake for Sarpy County. The patents for the town were granted by the legislature on May 1, 1862. Following the dissolution of the Decatur Townsite and Ferry Company, the town was renamed Decatur Village in 1858.

Geography

According to the

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

, the village has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 481 people, 240 households, and 136 families residing in the village. 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 275 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 89.0%

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 ...

, 0.6%

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 ...

, 7.1% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 1.0% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races.

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 were 1.7% of the population. There were 240 households, of which 20.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% 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, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 7.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 43.3% were non-families. 38.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.00 and the average family size was 2.62. The median age in the village was 52.9 years. 17% of residents were under the age of 18; 4.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 16% were from 25 to 44; 37% were from 45 to 64; and 25.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 48.6% male and 51.4% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 618 people, 278 households, and 180 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 368 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 87.70%

, 0.65%

, 7.93% Native American, 0.32% Asian, and 3.40% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.81% of the population. There were 278 households, out of which 26.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.5% were

living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.9% were non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.80. In the village, the population was spread out, with 23.5% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 22.7% from 25 to 44, 28.3% from 45 to 64, and 21.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males. As of 2000 the median income for a household in the village was $30,125, and the median income for a family was $37,857. Males had a median income of $25,938 versus $20,114 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 village was $14,118. About 8.0% of families and 9.4% 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 8.0% of those under age 18 and 12.9% of those age 65 or over.

References

{{authority control Villages in Burt County, Nebraska Villages in Nebraska Nebraska populated places on the Missouri River Populated places established in 1856 1856 establishments in Nebraska Territory