Morrill County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 4,555. 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 ...

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Is ...

. In the Nebraska license plate system, Morrill County is represented by the prefix 64 (it had the 64th-largest number of vehicles registered in the state when the license plate system was established in 1922).

History

The Battle of Mud Springs and the Battle of Rush Creek between the US Army and

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...

, and

Arapaho The Arapaho ( ; , ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho bands formed t ...

occurred in 1865 within what would become Morrill County. On November 3, 1908, voters in Cheyenne County passed a measure calling for the division of that county. Accordingly, the Nebraska State Legislature passed an act providing for the division of Cheyenne County, the line of division running east–west, south of the town of Bridgeport. The northern portion so divided was to be called Morrill County. In December of that year, another election determined Bridgeport to be the seat of the new county, and the new county's officials were determined. The county was named for Charles Henry Morrill, a president of the Lincoln Land Company.

Geography

The terrain of Morrill County consists of low rolling hills. A portion of the area is used for agriculture, including some center pivot irrigation. The North Platte River flows east-southeastward through the south-central part of the county, passing Bridgeport before exiting the county some above the southeast county corner.''Morrill County NE'' Google Maps (accessed 25 January 2019)
/ref> The county has a total area of , of which are land and (0.4%) are covered by water. Chimney Rock, a rock formation tall with a spire, lies about south of Bayard, in western Morrill County. The rock was a prominent landmark on the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

, and has become a symbol of Nebraska, appearing on the state's license plates and on its commemorative quarter.

Adjacent counties

* Box Butte County – north * Sheridan County – northeast * Garden County – east * Cheyenne County – south * Banner County – southwest * Scotts Bluff County – northwest

Main highways

* - runs north and south through the county * – runs northwest–southeast along the north side of the North Platte River * N-92

Nebraska Highway 92– runs southeast from the western border to its intersection with US 26 near Broadwater * N-88

Nebraska Highway 88 - runs east from a point north of the southwest corner of the county; turns north to its intersection with US 385 in Bridgeport

Demographics

As of the 2000 United States Census, 5,440 people, 2,138 households, and 1,494 families resided 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 . The2,460 housing units averaged . The racial makeup of the county was 93.68% White, 0.07% African American, 0.72% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 4.12% from other races, and 1.19% from two or more races. About 10.09% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. The people were about 40.5% were of 40.5% German, 9.2% English, 7.3% Irish, and 6.7% American ancestry. Of the 2,138 households, 32.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.50% were married couples living together, 6.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.10% were not families. About 26.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.03. The county population was distributed as 27.20% under the age of 18, 7.20% from 18 to 24, 24.40% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 17.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.60 males. The median income for a household in the county was $30,235, and for a family was $36,673. Males had a median income of $27,107 versus $19,271 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 $14,725. About 10.00% of families and 14.70% 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 20.00% of those under age 18 and 10.30% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Bayard *

Village

* Broadwater

Unincorporated communities

* Angora * Atkins * Bonner * Lynn * Moomaw Corner * Northport * Redington * Vance

Former Communities

* Alden * Chimney Rock * Finley * Goodstreak *

Hickory Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes 19 species accepted by ''Plants of the World Online''. Seven species are native to southeast Asia in China, Indochina, and northeastern India (Assam), and twelve ...

* Kelly * Kuhn * Riley *

Simla Shimla, also known as Simla (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summe ...

Law enforcement

In 2008 the sheriff's office employed four officers and five civilians. The Humane Society of the United States awarded Sheriff Johyn D. Edens the 2009 Humane Law Enforcement Award for his investigation of mistreatment of 200 mustangs on an animal sanctuary. The owner of the Three Strikes Ranch, Jason Meduna, was sentenced to two consecutive 20-60 month terms, by Judge Leo Dobrovolny at the Morrill County Courthouse. In the May 13, 2010, Republican primary, Milo Cardenas and Travis Petersen, polled 379 votes each (there being no Democratic candidate), and the decision was due to be made between then by a game of chance such as a coin flip, subject only to a recount. After two recounts, Morrill County Clerk, Kathy Brandt offered the candidates the choice to "either cut a card or have their names pulled out of a hat", cards were selected and the election board shuffled the deck seven times before spreading the cards on the table for a simultaneous draw. Brandt said "Cardenas and Petersen both drew at the same time. Milo, drew a nine of hearts and Petersen drew a six of spades." Thus Cardenas went forward to the final ballot, scheduled for November 2010, with no other registered candidates.

Politics and government

Morrill County is in Nebraska's

Nebraska's 3rd congressional district Nebraska's 3rd congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, congressional district in the U.S. state of Nebraska that encompasses its western three-fourths; it is one of the largest non-at-large districts in the cou ...

. As of 2017, it was represented in the

US House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

by Adrian Smith, a member of the Republican Party. As of 2017, the county was part of the state's 47th legislative district, and was represented in the

Nebraska Legislature The Nebraska Legislature (also called the Unicameral) is the legislative branch, legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln, Nebraska, Lincoln. With 49 members, known as "senators ...

by Steve Erdman; Erdman is a member of the Republican Party, though the legislature is officially nonpartisan. As of late 2016, 3314 registered voters were in Morrill County. Of these, 2175, or 65.6%, were Republicans; 591, or 17.8%, were Democrats; 522, or 15.8%, registered no political party; and 26, or 0.8%, were

Libertarians Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

."Count of Registrants Eligible to Vote".

Retrieved December 8, 2017. Morrill County voters are reliably Republican in national politics. In no national election since 1936 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2024).

References

{{authority control Nebraska counties Populated places established in 1908 1908 establishments in Nebraska