Neligh is a city in and the

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 ...

Antelope County, Nebraska Antelope County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 6,295. Its county seat is Neligh. The county was formed in 1871. It received its name after a group of early settlers k ...

, United States. The population was 1,599 at the 2010 census.

History

In 1872, John D. Neligh and a few of his friends took a trip up the

Elkhorn River The Elkhorn River is a river in northeastern Nebraska, United States, that originates in the eastern Sandhills and is one of the largest tributaries of the Platte River, flowing and joining the Platte just southwest of Omaha, approximately ...

from

West Point, Nebraska West Point is a city in and the county seat of Cuming County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 3,504 at the 2020 census. History West Point was founded in the spring of 1857, when Omaha businessmen formed the Nebraska Settlement Asso ...

. Neligh took note of the scenic landscape and thought it would be the ideal setting for a town and the county seat. He immediately left for

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 ...

to buy 520 acres for the town site. Misunderstanding the prime land he was selling, Omaha banker

Herman Kountze Herman Kountze (August 21, 1833 – November 20, 1906) was a powerful and influential pioneer banker in Omaha, Nebraska, during the late 19th century. After organizing the Kountze Brothers Bank in 1857 as the second bank in Omaha, Herman an ...

sold the land required to develop Neligh. He was apparently not aware it would make the ideal county seat, which Neligh eventually became. The records were moved to Neligh on January 1, 1884. Neligh was platted in 1873 by John Neligh and others, and named for him.

White Buffalo Girl

In May 1877, the

Ponca The Ponca people are a nation primarily located in the Great Plains of North America that share a common Ponca culture, history, and language, identified with two Indigenous nations: the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma or the Ponca Tribe of ...

tribe was forced to leave their homeland on the

Niobrara River The Niobrara River (; , , literally "water spread-out horizontal-the" or "The Wide-Spreading Water") is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. Many early settlers, such as Mari Sandoz, referred to the rive ...

and move to

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

in present-day

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. The rigors of the journey and resettlement led to the death of one-third of the tribe's population. During the migration, an 18-month-old girl named White Buffalo Girl died near Neligh. Her father, Black Elk, asked the townspeople "to respect the grave of my child just as they do the graves of their own dead". She was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Neligh, and her grave tended by the residents; in 1960, owing to the deterioration of the monument, the marker was set on a new foundation.

Neligh Mill

Shortly after founding the town, John D. Neligh began building the Neligh Mill in the southern part of town. The original two-story mill was built with bricks made by John J. Crawford, using local clay. Currently, the Neligh Mill is a Nebraska State Historical site.

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 city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Climate

This

climatic Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorolog ...

region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Neligh has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

, abbreviated "Dfa" on climate maps.

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 1,599 people, 707 households, and 407 families residing in the city. 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 781 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.2%

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 ...

, 0.3%

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 ...

, 0.3% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 1.2% from other races, and 0.8% 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 people of any race were 4.2% of the population. There were 707 households, of which 24.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% 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, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.4% were non-families. 39.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.93. The median age in the city was 47.1 years. 23% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 19.1% were from 25 to 44; 28.6% were from 45 to 64; and 24% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.8% male and 52.2% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 1,651 people, 697 households, and 443 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 771 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.97%

, 0.55% from other races, and 0.48% from two or more races.

or Latino people of any race were 1.45% of the population. There were 697 households, out of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.5% were

living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.3% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.89. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 22.2% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 24.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.5 males. As of 2000 the median income for a household in the city was $30,580, and the median income for a family was $39,750. Males had a median income of $29,261 versus $16,667 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 city was $17,888. About 10.6% of families and 14.2% 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 23.2% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.

Media

There are two media groups in Neligh - the '' Antelope County News'' and '' Neligh News & Leader''. Both are members of the Nebraska Press Association. The ''Antelope County News'' was launched in January 2014 as online-based media from Pitzer Digital, LLC. The company purchased ''The Orchard News'' in February 2016, and expanded the content and doubled circulation as ''The Orchard News/Antelope County News'', becoming the first newspaper in the county to publish in color. Besides print and online forms, the ''Antelope County News'' is also available on radio station WJAG and on television with partner News Channel Nebraska. The ''Neligh News & Leader'' serves all of Antelope County and has a circulation of more than 1,600.

Notable people

John DeCamp John W. DeCamp (July 6, 1941 – July 27, 2017) was an American Republican politician and author who served in the Nebraska legislature from 1971 to 1987. He served as an infantry officer in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. In 1975 ...

- politician and author of ''The Franklin Cover-up'' * Robert A. Harper (1862-1946) - botanist who researched the cytology and development of fungi, slime molds, and plants; he taught Greek and Latin at Gates College in Neligh 1886–1888.Kral, E. A. (2008).
"900 Famous Nebraskans".Nebraska Press Association.
Retrieved 2013-04-12.Thom, Charles (1948).
"Biographical Memoir of Robert Almer Harper, 1862-1946".National Academy of Sciences.
Retrieved 2013-04-12. * Frank Hughes - sport shooter *

Josephine Roche Josephine Aspinwall Roche (December 2, 1886 – July 1976) was an American humanitarian, industrialist, Progressive Era activist, and politician. As a New Deal official she helped shape the modern American welfare state. She was inducted into the ...

- industrialist, activist, and politician; Assistant Secretary of the Treasury 1934–1937

References

External links

City of Neligh

Historical images of Neligh
- Nebraska Memories {{authority control Cities in Antelope County, Nebraska Cities in Nebraska County seats in Nebraska Populated places established in 1873 1873 establishments in Nebraska