Richardson County is the easternmost

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 census, the population was 7,871. 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 ...

is Falls City. In the Nebraska license plate system, Richardson County is represented by the prefix 19 (it had the nineteenth-largest number of vehicles registered in the county when the license plate system was established in 1922). Parts of the Ioway Reservation and the Sac and Fox Reservation are located in the southeast corner of the county between Falls City, Rulo (Nebraska), and Hiawatha (Kansas). The incorporated village of Preston, Nebraska is located inside the latter reservation.

History

The Nebraska Territory, including this county, was opened for settlement through the Kansas–Nebraska Act on May 30, 1854. Richardson County was created that same year and reorganized in 1855 by the first territorial legislature.The History of Richardson County
Official Website It was named after William A. Richardson, a US Representative from the state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

who had sponsored the Kansas-Nebraska Act; subsequently, in 1858, Richardson was appointed governor of the

Nebraska Territory The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Nebraska. The Nebrask ...

. The first courthouse was built in 1863. The second courthouse was built in 1873 and burned on May 7, 1919. On May 30, 1879, the "Irving, Kansas Tornado" passed through Richardson County. This

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

measured F4 on the

Fujita scale The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determ ...

, and had a damage path wide and long. Eighteen people were killed and sixty were injured in this tornado. In the summer of

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, Braniff Airlines Flight 250 crashed near Falls City due to bad weather, killing all 42 on board. The

BAC One-Eleven The BAC One-Eleven (BAC-111, BAC 1-11) is a retired early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-seat airl ...

aircraft was on the

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

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 ...

leg of a multi-stop flight from

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

on Saturday night, August 6, 1966.

Geography

Richardson County lies at the southeast tip of Nebraska. Its east boundary line abuts the west boundary line of the state of

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

(across the

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 ...

). Its south boundary line abuts the north boundary line of the state of

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. Several branches and tributaries of the Big Nemaha River flow southeast through the county, depositing their waters into the Missouri River at the county's SE corner. The county's terrain consists of rolling hills, sloped to the southeast, cut by numerous drainages. The county area is largely devoted to agriculture. The lowest point in the state of Nebraska is located on the

in Richardson County, where it flows out of Nebraska and into

and

. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.5%) is water.

Major highways

The major highways through the area are U.S. Highway 73 ( US_73

) and U.S. Highway 75 ( US_75

) running north and south through the county, U.S. Highway 159 ( US_159

) running east toward the Rulo bridge (and connecting to the state of Missouri), and Nebraska Highway 8 ( N-8

) running west along the southern border of

. Other state highways provide connections between smaller towns. * US 73

U.S. Highway 73 * US 75

U.S. Highway 75 * US 159

U.S. Highway 159 * N-8

Nebraska Highway 8 * N-62

Nebraska Highway 62 * N-67

Nebraska Highway 67 * N-105

Nebraska Highway 105

Protected areas

* Four Mile Creek State Wildlife Management Area * Indian Cave State Park (part) * Kirkmans Cove Recreation Area * Verdon Lake State Recreation Area

Adjacent counties

* Nemaha County - north * Holt County, Missouri - east * Doniphan County, Kansas - southeast * Brown County, Kansas - south * Nemaha County, Kansas - southwest * Pawnee County - west

Demographics

As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 9,531 people, 3,993 households, and 2,567 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 4,560 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.65%

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 ...

, 0.19%

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 ...

, 2.32% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.22% from other races, and 1.48% from two or more races. 1.05% 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. There were 3,993 households, out of which 29.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.40% 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, 7.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.70% were non-families. 32.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.95. The county population contained 25.50% under the age of 18, 5.90% from 18 to 24, 23.80% from 25 to 44, 23.30% from 45 to 64, and 21.50% 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 90.00 males. The median income for a household in the county was $29,884, and the median income for a family was $39,779. Males had a median income of $25,938 versus $18,775 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 $16,460. About 6.30% of families and 10.10% 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 10.50% of those under age 18 and 11.50% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Falls City (county seat) * Humboldt

Villages

* Barada * Dawson * Preston * Rulo * Salem * Shubert * Stella * Verdon

Unincorporated communities

* Nim City * Strausville

Former communities

* Archer * Arago * Mount Roy * Winnebago * Yankton

Politics

Richardson County voters have been reliably Republican for decades. In only one national election since 1936 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2024).

References

External links

*
Falls City Journal
{{coord, 40.12, -95.72, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-NE_source:UScensus1990 Nebraska counties on the Missouri River 1855 establishments in Nebraska Territory Populated places established in 1855