Bancroft Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Photo: Bancroft, Nebraska — Home of John G. Neihardt

📷 Bancroft Area Cameras

US-275 North of West Point — Live camera on the US-275 corridor (approx. 20 miles south of Bancroft).

Village · Cuming County · Population 496 (2020 census) · ZIP 68004 · Founded 1880 · Peak population 742 (1910)

About Bancroft

Bancroft is a village of 496 in the Logan Creek valley of northeastern Cuming County, on NE 51 where NE 16 begins. It is home to the John G. Neihardt State Historic Site, Bancroft-Rosalie schools, the Bancroft Medical Clinic, the Bancroft Public Library and Bancroft Park.

History

The Omaha called the place Unashta Zinga, "little stopping place." Ford B. Barber homesteaded here in the mid-1870s and in 1880 deeded land to the railroad, the line later known as the Omaha Road, which laid out the town. Barber declined to have it called Barbersville; it was named for George Bancroft, either the historian or a railroad engineer of the same name. Omaha Reservation land to the north was sold to settlers in 1884. The population peaked at 742 in 1910.

John G. Neihardt lived in Bancroft from 1900 to 1920. He co-owned and edited the Bancroft Blade from 1903 to 1905, and in 1911 rented the small frame study where he began A Cycle of the West in 1912; he was named poet laureate of Nebraska in 1921 and later wrote Black Elk Speaks. Susette "Bright Eyes" La Flesche, the Omaha writer and reformer, is buried in the Bancroft Cemetery. The depot closed in 1963, and Bancroft and Rosalie schools merged in 1982.

Highways and trails through Bancroft

Route	One way	Other way
NE 51Along the south edge of the village	East to US 77 near Lyons and on to Decatur	West to NE 9 and Wisner (about 20 mi)
NE 16Begins at NE 51 just southeast of town	North to NE 9 and Pender (about 11 mi)	Begins at NE 51

Nearby towns

Rosalie	about 6 mi northeast	County roads
Lyons	about 9 mi east	NE 51 and US 77
Pender	about 11 mi north	NE 16
Oakland	about 16 mi south	NE 51 and US 77
West Point	about 19 mi southwest	NE 51 and NE 9
Wisner	about 20 mi west	NE 51

Things to see

John G. Neihardt State Historic Site, 306 W. Elm St.: Neihardt's study (National Register), a museum and the Sacred Hoop Prayer Garden (Thursday–Saturday 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; free) · Bancroft historical marker on NE 51 · Bancroft Cemetery, grave of Susette La Flesche · Bancroft Park · the Neihardt Spring Conference in late April and Neihardt Day on the first Sunday in August

Schools and health care

Schools: Bancroft-Rosalie Community Schools, 708 Main St.: elementary (pre-K–6) and junior-senior high (7–12)

Health care: Bancroft Medical Clinic, 219 Main St. (Pender Community Hospital District; part-week hours); nearest hospital Pender Community Hospital (about 11 mi)

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); NEGenWeb Cuming County; History Nebraska; National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Department of Transportation route mileposts. Distances marked "about" are estimates.