Chappell Nebraska

Chappell is a city in and the county seat of Deuel County, Nebraska, platted in 1884 when the railroad was extended to the site. The city takes its name from Charles Henry Chappell, a railroad official. Chappell sits in Nebraska's panhandle and, unlike most of the state, observes Mountain Time. The city's most widely recognized native is Richard N. Cabela, who grew up in Chappell before co-founding Cabela's, the outdoor-retail company that became a Nebraska institution. Other notable natives include Frank W. Cyr, who organized the United States' first national standards conference for school bus transportation in 1939 — work credited with establishing the now-universal "school bus yellow" color standard; L. Steven Grasz, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit; and Virginia D. Smith, who represented Nebraska's 3rd District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1991. With a population of 844 (2020 census), down from 983 in 2000, Chappell remains Deuel County's largest city and seat of government.

Chappell, the Deuel County seat, was platted in 1884 and named for railroad official Charles Henry Chappell. It's the hometown of Richard N. Cabela, co-founder of Cabela's, and of Frank W. Cyr, who helped establish the national standard for yellow school buses. Population was 844 in 2020.