Ohiowa Area Cameras
About Ohiowa
Ohiowa is a village in Fillmore County, in south-eastern Nebraska. It covers about 0.25 square miles at an elevation of about 1,588 feet. The 2020 census counted 122 residents, up from 115 in 2010. The name is unusual in containing the complete names of two states.
History
A post office in the area was established in 1870. The name came out of a compromise. Settlers from Ohio wanted the place named for their home state, settlers from Iowa objected, and the two names were joined. Both accounts agree that the newcomers arrived from Ohio and Iowa in roughly equal numbers. The town was platted on farmland selected by railroad officials. Sources differ on the exact year the line arrived, one giving 1886 and another 1887, with incorporation in the same period.
Population and buildings
Ohiowa reached its census peak of 433 residents in 1920. By its centennial in 1987 the count had fallen to 135. A brick schoolhouse built in 1921 remains in use. An auditorium built by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s stands in near original condition and is used for roller skating, films, dances, plays, banquets and village elections.
Ohiowa is a small village platted in 1886 as railroad infrastructure reached the site. Its name is a genuine portmanteau of "Ohio" and "Iowa," reflecting that many of its early settlers came from those two states. The village also has ties to Fillmore County's lesser-known Sorbian, or Wendish, immigrant community: Mato Kosyk, a significant Sorbian-language poet and writer born in Prussia in 1853, lived in Ohiowa and served as its pastor from 1899 to 1907. With a 2020 population of 122, Ohiowa is one of the smallest of Fillmore County's towns, though its population has held roughly stable in recent decades.
Ohiowa's straightforward, literal name tells its own settlement story, while its connection to Mato Kosyk links the village to a distinctive but often-overlooked strand of Nebraska's immigrant history. It remains a small, quiet farming community today.
Ohiowa Businesses & Places
17 listings in Ohiowa.
Click a category to see the businesses.
Eat & Drink (1)
- Lazy Horse Brewing & Winery — Brewery & Taproom
Outdoors & Recreation (1)
- Ohiowa RV Park — Campgrounds & RV Parks
Community & Faith (13)
- Antioch Cemetery — Cemeteries
- Chelsea Cemetery — Cemeteries
- Franklin Cemetery — Cemeteries
- Glengary Pioneer Cemetery — Cemeteries
- Grace Lutheran Cemetery — Cemeteries
- Grace Lutheran Church — Lutheran Church
- Ohiowa Cemetery — Cemeteries
- Pleasant Plain Cemetery — Cemeteries
- Pleasant Ridge Cemetery — Cemeteries
- St. John's Lutheran Church — Lutheran Church
- St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery North — Cemeteries
- St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery South — Cemeteries
- Zion Lutheran Cemetery — Cemeteries
Government & Resources (1)
- Ohiowa Village Office — City Hall
Utilities (1)
- Village of Ohiowa — Water Utility / District