About Holbrook
Holbrook is a village in Furnas County in south-western Nebraska. Arapahoe lies about five miles east and Cambridge about eight miles west. The 2020 census counted 201 residents on roughly 0.16 square miles. The ZIP code is 68948. A log cabin stands in Holbrook Park.
History
Isaac Burton settled here in 1870, some years after first seeing the country, and opened a trading post with a partner, H. Dice, in a log cabin where Deer Creek joins a bend of the Republican River. The place was called Burton's Bend, and a post office under that name was established in August 1872. Trade ran to buffalo meat, grain, hay and guns. When Furnas County organised in February 1873, neither man pushed for the county seat, and it went to Beaver City.
The railroad years
The railroad came through in the late 1870s and the town took the name Holbrook in the early 1880s, after an official of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. By 1895 more than twenty businesses were operating. A fire on 24 April 1907 destroyed much of the business district. Population peaked at 488 in 1930, then eased down: 225 in 2000, 207 in 2010, 201 in 2020. The 1935 Republican River flood carried off what was left of Burton's old trading post.
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Holbrook was originally known as "Burton's Bend" before being renamed around 1880 when the railroad was built through, honoring a railroad official. A log cabin preserved in Holbrook Park is a noted local landmark reflecting the town's pioneer roots.
A small railroad-era village originally known as Burton's Bend.