Beaver City Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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City · Furnas County · County seat · Population 537 (2020 census) · ZIP 68926 · Founded 1872 · Peak population 1,103 (1920)

About Beaver City

Beaver City is the seat of Furnas County, a city of 537 on Beaver Creek in the south-central part of the county. NE 89 runs through town; US 283 crosses NE 89 a few miles west. It has the county courthouse, the county fairgrounds, a public library and a city campground.

History

J. H. McKee and Jacob Struve located the town on Beaver Creek on October 9, 1872, and McKee & Denham opened the first store on November 1; the town was named for the creek and its beavers, and the post office opened on January 15, 1873. At the county's organizing election on April 8, 1873, a snowstorm held up Beaver City's returns, and Arapahoe was certified as county seat. Beaver City won the general election of October 14, 1873; Arapahoe contested it, Judge William Gaslin ruled for Beaver City, and the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed, ending the fight by 1876. Monell & Lashley built a grist mill on the creek in 1873–74, the Western Leader, the county's first newspaper, began here in 1875, and the Presbyterians organized in 1874.

The Burlington's branch up the Beaver from Orleans reached town in 1887. George W. Norris came to Beaver City in 1885 to practice law, served three terms as county attorney and became district judge in 1895 before moving to McCook in 1899; local tradition holds that he first thought about public power for farms while talking at a mill west of town. In 1919 Dr. Frank A. Brewster bought a Curtiss JN-4D "Jenny" for $8,000, and on May 23 he and pilot Wade Stevens flew to Herndon, Kansas, to operate on an injured oilfield worker. The city reached its largest population, 1,103, in 1920. The present courthouse, designed by John Latenser of Omaha, was built in 1949–50 and dedicated on May 4, 1951.

Highways and trails through Beaver City

Route	One way	Other way
NE 89East–west through the city	East to the Southern Valley school campus, Stamford and Orleans	West to US 283, Hendley and Wilsonville

Nearby towns

Hendley	about 8 mi west	NE 89
Edison	about 10 mi north-northeast	County roads and US 136
Arapahoe	about 12 mi north-northwest	NE 89 and US 283
Stamford	about 12 mi east	NE 89
Oxford	about 13 mi northeast	NE 89 and NE 46
Wilsonville	about 15 mi west	NE 89
Holbrook	about 15 mi northwest	US 283 and US 6/34
Cambridge	about 20 mi west-northwest	US 283 and US 6/34

Things to see

The Furnas County Courthouse, 912 R St., an Art Deco building dedicated in 1951, on the square with a Civil War monument · the "Nebraska's Flying Doctor" historical marker on NE 89 about 1 mi east · the Furnas County Fairgrounds and the Furnas County Fair in mid-July · West Side Park, a small city campground with a 9-hole disc golf course · the Beaver City Public Library, 408 10th St.

Events in Beaver City

Furnas County Fair
Furnas County Fair, a county fair in Beaver City, Nebraska.

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: Southern Valley Schools (district 33-0540): Southern Valley Elementary (PK–6) and Southern Valley Junior/Senior High (7–12), on a rural campus on NE 89 between Beaver City and Stamford (Oxford mailing address), (308) 868-2222

Health care: No clinic in Beaver City; nearest: Arapahoe Medical Clinic (Tri Valley), 305 Nebraska Ave., Arapahoe, (308) 962-8495, about 12 mi; hospital: Tri Valley Health System (Cambridge Memorial Hospital), 1305 US 6 & 34, Cambridge, (308) 697-3329, about 30 road miles; Norton County Hospital in Norton, Kansas, is about 21 mi south

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890); Who's Who in Nebraska, Furnas County (1940); Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names (1925); Southwest Nebraska Genealogical Society and NEGenWeb Furnas County; Furnas County website and 2025 Comprehensive Plan; History Nebraska and its historical markers; National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Game and Parks; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Nebraska Department of Transportation; Nebraska Department of Revenue; Nebraska Library Commission; school, hospital and city websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.