Stanton Nebraska 68779

Stanton is the county seat of Stanton County, in the Elkhorn Valley of northeastern Nebraska. The first white settlers arrived in 1865 from Indiana and Wisconsin, and a post office was established in 1867 at the Botorff farm under the name Pleasant Run. The town was platted in 1870, and in 1877 the name of the settlement was changed to Stanton. The city and the county are named after Edwin Stanton, secretary of war under President Abraham Lincoln; the county had earlier been called Izard, for the second territorial governor.

The Chicago and North Western Railroad arrived in August 1879 and made the town a shipping hub. Stanton was incorporated in 1881 and became a city of the second class in 1893. Arc vapor gas lights were installed in 1900, a light company was formed in 1903 to make electricity available, and the library established in 1886 got a Carnegie building in 1914. Rail service ended in 1982.

The county economy is, and always has been, based on agriculture, characterized by livestock production with more grain grown for feed than for cash grain. Stanton placed among the top ten in national community improvement competition in 1964 and again in 1966. The 2020 census recorded 1,520 residents, and the town is part of the Norfolk micropolitan statistical area.

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