Thurston Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Watermelon Days street painting, Thurston, Nebraska

Thurston Area Cameras

Village · Thurston County · Population 116 (2020 census) · ZIP 68062 · Founded 1880s · Peak population 236 (1930)

About Thurston

Thurston is a village of 116 on Spur S-87A, about a mile east of NE 9 and 6 miles north of Pender. It lies within the Winnebago Reservation. Thurston Manufacturing Co., an equipment maker since 1971, the John Huss Presbyterian Church and the village office are here.

History

Thurston was settled in the 1880s on the Omaha Road line between Emerson and Pender and named, like the county, for John M. Thurston, a Union Pacific attorney who later served as a U.S. senator from 1895 to 1901. It first appeared in the census in 1910 and peaked at 236 people in 1930. The railroad through town was abandoned by 1972.

Highways and trails through Thurston

Route	One way	Other way
Spur S-87APaved spur, 1.1 mi, from Thurston to NE 9	Ends in Thurston	West to NE 9

Nearby towns

Pender	about 6 mi south	Spur S-87A and NE 9
Emerson	about 9 mi north	NE 9
Wakefield	about 16 mi northwest	NE 9
Walthill	about 19 mi southeast	NE 9 and NE 94

Things to see

John Huss Presbyterian Church, 202 N. 3rd St. · Lemmons Cemetery

Schools and health care

Schools: Pender Public Schools

Health care: No clinic; Pender Community Hospital (about 6 mi)

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Thurston County; Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska; Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Department of Transportation route mileposts. Distances marked "about" are estimates.