Fort Calhoun, platted in 1855 and named for statesman John C. Calhoun, was Washington County's first county seat and sits at the site of Fort Atkinson, the first U.S. Army fort built west of the Missouri River, now preserved as Fort Atkinson State Historical Park.

Home to roughly 1,100 residents, Fort Calhoun pairs small-city life along U.S. Route 75 with a deep frontier-military heritage as the site of Nebraska's first federal military post west of the Missouri.