About Eustis
Eustis is a village in Frontier County, Nebraska. Cozad lies about thirteen miles north and Elwood about ten miles south-east. The village covers 0.42 square miles. The 2020 census counted 389 residents, down from 401 in 2010 and 464 in 2000. By the 2010 count it was the second most populous community in Frontier County. Local children attend Eustis-Farnam Public Schools, a district shared with the village of Farnam in Dawson County.
History
Eustis got its start in 1886, following construction of the railroad through the territory. The post office opened the same year. The town was named for Percy Sprague Eustis, a railroad official, and it was incorporated as a village in 1888.
German heritage
The village makes a point of its German background and calls itself the Sausage Capitol of Nebraska. Wurst Tag is held the second Saturday in June, with an early morning walk and road race, a German dinner and polka dancing. St Nicholas Day falls on 6 December, when businesses around town keep open house with snacks, cookies and hot drinks.
People
Clayton Keith Yeutter served as United States Secretary of Agriculture from 1989 to 1991. Ralph G. Brooks was the 29th governor of Nebraska. Both are on the village's list of notable residents.
Visitor & Travel Categories
Business & Economic Categories
Eustis is a village in northern Frontier County that began as a post office called "Somerset," established in 1884. The Lincoln Land Company purchased the townsite and renamed it Eustis in 1896, honoring Percy S. Eustis, a passenger agent for the Burlington Railroad. Eustis has produced two notable Nebraskans: Ralph G. Brooks, the 29th Governor of Nebraska, who died in office in 1960 after an earlier career as a teacher and college administrator; and Clayton K. Yeutter, who served as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1989 to 1991, U.S. Trade Representative from 1985 to 1989, and chairman of the Republican National Committee, after an earlier career leading the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The village is served by the Eustis-Farnam Public Schools district. With a 2020 population of 389, Eustis has declined gradually from a peak of 460 residents in 1980.
Eustis punches well above its weight in notable natives for a village its size, having produced both a Nebraska governor and a U.S. Cabinet secretary. Its rename from "Somerset" to honor a railroad passenger agent reflects the same Burlington-driven settlement pattern found across much of Frontier County.