About Lisco
Lisco sits in western Garden County, on the north side of the North Platte River valley. The census counted 68 residents in 2020, the same figure recorded in 2000. The place covers about 0.59 square miles at an elevation of 3,491 feet. U.S. Route 26 runs through it, 29 miles north-west to Bridgeport and 58 miles south-east to Ogallala.
History
The name comes from the Lisco family. Bill Lisco came into this country as a cowboy in 1872, and his brother Reuben settled on Rush Creek around 1885. Reuben Lisco built up a holding of some 40,000 acres, including the ground the town stands on, and later served as president of the Lisco State Bank. The Union Pacific reached this stretch of the valley and the depot was built in 1909, the same year Reuben Lisco laid out the village. Accounts differ on whether the track arrived in 1908 or 1909.
Rush Creek Ranch
Rush Creek Ranch, established by the Wells family in 1890, has long been the main employer in the area.
A census error
In the 2000 census the Census Bureau listed the place as Cisco. The mistake was corrected by 2005.
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Lisco was laid out in 1909 when the Union Pacific Railroad extended service to the site, named for a member of the Lisco ranching family (sources differ on whether it honors Bill or Reuben Lisco). Unlike Oshkosh and Lewellen, Lisco is not currently an incorporated municipality — it is classified as an unincorporated community (Census Designated Place) per Nebraska Legislature and NACO records, despite its long history as a platted railroad town.
A small unincorporated community on U.S. Route 26, historically platted as a railroad town in 1909.