GAGE COUNTY WEATHER

Gage County, Nebraska

County seat: Beatrice · Created: 1855 by the first territorial legislature; organized July 1857 · Named for: Rev. William D. Gage, a Methodist minister and first chaplain of the territorial legislature · License plates: prefix 3 · Population: 21,704 (2020 census; peak 36,344 in 1890) · Area: about 851 sq mi of land

About Gage County

Gage County lies on the Kansas line in southeastern Nebraska, crossed from north to south by the Big Blue River. Its southern edge was part of the Otoe-Missouria reservation, home to the tribes from 1855 until their removal to Indian Territory in 1881; Barneston stands on the old agency site. Beatrice was founded in 1857 by a colony of steamboat passengers, and on January 1, 1863, Daniel Freeman filed one of the first claims under the Homestead Act west of town, now Homestead National Historical Park. In 1864 eight townships of the dissolved Clay County were added on the north.

Railroads built most of the towns: the Atchison & Nebraska founded Adams in 1873, the Burlington founded Wymore, Odell, Liberty and Filley in 1880–83, the Union Pacific Holmesville, Cortland, Pickrell and Barneston in 1880–84, and the Rock Island Virginia, Ellis and Clatonia in 1887–92. The county counted 36,344 people in 1890. Its license-plate prefix, 3, was assigned in 1922 because it had the third-most vehicles in the state.

Towns of Gage County

Cities and villages

Beatrice

City · County seat · Pop. 12,261 · ZIP 68310
US 77 · US 136 · NE 4

The Gage County seat, a city of 12,261 on the Big Blue River founded in 1857, near Homestead National Historical Park on the first homestead claim. A National Register downtown, the 1890s courthouse, the county museum in the 1906 depot and the Homestead Trail.

Wymore

City · Pop. 1,377 · ZIP 68466
US 77

City of 1,377 platted on the Burlington in 1881 and named for farmer Samuel Wymore; a railroad division point settled by many Welsh families. The Great Plains Welsh Heritage Center, brick streets and Arbor State Park.

Blue Springs

City · Pop. 282 · ZIP 68318
US 77 (just west)

Nebraska's least populous city at the 2020 census, 282 people, on the Big Blue River just north of Wymore. Settled in 1857 and named for its springs; the 1855 Johnson Cabin is on the National Register.

Barneston

Village · Pop. 90 · ZIP 68309
NE 8

Village of 90 on NE 8, built in 1884 on the site of the Otoe-Missouria agency of the Big Blue Reservation. The Barneston Site is on the National Register.

Liberty

Village · Pop. 37 · ZIP 68381
S-34A spur from NE 8

Village of 37 on a spur north of NE 8, laid out at a Burlington station in 1880–81. Birthplace of U.S. Senate Republican leader Kenneth S. Wherry.

Odell

Village · Pop. 260 · ZIP 68415
NE 8 · NE 112

Village of 260 on NE 8 and NE 112, platted in 1880 on former Otoe reservation land. The Old West Trails Center fills an 1885 limestone bank on the National Register; the Oregon Trail passed just south.

Adams

Village · Pop. 604 · ZIP 68301
NE 41 (S-34C spur)

Village of 604 in northeastern Gage County, laid out on the Atchison & Nebraska in 1873 and named for settler John O. Adams. Freeman Public Schools, a clinic, Gold Crest Retirement Center and Community Days.

Cortland

Village · Pop. 504 · ZIP 68331
US 77

Village of 504 on US 77 halfway between Lincoln and Beatrice, platted on the Union Pacific in 1884. The Cortland Museum, Cortland United Church and the Homestead Trail.

Clatonia

Village · Pop. 263 · ZIP 68328
NE 41

Village of 263 on NE 41 in the county's northwest corner, a German farm settlement from about 1869 that became a Rock Island town in 1892. Named for Clatonia Creek.

Pickrell

Village · Pop. 186 · ZIP 68422
US 77 (S-34D spur)

Village of 186 on a hillside above the old Union Pacific grade, laid out in 1884 and named for William Pickrell. The Homestead Trail passes through, 7 miles north of Beatrice.

Filley

Village · Pop. 124 · ZIP 68357
US 136

Village of 124 on US 136 founded in 1882 by cattleman Elijah Filley, whose 1874 limestone barn south of town is on the National Register. Birthplace of actor Robert Taylor.

Virginia

Village · Pop. 74 · ZIP 68458
NE 4

Village of 74 platted in 1887 by Ford Lewis on the Rock Island and named for Virginia Lewis. A grain-elevator town just south of NE 4.

Former towns and post office communities

Holmesville

Unincorporated community · laid out 1880
County roads about 7 mi southeast of Beatrice

Small community on the east bank of the Big Blue, laid out on the Union Pacific in 1880 by quarryman Morgan L. Holmes. About 60 people.

Rockford

Unincorporated community · settled 1858
County roads about 8 mi east of Beatrice, near Rockford Lake

Rural community east of Beatrice, settled in 1858 and named for rock quarries near Mud Creek. Rockford Lake State Recreation Area, with 72 campsites, is about 2 miles southeast.

Ellis

Unincorporated community · post office 1887–1958
US 136, about 8 mi west-southwest of Beatrice

Rock Island station town on US 136 west of Beatrice, named for banker John R. Ellis, with a post office from 1887 to 1958. Ellis United Methodist Church still meets.

Hoag

Former town · post office 1885–1934
County roads about 6 mi northwest of Beatrice

Railroad hamlet northwest of Beatrice, the first station out of Beatrice on the Burlington line to Lincoln, with a post office from 1885 to 1934.

Travel Corridors

US 136 — the Heritage Highway, east–west through Ellis, Beatrice and Filley. US 136 Corridor →

NE 4 — east–west past Homestead National Historical Park, through Beatrice with US 136, then past Virginia toward Table Rock. NE 4 Corridor →

US 77 — north–south through Cortland, Beatrice, Blue Springs and Wymore, from Lincoln to Marysville, Kansas; north of Beatrice it is the Homestead Expressway.

State highways — NE 8 across the south through Odell and Barneston, with a spur to Liberty; NE 41 through Clatonia and past Adams; NE 43 north from Adams; and NE 112 from the Kansas line through Odell to US 77 near Blue Springs.

Cameras: View Gage County cameras → · Road conditions: Nebraska 511

Things to See

Homestead National Historical Park west of Beatrice; in Beatrice, the downtown historic district, the courthouse, the Gage County Historical Society Museum in the 1906 depot and Yesterday's Lady; the 1874 Elijah Filley Stone Barn near Filley; the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Center in Wymore; the Johnson Cabin in Blue Springs; the Old West Trails Center in Odell; and the Cortland Museum.

Outdoors

Rockford Lake State Recreation Area near Rockford has a 150-acre lake and 72 campsites. The Homestead Trail runs about 40 miles from Beatrice through Pickrell and Cortland to Lincoln. Hunters can use Diamond Lake, Donald Whitney Memorial and Arrowhead wildlife management areas near Odell, and the Lower Big Blue NRD manages areas at Bear Creek, Big Indian, Clatonia and Wolf-Wildcat. Campers can also stay at Chautauqua Park in Beatrice and Arbor State Park in Wymore.

Gage County Business Directory

Businesses within 20 miles of: Beatrice · Wymore · Adams · Cortland · Odell · All listings →

Adjacent Counties

Lancaster County (north) · Otoe County and Johnson County (northeast) · Pawnee County (east) · Marshall County, Kansas (southeast) · Washington County, Kansas (southwest) · Jefferson County (west) · Saline County (northwest)

Events

2026 dates: Homestead Days in Beatrice (parade June 27; park events June 27–28); the Gage County Fair in Beatrice (July 22–26); the Filley Stone Barn harvest festival in October; and the Nebraska Governor's Pheasant Hunt in Beatrice (November 6–7).

Events in Gage County

  • Adams Community Days (Adams)
    Adams Community Days is an annual multi-day community celebration held each August in Adams, organized by the ADAMS Community Foundation.
  • Adams Independence Day Celebration (Adams)
    Adams holds its Independence Day celebration on the first Saturday of July each year, featuring volleyball and softball tournaments, a community barbecue, and firewo…
  • Gage County Fair (Beatrice)
    The Gage County Fair is held annually in late July at the Gage County Fairgrounds in Beatrice, the county seat, two blocks south on Logan Street off West Court.
  • Homestead Days (Beatrice)

Know of another event in the county? Tell us about it.

Gage County at a Glance

Gage County, Nebraska — on the Kansas line, along the Big Blue River. County seat Beatrice; the other cities are Wymore and Blue Springs.

Getting there: US 77 from Lincoln or Kansas, US 136 from Tecumseh or Fairbury, and NE 4 from the west.

For visitors: Homestead National Historical Park, Beatrice's historic downtown and museums, the Filley Stone Barn, Wymore's Welsh heritage, Rockford Lake and the Homestead Trail. Hospital: Beatrice Community Hospital and Health Center.

Vehicles registered in Gage County carry license plate number 3. See what every Nebraska county number means.

Gage County Businesses & Places

305 listings in Gage County.

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