Greeley County, Nebraska

Greeley County, Nebraska

County seat: Greeley (officially Greeley Center) · Created: March 1871; organized 1872 · Named for: Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune · License plates: prefix 62 · Population: 2,188 (2020 census); peak 8,685 in 1920 · Area: 570 sq mi · Time zone: Central

About Greeley County

Greeley County lies in central Nebraska between the Cedar River, which crosses its northeast corner, and the North Loup, which crosses its southwest corner. It has no city: its four towns are the villages of Spalding, the largest; Greeley, the county seat; Scotia; and Wolbach. It borders Wheeler County on the north, Boone on the east, Nance at its southeast corner, Howard on the south, Sherman at its southwest corner and Valley on the west.

The Legislature created the county in March 1871 and named it for Horace Greeley; the first homesteads were filed that year, and the county was organized in 1872. The seat moved from Lamartine to Scotia in 1874 and, after a failed attempt in 1888 that went to the Nebraska Supreme Court, to Greeley Center in 1890. In 1879 Bishop John Lancaster Spalding’s Irish Catholic Colonization Association bought about 25,000 acres in the middle of the county, settling Irish families around O’Connor and Spalding; the Greeley Irish Festival still celebrates that heritage. The Union Pacific reached Scotia in 1883 and the Burlington built through Greeley and Wolbach in 1887. The county peaked at 8,685 people in 1920.

Towns of Greeley County

Travel Corridors

US 281 — north–south past Wolbach and Greeley, between St. Paul and Bartlett. US 281 Corridor →

NE 91 — east from US 281 through Spalding toward Albion. Highway 91 Corridor → NE 11 runs up the North Loup valley through Scotia on the Loup Rivers Scenic Byway. Highway 11 Corridor → NE 22 runs east–west through Scotia and Wolbach, and NE 56 begins at US 281 just south of Greeley.

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

Things to See

Happy Jack Peak and Chalk Mine south of Scotia, with guided tours Memorial Day to Labor Day, and the 1887 Scotia Chalk Building in town; the 1914 courthouse and the county museum in Greeley; the St. Michael’s Catholic Church Complex and the 1919 power plant and dam in Spalding; and the Church of the Visitation at O’Connor. The chalk building, the courthouse, St. Michael’s, the power plant and the Visitation church are all on the National Register.

Outdoors

Davis Creek Reservoir, a 1,145-acre lake on the Greeley–Valley county line about 4 miles southwest of Scotia, has 74 electric campsites and boat ramps run by the Lower Loup NRD. The Cedar River near Spalding is good for canoeing and fishing, and Greeley, Spalding and Wolbach have city-park campgrounds. Cottonwood Greens in Spalding is a public nine-hole course.

Greeley County Business Directory

Businesses within 20 miles of: Spalding · Greeley · Scotia · Wolbach · All listings →

Adjacent Counties

Wheeler County (north) · Boone County (east) · Nance County (southeast) · Howard County (south) · Sherman County (southwest) · Valley County (west).

Events

Each year: chalk mine tours at Happy Jack from Memorial Day to Labor Day; the Greeley County Fair in Spalding in early August; the Greeley Irish Festival on the third Saturday of September (September 19, 2026); and the Junk Jaunt through the Loup valley the last full weekend of September.

Greeley County at a Glance

Greeley County, Nebraska — Irish Catholic country between the Cedar and North Loup rivers, with four villages and no city. County seat Greeley (Greeley Center). 129 listings across 4 towns. Central Time.

Getting there: US 281 north–south past Wolbach and Greeley; NE 91 to Spalding; NE 22 and NE 11 to Scotia.

For visitors: Happy Jack Chalk Mine near Scotia, the St. Michael’s complex in Spalding, the Greeley Irish Festival in September and Davis Creek Reservoir. Clinic: Spalding Clinic; nearest hospitals in Ord, St. Paul and Albion.