Visitor & Travel Categories
Business & Economic Categories
Lamar, Nebraska
Lamar is a small community in Chase County, Nebraska, with a population of 28 at the 2020 census. Long incorporated as a village, Lamar unincorporated after a resident vote on November 5, 2024, and is now an unincorporated community. It was named for Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II, U.S. Secretary of the Interior under President Grover Cleveland.
History
Lamar has an unusually layered founding story. The settlement began in 1886 as "Allendale," named for settler A.S. Allen, and was soon renamed "Lenox" after residents objected to Allen’s name being too prominent. The town was then re-platted at its present site by the Lincoln Land Company in 1887, when the Burlington Railroad extended into the area, receiving its final name, Lamar, at that point — though the railroad grade toward Holyoke, Colorado, was reportedly graded but never actually laid with track through Lamar. By 1910, Lamar had a real commercial core: two grocery stores, a bank, hardware and implement stores, a drugstore, a livery, a newspaper, a hotel, a blacksmith shop, several churches, a resident physician, and a community band. During the Depression, livery barns were converted into garages, and the town held free outdoor movies projected onto a sheet on the side of the Christian Church. Irrigation development in the 1960s and 1970s drove up local land values, prompting many longtime landowners to sell; newer owners tended to shop in larger towns, which gradually weakened Lamar’s local business base. The town celebrated its centennial in 1987, and its post office operated from 1887 until 1995.
Location & Geography
Lamar is located in northern Chase County.
Today
Lamar remains a very small, close-knit community that recently transitioned from village to unincorporated status. Visitors and residents can browse local businesses and services through the categories below or the full Chase County directory.
Lamar, Nebraska
Small community in Chase County. Population 28 (2020). Founded 1887; unincorporated as a village in November 2024. Named for U.S. Interior Secretary L.Q.C. Lamar.
Designation: Unincorporated Community (formerly a Village until 2024)