Melrose Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Former town · Harlan County · 1871–1881

About Melrose

Melrose was a town in western Harlan County, on the north side of the Republican valley about 2 miles west of Orleans, just north of the present US 136. Nothing remains of it; the location is approximate.

History

In the fall of 1870 F. A. Bieyon and 10 to 15 companions built a stockade here and spent the winter in it; Mrs. James Duncan, who lived in the stockade, is remembered as the first white woman in the county. Early in 1871 Bieyon built a log store, the first permanent building and store in Harlan County, and Casey & Connelly and Hooper & McKee followed. Swedish and Danish settlers took up land around it. The townsite was surveyed in the summer of 1872, and its plat was recorded on December 28, 1872.

In the county-seat election of June 29, 1872, Republican City, Melrose, Alma and Judge Gaslin's homestead split the vote; after further elections that August, Melrose was declared the winner, and the county commissioners met at Bieyon's store. Melrose had a post office from January 7, 1873, and two newspapers, the Advertiser and the Tribune. In 1873 Judge Daniel Gantt ruled that the 1871 vote for Alma stood, and the records went back to Alma. The post office moved to Orleans in June 1873, businesses followed (Mike Manning moved four buildings), and by 1876 nothing was left. The townsite was vacated on December 27, 1881, and its school district joined Orleans in 1885.

Nearby towns

Orleans	about 2 mi east	US 136
Alma	about 7 mi east-southeast	US 136
Stamford	about 5 mi west	NE 89
Oxford	about 11 mi northwest	US 136
Huntley	about 12 mi east-northeast	US 136, US 183 and S-42A