Daykin Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Jefferson County · Population 153 (2020 census) · ZIP 68338 · Founded 1887 · Peak population 220 (1910)

About Daykin

Daykin is a village of 153 in northwestern Jefferson County on NE 4, about 14 miles north-northwest of Fairbury. Meridian Public Schools has its campus just west of town, and the village has the Daykin Public Library.

History

The village was founded in 1887, when the railroad north from Fairbury (later the St. Joseph & Grand Island) came through, on land entered and owned by John Daykin, who had bought it in 1869; Daykin, a railroad conductor, is remembered as one of the conductors of Abraham Lincoln's funeral train in 1865. By 1890 the village had about 200 people, two general stores and a station. St. John Lutheran Church held its first services in May 1888 and kept German services into the 1920s.

Daykin's schools became a 12-grade system in 1926, and the 1935 school building is now the Daykin Community Building. Local tradition holds that Ripley's Believe It or Not credited Daykin in the 1930s with more windmills per person than any town in Nebraska; one windmill still stands at the community building. In 1967–68 the Alexandria, Daykin and Tobias districts merged as Meridian Public Schools. The population peaked at 220 in 1910.

Highways and trails through Daykin

Route	One way	Other way
NE 4East–west through the village	East to NE 15 (about 6 mi) and Plymouth	West into Thayer County, past the north end of NE 53

Nearby towns

Tobias	about 7 mi north-northwest	County roads
Alexandria	about 7 mi southwest	County roads
Powell	about 7 mi south	County roads
Western	about 7 mi northeast	NE 4 and NE 15
Fairbury	about 14 mi south-southeast	NE 4 and NE 15
Plymouth	about 16 mi east	NE 4

Things to see

The Daykin Community Building (1935) and its memorial windmill · Daykin Public Library, 108 Frost St. · St. John Lutheran Church · Immanuel Lutheran Church, in the country

Schools and health care

Schools: Meridian Public Schools: Meridian Elementary (PK–6) and Meridian High School (7–12), one campus at 72380 560th Ave., about 2 mi west of Daykin

Health care: No clinic in Daykin; nearest hospital: Jefferson Community Health & Life, 2200 H St., Fairbury (the county hospital, with a 24-hour emergency room; called Fairbury Hospital until 2017)

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890–91); Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names; History Nebraska and its historical markers; National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Game and Parks; Little Blue and Lower Big Blue NRDs; Nebraska Department of Transportation; NEGenWeb Jefferson County; Visit Oregon Trail (Jefferson County tourism); city, village, school, museum and hospital websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.