Plymouth Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Plymouth Area Cameras

Village · Jefferson County · Population 363 (2020 census) · ZIP 68424 · Founded 1872 · Peak population 506 (1980)

About Plymouth

Plymouth is a village of 363 in northeastern Jefferson County on NE 4, about 15 miles northeast of Fairbury and 13 miles west of Beatrice. It has the Plymouth Public Library and St. Paul's Lutheran School, and Cub Creek Recreation Area is about 5 miles southwest.

History

Rev. D. E. Jones, a Congregational minister and land agent for the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, chose a site on Cub Creek for a colony of settlers from New England, and settlement began in 1871. The town was platted on September 18, 1872, named for Plymouth, Massachusetts, and given a post office that year; German families soon followed.

When the Rock Island built its Lincoln–Jansen line in the early 1890s, it would not stop at old Plymouth because of the grade and put its depot on the divide to the north. A new town was laid out in 1892 on land bought from Otto Knoche and incorporated in 1894, and old Plymouth, about 3 miles south, was abandoned; its cemetery remains. The fire department dates from 1905 and the water system from 1913, and American Legion Post 243 has held a Veterans Day celebration every year since 1947.

Highways and trails through Plymouth

Route	One way	Other way
NE 4East–west through the village	East toward Beatrice	West to NE 15 and Daykin

Nearby towns

DeWitt	about 7 mi north-northeast	County roads and NE 103
Harbine	about 8 mi south	County roads
Jansen	about 10 mi south-southwest	County roads
Ellis	about 8 mi southeast	County roads
Beatrice	about 13 mi east	NE 4
Fairbury	about 15 mi southwest	NE 4 and NE 15
Diller	about 14 mi south-southeast	County roads and NE 103

Things to see

The Plymouth historical marker, in Memorial Park at NE 4 and 723rd Rd. · Old Plymouth Cemetery, at the first townsite · Cub Creek Recreation Area (Lower Big Blue NRD), 71870 575th Ave., about 5 mi southwest: a 40-acre lake with a boat ramp, beach, nature trail and campsites · Plymouth Public Library, 103 N. Jefferson Ave. · Peace United Methodist Church and Peace Lutheran Church · Veterans Day celebration in November

Schools and health care

Schools: Tri County Public Schools, 72520 NE 103, south of DeWitt (no public school in Plymouth); St. Paul's Lutheran School (PK–8, Wisconsin Synod), 108 E. Highway 4

Health care: No clinic in Plymouth; 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.