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Town Overview
Havens is an unincorporated community in Silver Creek township, in the north-eastern corner of Merrick County, at roughly 41°15′55″ N, 97°44′59″ W.
It began as a station on the Union Pacific Railroad — the reason almost every small place along this stretch of the Platte valley exists. A post office opened at Havens in 1919 and ran until it was discontinued in 1934, a working life of about fifteen years.
Havens was never incorporated and has no separate census population. It stands at about 1,584 feet, and the Platte River — which forms the county line with Polk County along this stretch — runs roughly a mile to the south. The origin of the name is not documented in any of the standard Nebraska place-name references, so this page does not guess at one. What remains is a place name on the railroad and the farms around it.
Adjacent Counties & Nearby Towns
Merrick County covers 494 square miles of low rolling plains sloping east and northeast, with 7,668 residents in 2020 and Central City as its seat. The Platte River forms its south-eastern boundary and Prairie Creek runs through the middle. Established in 1858 and organised in 1864, it was named for Elvira Merrick, wife of the territorial legislator who sponsored its creation. It borders Nance County to the north, Platte County to the northeast, Polk County to the east, Hamilton County to the south, Hall County to the southwest and Howard County to the west.
Nearest towns. Silver Creek, which gives the township its name, is the closest village at about 5.6 miles east-north-east. Clarks is almost exactly as close the other way, about 5.8 miles south-west along the same Union Pacific line, and Central City, the county seat, is about 17 miles south-west. Genoa, in Nance County, lies about 13 miles north, and Columbus, in Platte County, is the nearest larger town at about 23 miles east-north-east. Distances given here are straight-line.
Points of Interest & Events
A railroad station that outlived its post office. Havens is one of dozens of Union Pacific siding communities strung along the Platte valley between Columbus and Grand Island. Most had a post office for a few decades and then handed the mail back to a larger neighbour; Havens kept its own from 1919 to 1934.
The Platte valley. This corner of Merrick County lies on the corridor that carried the Mormon and Oregon trails, then the transcontinental railroad, and now U.S. Route 30 and Interstate 80 — one of the most historically travelled routes in North America.
Events. No recurring public event held at Havens could be independently verified, so none is claimed here. Silver Creek and Central City are the places to look for local events.
No businesses at Havens are currently listed in this directory.
Education & Health
Schools. There is no school at Havens, and the district boundary runs almost through the place. The Havens site itself falls within High Plains Community Schools, the PK–12 district formed in 2000 from the consolidation of Clarks, Polk, Hordville and Marquette; its elementary building is in Clarks, about 6 miles south-west, and its junior/senior high and district office are at Polk. Barely half a mile north-east of Havens the boundary changes to Twin River Public Schools, formed from Genoa, Monroe and Silver Creek and headquartered at Genoa. Families in the immediate area can fall either side of that line.
Health care. There is no clinic at Havens, in Clarks or in Silver Creek. The nearest hospital is Genoa Medical Facilities, a 19-bed critical access hospital at 706 Ewing Avenue in Genoa, about 13 miles north, with an emergency room, laboratory, imaging, surgery and the Park Street Medical Clinic alongside it. Merrick Medical Center (Bryan Health), 2802 28th Street in Central City, about 17 miles south-west, is the county’s own critical access hospital, with 24-hour emergency care, imaging and clinics. Grand Island and Columbus are the regional centres either side of the county.
Highway Access
Havens sits on or immediately beside U.S. Route 30 — the Lincoln Highway — in eastern Merrick County, alongside the Union Pacific main line that created it. The highway and the railroad run together the length of the Platte valley here, through Central City, Clarks, Havens, Silver Creek and Duncan on the way to Columbus.
Nebraska Highway 39 meets US-30 at Silver Creek, about 6 miles east-north-east, and runs north to Genoa. Nebraska Highway 92 joins US-30 south-west of Clarks, and Nebraska Highway 14 crosses at Central City, about 17 miles south-west.
Interstate 80 runs parallel well south of the Platte; the nearest interchanges are reached south through Polk County or by way of Aurora and York, a drive of roughly 35 to 40 miles.
Havens is an unincorporated community in Silver Creek township, north-eastern Merrick County, which began as a station on the Union Pacific Railroad. Its post office opened in 1919 and closed in 1934. Never incorporated and with no separate census population, it survives as a place name on the railroad in the Platte valley.
Navigate & Explore Havens
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Road Conditions: Nebraska 511 — 511.nebraska.gov
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