Archer Nebraska

Former town · Richardson County · laid out 1855; abandoned 1857

About Archer

Archer was the first county seat of Richardson County, on the east side of Muddy Creek about 2.5 to 3.5 miles northeast of Falls City (sources differ). Only the Archer Cemetery remains, on a hilltop; the map point is the cemetery.

History

John C. Miller, Neil J. Sharp and others laid out Archer in 1855, and it was named county seat in March 1855; Fitzpatrick says it was named for Robert T. Archer, the first sheriff. Miller's hotel hosted John Brown and Jim Lane, the first two stores in the county opened here, a log building served as the courthouse, and the county's first recorded marriage took place here in October 1855.

When the Half-Breed Tract line was resurveyed in 1857, the town lay on reserved land. The settlers left, and the county seat went to Salem and then Falls City. Attorney Elmer S. Dundy later won an act of Congress letting the settlers keep their claims.

Things to see

Archer Cemetery, with stones from 1856 to 1879: from US 73 and NE 8 in Falls City, go 2.5 mi north, 1.5 mi east and 0.5 mi south, then walk a short way east along the fence line to the hilltop