Wahoo, the Saunders County seat, was established in 1870 by Czech, German, and Scandinavian settlers along Wahoo Creek, and became the county seat in 1873, replacing Ashland. Its name comes from the eastern wahoo shrub found along the creek banks, itself derived from a Dakota word meaning “arrow wood.”

Wahoo is the birthplace or hometown of an unusually accomplished list of natives, including Nobel Prize-winning geneticist George Beadle, Hall of Fame baseball player Sam Crawford, composer Howard Hanson, 20th Century Fox co-founder Darryl F. Zanuck, and Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman. With a 2020 population of 4,818, it remains the county's largest town and has been referenced for decades on David Letterman's “Late Show” Top Ten List as his fictional home office.