Davenport is a small Thayer County village platted in 1872 by the Nebraska Land and Town Company and named for Davenport, Iowa. Once served by two competing railroad lines, the community has weathered repeated business-district fires — most recently in 2011 — while maintaining its rural character.

With a 2020 population of 321, Davenport is one of the county's more stable smaller villages, buoyed historically by its double-railroad access and a long-running set of community institutions including churches dating to the 1880s and 1890s.