Fort Calhoun Nebraska 68023
Fort Calhoun Area Cameras
About Fort Calhoun
Fort Calhoun is a city in Washington County, Nebraska, on U.S. Route 75 about twenty miles north of downtown Omaha. Its elevation is 1,099 feet, and it covers 0.68 square miles. The 2020 census counted 1,108 residents, up from 908 in 2010 and 856 in 2000. The Washington County Historical Museum is in town.
History
Fort Calhoun was platted in 1855 and named for John C. Calhoun. The site came first. Fort Atkinson stood just east of the present-day city and was the first United States Army post established west of the Missouri River in the unorganised part of the Louisiana Purchase. It was garrisoned in the 1820s and abandoned in 1827. At its height roughly 1,200 soldiers were stationed there, close to a quarter of the standing U.S. Army.
Council Bluff
The high ground the fort occupied was known as Council Bluff. In August 1804 the Lewis and Clark Expedition held a council there with members of the Oto and Missouria tribes. William Clark later recommended the bluff, which overlooks the Missouri River, to the government as a place to build a fort.
The park today
The site is now Fort Atkinson State Historical Park, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission bought the land in 1963 and spent about twenty years on reconstruction. Visitors can see rebuilt barracks, gates, an armourer's shop, the council house and the sutler store. Living history demonstrations run the first weekend of each month from May through October.
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Fort Calhoun, platted in 1855 and named for statesman John C. Calhoun, was Washington County's first county seat and sits at the site of Fort Atkinson, the first U.S. Army fort built west of the Missouri River, now preserved as Fort Atkinson State Historical Park.
Home to roughly 1,100 residents, Fort Calhoun pairs small-city life along U.S. Route 75 with a deep frontier-military heritage as the site of Nebraska's first federal military post west of the Missouri.
Navigate & Explore Fort Calhoun
Get directions: search "Fort Calhoun Nebraska" in Waze or Google Maps
Road Conditions: Nebraska 511 — 511.nebraska.gov
Washington County Cameras: View Washington County cameras