Wheeler County, Nebraska

Wheeler County, Nebraska

County seat: Bartlett · Created: February 17, 1877; organized April 11, 1881 · Named for: Major Daniel H. Wheeler, longtime secretary of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture · License plates: prefix 84 · Population: 774 (2020 census); peak 2,531 in 1920 · Area: 576 sq mi · Time zone: Central

About Wheeler County

Wheeler County lies where the eastern Sandhills give way to rolling loess and farm ground: grassy hills cut by Beaver Creek in the north and the Cedar River in the southwest, with barely 0.4 square mile of water in the whole county. It has two villages, Bartlett, the county seat, and Ericson; Cumminsville, the first town, and Cedar City, the first county seat, are former towns. About three of every four residents live in the country. The county borders Holt County on the north, Antelope on the northeast, Boone on the southeast, Greeley on the south, Valley on the southwest and Garfield on the west.

Created in 1877 and organized in 1881, the county first ran twice as far west; its western half became Garfield County after a vote in 1881 and organization in 1884. Cedar City was the temporary seat until Bartlett won it in 1885–86 over Cumminsville, 193 to 90. The Burlington built a branch from Greeley to Ericson in 1886; Bartlett never had a railroad. Kinkaid homesteaders after 1904 filled the county to its peak of 2,531 in 1920. The 1918 courthouse, now a museum, replaced one that burned in 1917, and a new courthouse went up in 1980–82. The Ericson Dam on the Cedar River failed on June 13, 2010. Other early post offices included Wheeler (first called Baird, 1881–1934), Headquarters (1908–1917), Pibel, Arden, Francis, Lisle, Newboro, Buffalo and Ono.

Towns of Wheeler County

Travel Corridors

US 281 — north–south through the middle of the county and Bartlett, past Pibel Lake, from Spalding and Grand Island north to O’Neill. US 281 Corridor →

NE 70 runs with US 281 through Bartlett for about 14 miles, then east to Elgin; west of US 281 it runs with NE 91 through Ericson toward Burwell. NE 91 also follows US 281 south for about 6 miles before turning east to Spalding and Albion. Highway 91 Corridor →

Cameras: View Wheeler County cameras → (US 281 north and south of Bartlett) · Road conditions: Nebraska 511

Things to See

The Mignery Sculpture Garden, about 50 Western bronzes by Bartlett native Herb Mignery on the courthouse lawn; the 1918 former courthouse, now the county museum (National Register); Bibs and Boots Cafe in Bartlett; and Pibel Lake, home of the national champion eastern cottonwood.

Outdoors

Wheeler County has no state park or wildlife management area. Pibel Lake Recreation Area, about 9 miles south of Bartlett just east of US 281, is run by the Lower Loup Natural Resources District (Game and Parks managed it until 2012): a 24-acre lake with bass, bluegill, catfish and perch, two ADA fishing piers, a boat ramp, a picnic shelter and primitive camping on the west side, with no hookups or dump station. On its east shore stands the national champion eastern cottonwood, 85 feet tall, 37.2 feet around and 120 feet across, crowned in February 2025. Lake Ericson, just southeast of Ericson, has 21 electric RV sites ($30) and 15 tent sites ($10), a beach and a boat ramp. Floaters tank the upper Cedar River near Ericson. Hunting is on private land and Open Fields and Waters walk-in tracts.

Wheeler County Business Directory

Businesses within 20 miles of: Bartlett · Ericson · All listings →

Adjacent Counties

Holt County (north) · Antelope County (northeast) · Boone County (southeast) · Greeley County (south) · Valley County (southwest) · Garfield County (west).

Events

Each year: the Wheeler County Fair and Rodeo at Bartlett in late July and early August (the 100th fair was in 2025), and the Junk Jaunt through the Sandhills on the last full weekend of September.

Wheeler County at a Glance

Wheeler County, Nebraska — where the Sandhills meet farm country, with Beaver Creek and the Cedar River. County seat Bartlett. 41 listings across 4 towns. Central Time.

Getting there: US 281 north–south through Bartlett, with NE 70; NE 70 and NE 91 east–west through Ericson.

For visitors: the Mignery Sculpture Garden and courthouse museum in Bartlett, Pibel Lake and its champion cottonwood, and Lake Ericson. No hospital in the county; nearest in Ord, Albion, Neligh and O’Neill.