Arthur County, Nebraska

Arthur County, Nebraska

County seat: Arthur · Created: 1887; organized 1913 · Named for: President Chester A. Arthur · License plates: prefix 91 · Population: 434 (2020 census); peak 1,412 in 1920 · Area: 718 sq mi · Time zone: Mountain

About Arthur County

Arthur County is grass-covered dune country in the western Sandhills, almost all of it cattle range. Its only town is Arthur (128 people in 2020), the county seat; the rest of the county’s people live on ranches, around old post-office sites such as Lena, Calora, Bucktail and Velma. It borders Grant County on the north, Hooker on the northeast, McPherson on the east, Keith on the south and Garden on the west. Arthur County is on Mountain Time; McPherson County to the east is on Central Time.

The Legislature drew the county’s lines in 1887, but for its first quarter-century the area was governed first from Logan County and then from McPherson County, formally joined to it in 1892 as Arthur Precinct. Kinkaid Act homesteaders filled the range after 1904, and residents who wanted a closer seat won a separate county, organized in 1913 and named for President Chester A. Arthur. The county had 1,412 people at its first census in 1920. No railroad ever reached it. In March 2026 the Morrill Fire, which burned about 643,000 acres across Morrill, Garden, Grant, Arthur and Keith counties, the largest wildfire on record in Nebraska, reached northern Arthur County, and its one death was Rose White, 86, of Arthur County. Range, fences and back roads may still show the effects.

Towns of Arthur County

Travel Corridors

NE 61 — north–south through Arthur, from Ogallala and Lake McConaughy to Hyannis and NE 2. NE 92 shares NE 61 from Lemoyne north to Arthur, then runs east to Tryon. Highway 92 Corridor → No U.S. highway or Interstate enters the county; I-80 is about 31 miles south at Ogallala.

Cameras: View Arthur County cameras → · Road conditions: Nebraska 511

Things to See

In Arthur: the Pilgrim Holiness Church, the “Baled Hay Church” of 1928, built with load-bearing walls of baled rye straw and called the oldest known straw-bale church in North America; the First Arthur County Courthouse and Jail of 1914–15, billed as the smallest courthouse in the United States; and the 1877 Mill Camp Log Cabin, an open-range line camp. The church and the courthouse are on the National Register, and the Arthur County Historical Society opens them by appointment.

Camping

Arthur Village Park, beside the courthouse, allows free RV parking around its edges, with water hydrants and a restroom but no hookups or dump station; it suits smaller rigs. Lake McConaughy, about 21 miles south, has the nearest state recreation areas and full campgrounds.

Arthur County Business Directory

Businesses within 20 miles of: Arthur · All listings →

Adjacent Counties

Grant County (north) · Hooker County (northeast) · McPherson County (east) · Keith County (south) · Garden County (west).

Events

The Arthur County Fair and rodeo are held in Arthur in summer, usually in early August.

Arthur County at a Glance

Arthur County, Nebraska — 718 square miles of Sandhills range with 434 people and one town, Arthur, the county seat. 35 listings across 5 towns. Mountain Time.

Getting there: NE 61 from Ogallala (about 31 miles south) or from NE 2 at Hyannis; NE 92 from Tryon on the east.

For visitors: the Baled Hay Church, the tiny 1914 courthouse and the 1877 log cabin in Arthur; free RV parking in the village park. No clinic or motel; the nearest hospital is in Ogallala.