Harrisburg Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Unincorporated county seat · Banner County · County seat · Population 99 (2020 census) · ZIP 69345 · Founded 1889

About Harrisburg

Harrisburg is the seat of Banner County and the county's only community, a census-designated place of 99 (2020) in the Pumpkin Creek valley at 4,629 feet, about 20 miles south of Scottsbluff and 22 miles north of Kimball. It is not incorporated; with Tryon in McPherson County, it is one of only two Nebraska county seats that are not cities or villages. NE 71 passes east of town and NE 88 north of it, and Spur 4A leads in from NE 71. There has never been a railroad. Harrisburg is on Mountain Time.

History

Cattle ranchers were the first settlers in the Pumpkin Creek country in the 1870s, and homesteaders followed from 1884. C. A. Schooley of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, bought a claim from Pete Clausen and started a town called Centropolis, with a store, the Red Front, and a newspaper, the Centropolis World; his nephew C. H. Randall was the first postmaster. When voters split Banner County from Cheyenne County on November 6, 1888, Ashford became the temporary seat, and Ashford, Banner, Freeport and Centropolis competed for the permanent one. It took two special elections to settle it. The townsite was surveyed on May 22, 1889, and dedicated a week later as Harrisburg, for Schooley's hometown.

Schooley gave the land and a frame courthouse, built in 1890, and by 1892 the town had two hotels, two livery stables, a brickworks, a cheese factory, two banks and three newspapers. Drought from 1893 drove many settlers away, and without a railroad Harrisburg stayed small. Oil was found nearby in 1951, and Banner Capital Bank was founded here in 1964. The present one-story brick courthouse was built in 1956–57.

Highways and trails through Harrisburg

Route	One way	Other way
Spur 4AThe road into town	East to NE 71	Ends at Court and School streets
NE 71East of town; shares about 4 mi with NE 88	North to Gering and Scottsbluff	South to Kimball and I-80
NE 88North of town	East to Bridgeport	West to the Wyoming line toward LaGrange

Nearby towns

Ashford	about 7 mi north-northeast	NE 71
Gabe Rock	about 7 mi west	County roads
Melbeta	about 19 mi northeast	NE 71
Gering	about 19 mi north	NE 71
McGrew	about 21 mi northeast	NE 71 and NE 88
Scottsbluff	about 22 mi north	NE 71
Kimball	about 22 mi south	NE 71
Bushnell	about 24 mi south-southwest	County roads
Bridgeport	about 33 mi east-northeast	NE 88

Things to see

the Banner County Museum, 200 N. Pennsylvania Ave., with 11 buildings including the log Flowerfield School, a sod house and the first bank (Sundays 2–5 p.m., Memorial Day to Labor Day, or by appointment) · Banner County Historical Day on the first Saturday in June · the 1957 Banner County Courthouse, 204 State St. · the butte of Gabe Rock and its 1896 cemetery, about 7 mi west · the site of Ashford, the first county seat, near Funnel Rock · Williams Gap WMA (1,829 acres) and Buffalo Creek WMA (about 4,300 acres) in the Wildcat Hills, open to hunting on foot · Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area just north in Scotts Bluff County, with camping and bighorn sheep · the Double L Country Store and Café on NE 71

Events in Harrisburg

Banner County Historical Day
Harrisburg's celebration on the first Saturday in June, with a parade, pancakes at the fire hall, a museum talk and the Historical Society supper.

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: Banner County Public Schools, 200 School St., (308) 436-5262: elementary (PK–5), middle (6–8) and high school (9–12) in one building; the Wildcats

Health care: No hospital in the county; nearest are Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff and Kimball Health Services in Kimball, each about 22 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Banner County (county website and history); Who's Who in Nebraska, Banner County (1940); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890–91); Lilian L. Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names (1925); Grant L. Shumway, History of Western Nebraska (1921); Nebraska Department of Transportation; Nebraska Game and Parks; Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission; National Register (C. C. Hampton Homestead); Banner County Historical Society; Banner County Public Schools; UNL Extension; Western Nebraska Observer. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.