Bristow Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Village · Boyd County · Population 70 (2020 census) · ZIP 68719 · Founded 1902 · Peak population 255 (1920)

About Bristow

Bristow is a village of 70 on NE 12 in eastern Boyd County, about 6 miles west of Lynch and 9 miles east of Spencer. It has a bank, a post office, a pub and grill, and Bristow Park with RV camping.

History

Bristow is named for Benjamin H. Bristow, Secretary of the Treasury under President Grant; postmaster Charles Brooks chose the name. The first post office was in a store west of the present town, opened in 1890 by local accounts or on November 24, 1891, by state records. When the railroad came in 1902 the town was laid out on the line, and the railroad built a depot, section house, stockyards and gravel pit. Before that, supplies came overland from Iron Post Landing on the Missouri. The population peaked at 255 in 1920.

Floods struck in 1891 and again in 1905, after a cloudburst. The Bristow Boomer was the town newspaper. In 1912 Dr. Diers struck out 31 batters in a 19-inning baseball game against Meek. A two-story school was built in 1913, and the high school merged with Lynch in 1960. The Rosedale Evangelical Covenant church (organized 1891), the Lutheran church (1894, later Trinity Lutheran) and the Methodist church (1907) served the area.

Read the full History of Bristow →

Highways and trails through Bristow

Route	One way	Other way
NE 12East–west through Bristow	West to Spencer (about 9 mi)	East to Lynch (about 6 mi)

Nearby towns

Lynch	about 6 mi east	NE 12
Gross	about 8 mi north	Gravel roads
Spencer	about 9 mi west	NE 12
Monowi	about 13 mi east	NE 12
Butte	about 18 mi west	NE 12

Things to see

Bristow Park, with RV camping · Trinity Lutheran Church and Bristow United Methodist Church

Schools and health care

Schools: Boyd County Public Schools; elementary campuses in Lynch and Butte, middle and high school in Spencer

Health care: Nearest hospital Niobrara Valley Hospital, Lynch (about 6 mi); Avera clinic in Spencer (about 9 mi)

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; NEGenWeb Boyd County histories; History Nebraska; Nebraska Department of Transportation route mileposts. Distances marked "about" are estimates.

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1910	175	—
1920	255	45.7%
1930	183	−28.2%
1940	188	2.7%
1950	146	−22.3%
1960	153	4.8%
1970	127	−17.0%
1980	123	−3.1%
1990	107	−13.0%
2000	88	−17.8%
2010	65	−26.1%
2020	70	7.7%