Buffalo County, Nebraska

Map_of_Nebraska_highlighting_Buffalo_County

Towns in Buffalo County Nebraska

Amherst ·
Elm Creek ·
Gibbon ·
Kearney ·
Miller ·
Odessa ·
Pleasanton ·
Ravenna ·
Riverdale ·
Shelton ·
Sweetwater

Explore Buffalo County

County seat: Kearney · Created: March 1855; organized for good in 1870 · Named for: the bison herds of the Great Plains · License plates: prefix 9 · Population: 50,084 (2020 census), the highest count yet; about 51,200 (2025) · Area: 975 sq mi (968 land) · Time zone: Central

About Buffalo County

Buffalo County lies on the north side of the Platte River in south-central Nebraska and is the state’s fifth-most-populous county. Kearney, the county seat, is Nebraska’s fifth-largest city; Gibbon and Ravenna are the other cities. The villages are Shelton, Elm Creek, Pleasanton, Riverdale, Amherst and Miller. The county borders eight others: Sherman on the north, Howard on the northeast, Hall on the east, Adams on the southeast, Kearney on the south, Phelps on the southwest, Dawson on the west and Custer on the northwest.

The first territorial legislature created the county in March 1855; an early organization lapsed in the 1860s, and county government has run without a break since 1870. Joseph E. Johnson’s road ranche at Wood River Centre (now Shelton) had the county’s first post office in 1860 and printed the Huntsman’s Echo, Nebraska’s first newspaper west of Omaha. Union veterans of the Soldiers’ Free Homestead Colony founded Gibbon in 1871, and it was the first county seat with a courthouse (1872). Kearney Junction grew up where the Burlington met the Union Pacific in 1872, and an election on October 13, 1874, moved the seat to Kearney. Fort Kearny (1848–1871) stood across the Platte in Kearney County. The county has grown at every census since 1940.

Towns of Buffalo County

Cities and villages

Kearney

City · County seat · Pop. 33,790 · ZIP 68845

I-80 (Exits 272, 275, 279) · US 30 · NE 10 · NE 44

Buffalo County seat and Nebraska’s fifth-largest city (33,790), home of the University of Nebraska at Kearney and the Archway over I-80.

Gibbon

City · Pop. 1,878 · ZIP 68840

I-80 (Exit 285) · US 30

City of 1,878 on US 30, founded in 1871 by the Soldiers’ Free Homestead Colony; the first county seat with a courthouse. Rowe Sanctuary is south at I-80 Exit 285.

Ravenna

City · Pop. 1,441 · ZIP 68869

NE 2 · NE 68

City of 1,441 on NE 2 in northern Buffalo County, a Burlington division point of 1886 named for Ravenna, Italy; home of the Annevar festival.

Shelton

Village · Pop. 1,034 · ZIP 68876

I-80 (Exit 291) · US 30

Village of 1,034 on US 30 at the Hall County line, where Wood River Centre’s road ranche printed the Huntsman’s Echo in 1860.

Elm Creek

Village · Pop. 979 · ZIP 68836

I-80 (Exit 257) · US 30 · US 183

Village of 979 on US 30 in western Buffalo County, a Union Pacific siding of 1866; US 183 runs south to I-80 Exit 257 and Sandy Channel SRA.

Amherst

Village · Pop. 201 · ZIP 68812

NE 40

Village of 201 on NE 40, about 14 miles northwest of Kearney, laid out on the Kearney & Black Hills railroad in 1890; home of Amherst Public Schools.

Pleasanton

Village · Pop. 361 · ZIP 68866

NE 10

Village of 361 on NE 10 and the South Loup, end of a Union Pacific branch in 1890; its depot was restored by students.

Riverdale

Village · Pop. 247 · ZIP 68870

NE 40

Village of 247 on NE 40 about 7 miles northwest of Kearney, laid out on the Kearney & Black Hills railroad in 1890.

Miller

Village · Pop. 129 · ZIP 68858

US 183 · NE 40

Village of 129 where NE 40 meets US 183, moved from Armada in 1890 and named for Dr. George L. Miller of Omaha.

Odessa

Unincorporated community · Pop. 132 · ZIP 68861

I-80 (Exit 263) · US 30

Census-designated place of 132 on the Union Pacific west of Kearney, once Stevenson Siding; Union Pacific SRA is at I-80 Exit 263.

Sweetwater

Unincorporated community · ZIP 68869 · post office 1874–1961

NE 2

Railroad hamlet on NE 2 midway between Ravenna and Hazard, named for its good water; post office 1874 to 1961.

Former towns and post office communities

Buda

Unincorporated community · Kearney Station 1866; Buda from 1878

Union Pacific line, 5 miles east of Kearney

Union Pacific station 5 miles east of Kearney, first called Kearney Station (1866), then Shelby, and Buda from 1878.

Denman

Unincorporated community · post office 1914–1956

County roads on Elm Island, south of Shelton

Railroad hamlet on Elm Island south of Shelton, named for Civil War veteran Francis Marion Denman; post office 1914 to 1956.

Glenwood

Census-designated place · Pop. 503 · post office 1892–1900

NE 10 and NE 40, north of Kearney

Census-designated place of 503 just north of Kearney, where NE 40 ends at a roundabout on NE 10; named for a park on the Wood River.

Poole

Census-designated place · Pop. 22 · post office 1892–1982

County roads on the South Loup, southwest of Ravenna

Census-designated place of 22 on the South Loup southwest of Ravenna, founded about 1889 as Poole Siding.

Prairie Center

Former post office · post office 1874–1902

County roads, 11 miles north of Kearney

Rural post office of 1874 to 1902 about 11 miles north of Kearney, spelled Prairie Centre until 1893.

Saint Michael

Unincorporated community · post office 1887–1956

County roads, northeastern Buffalo County

Burlington station of 1886 in northeastern Buffalo County, named for Irish settler Mike Kyne; post office 1887 to 1956.

Sartoria

Ghost town · post office 1886–1924

County roads on the South Loup, northwestern Buffalo County

Ghost town on the South Loup west of Pleasanton, its name coined by homesteader John Swenson; post office 1886 to 1924.

Travel Corridors

I-80 crosses the county south of the Union Pacific with seven exits: 257 (US 183, Elm Creek), 263 (Odessa), 272 (NE 44, Kearney), 275 (NE 10 north and the Archway), 279 (NE 10 south to Minden), 285 (Gibbon) and 291 (Shelton/Kenesaw). I-80 Corridor → US 30, the Lincoln Highway, runs through Elm Creek, Odessa, Kearney, Gibbon and Shelton. US 30 Corridor → US 183 runs north from I-80 through Elm Creek and Miller. US 183 Corridor → NE 2 crosses the north of the county through Ravenna and Sweetwater. Highway 2 Corridor → NE 10 runs north from Kearney to Pleasanton, NE 40 northwest from Glenwood through Riverdale, Amherst and Miller, and NE 68 north from Ravenna to Rockville.

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

Things to See

The Archway spans I-80 at Kearney with a history of the Great Platte River Road. Kearney also has the Museum of Nebraska Art, the G.W. Frank Museum, the Trails and Rails Museum, The American Automobile Experience and the Nebraska Firefighters Museum. The county has 23 places on the National Register, 16 of them in Kearney, among them the downtown historic district and the Fort Theater; the others include the Shelton Public Library and Meisner Bank in Shelton, the Bohning Memorial Auditorium in Ravenna, the old Baptist church in Gibbon and the Sweetwater Mill Bridge. The Gibbon Heritage Center and the Historical Society of Ravenna keep local history.

Parks and Outdoors

Each spring more than 600,000 sandhill cranes gather on the Platte. Rowe Sanctuary and the Iain Nicolson Audubon Center near Gibbon (about 2,800 acres) leads blind tours in crane season, and the free Richard Plautz Crane Viewing Site is open year-round. State recreation areas line I-80: Windmill (Gibbon, with camping), War Axe (Shelton), Union Pacific (Odessa) and Sandy Channel (Elm Creek). State wildlife areas include Bassway Strip, Blue Hole, Kea Lake and Kea West. Fort Kearny State Historical Park is just across the river in Kearney County.

Buffalo County Business Directory

Businesses within 20 miles of: Kearney · Gibbon · Ravenna · All listings →

Adjacent Counties

Sherman County (north) · Howard County (northeast) · Hall County (east) · Adams County (southeast) · Kearney County (south) · Phelps County (southwest) · Dawson County (west) · Custer County (northwest).

Events

Sandhill crane season (mid-February to mid-April), Kearney’s Cruise Nite (July 14–19 in 2026), the Buffalo County Fair in Kearney (July 22–27 in 2026), Ravenna’s Annevar in mid-June (June 18–20, 2027), Elm Creek’s Buffalo Stampede in late August, Trick-or-Treat on the Bricks in downtown Kearney (Oct. 22, 2026) and the Gateway Farm Expo at the fairgrounds (Nov. 18–19, 2026).

Events in Buffalo County

Annevar (Ravenna)
Annevar is held in Ravenna, Nebraska, on the third weekend of June (Thursday to Sunday).
Buffalo County Fair (Kearney)
Buffalo County Fair, a county fair in Kearney, Nebraska.
Kearney Cruise Nite (Kearney)
Kearney Cruise Nite is held in Kearney, Nebraska, in mid-July (Tuesday to Sunday).

Know of another event in the county? Tell us about it.

Buffalo County Road Map

Download the full-size, printable county road map (PDF, Nebraska Dept. of Transportation)

Buffalo County at a Glance

Buffalo County, Nebraska — created in March 1855, organized for good in 1870, and named for the bison herds of the Great Plains. County seat Kearney. Population 50,084 at the 2020 census, the highest yet, and about 51,200 in 2025; Nebraska’s fifth-most-populous county. 760 listings across 18 towns.

Kearney is home to the University of Nebraska at Kearney and the Archway over I-80. Each spring hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes stop on the Platte between Kearney and Shelton.

Getting there: I-80 crosses the county with seven exits (257 to 291); US 30 follows the Union Pacific, US 183 runs north through Elm Creek and Miller, and NE 2 crosses the north through Ravenna. Kearney Regional Airport has United Express flights to Denver and Chicago O’Hare. Central Time.

Born here: Peter G. Peterson and Jon Bokenkamp (Kearney); criminologist Edwin Sutherland and educator Ben Cherrington (Gibbon); talk-show host Dick Cavett (Buffalo County, 1936).

Vehicles registered in Buffalo County carry license plate number 9. See what every Nebraska county number means.