Brainard Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Brainard Area Cameras

Village · Butler County · Population 336 (2020 census) · ZIP 68626 · Founded 1878 · Peak population 468 (1920)

About Brainard

Brainard is a village of 336 people (2020) in eastern Butler County, at 1,673 feet about 8 miles southeast of David City. It is the home of East Butler Public Schools and the western end of the Oak Creek Trail, a 13-mile crushed-stone rail trail through Loma to Valparaiso. Timber Point, a Lower Platte South NRD lake area, is about 2 miles southeast. Brainard is on Central Time.

History

Brainard was located and surveyed in 1878 as a station on the Omaha & Republican Valley branch of the Union Pacific, whose grade is now the Oak Creek Trail. Thomas Logan opened the first store and became the first postmaster; the post office dates from December 1877. The village is named for the missionary David Brainerd, with the spelling changed. Czech families were prominent among the early settlers. The population peaked at 468 in 1920. Jerome Hanus, archbishop of Dubuque from 1995 to 2013, was born here in 1940, and actor Lyle Talbot, born in Pittsburgh, grew up here.

Nearby towns

Loma	about 5 mi southeast	County roads and Oak Creek Trail
Dwight	about 7 mi south	County roads
Bruno	about 7 mi north-northeast	County roads
David City	about 8 mi northwest	County roads
Garrison	about 8 mi west	County roads
Abie	about 11 mi north-northeast	County roads
Valparaiso	about 11 mi southeast	Oak Creek Trail
Octavia	about 12 mi north-northwest	County roads
Ulysses	about 13 mi southwest	County roads
Prague	about 13 mi northeast	County roads

Things to see

the Oak Creek Trail trailhead at County Road 30 and S. Lincoln St. · Timber Point, with a 29-acre lake, free camping pads and fishing · the Woodbury Cutoff ruts of the Ox Bow Trail, about 4 miles southeast (National Register) · the Brainard disc golf course

Schools and health care

Schools: East Butler Public Schools: elementary (PK–6) and junior-senior high (7–12), 212 S. Madison St., (402) 545-2081

Health care: Hospital: Butler County Health Care Center, David City, about 8 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890), NEGenWeb Butler County; Butler County; City of David City; History Nebraska markers; National Register; Nebraska Department of Transportation; Lower Platte South NRD; Nebraska Secretary of State; Nebraska Library Commission; TrailLink; Visit Nebraska; SchoolDigger. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.