Greenwood Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Cass County · Population 595 (2020 census) · ZIP 68366 · Founded 1869

About Greenwood

Greenwood is a village of 595 in the northwest corner of Cass County, on US 6 between Waverly and Ashland, with I-80 exit 420 just east of town. Lincoln is about 17 miles southwest. Baker's Candies has its factory and outlet here, and the Greenwood Public Library shares the community center at 619 Main St. with the village office.

History

The village is named for Silas Greenwood, a trapper who lived in a dugout on Salt Creek in the early 1860s. In 1869 local farmers bought Smith C. Bethel's quarter-section and gave it to the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, then building from Plattsmouth to Lincoln; the depot opened in July 1870, and Bethel became postmaster and opened the first store. The Greenwood Eagle newspaper started in 1881, and the village incorporated in 1883.

A fire on January 20, 1914, destroyed one whole side of Main Street. The high school merged with Ashland's in 1957, and the elementary school followed in 1985; the old high school is now privately owned. The Greenwood Historical Society formed in 1976 to save the Burlington depot, now a museum in the village park. The 2020 count of 595 people is the village's highest.

Highways and trails through Greenwood

Route	One way	Other way
US 6Through town	Northeast to Ashland (about 7 mi)	Southwest to Waverly and Lincoln
I-80Exit 420 (NE 63), just east of town	East to exit 426 (Mahoney State Park), Gretna and Omaha	West to Lincoln
NE 63North end near exit 420 and US 6	South through Alvo to US 34 near Eagle	Ends at US 6

Nearby towns

Waverly	about 5 mi southwest	US 6
Ashland	about 6 mi north-northeast	US 6
Alvo	about 7 mi south-southeast	NE 63
Murdock	about 9 mi east-southeast	County roads
Eagle	about 10 mi south	NE 63
South Bend	about 10 mi east-northeast	I-80 and NE 66
Wabash	about 11 mi east-southeast	County roads
Elmwood	about 11 mi southeast	County roads
Louisville	about 15 mi east	I-80 and NE 66
Lincoln	about 17 mi southwest	US 6 and I-80

Things to see

Greenwood Depot Museum, 440 Broad St., in the village park: school, railroad and bank rooms (April–October by appointment, 402-430-0238) · Baker's Candies, 831 S. Baker St., factory outlet for chocolate meltaways (founded 1986) · Pine Grove RV Park, 23403 Mynard Rd., beside I-80 · the Platte River Rest Area on eastbound I-80 near mile 425, with the 1976 sculpture Memorial to the American Bandshell (National Register, 2026) · Mahoney State Park and the SAC & Aerospace Museum at exit 426, about 8 mi east-northeast

Schools and health care

Schools: Ashland-Greenwood Public Schools (buildings in Ashland) and Waverly School District 145 both serve the village

Health care: No hospital in Greenwood; the nearest are in Lincoln

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); History Nebraska; National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Game and Parks; Nebraska Department of Transportation; Cass County and village websites; school district, library and museum websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.