Aten Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Mailing ZIP code: 68730

ATEN WEATHER

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Unincorporated · Cedar County · Population 134 (2020 census) · Founded 1881

About Aten

Aten is an unincorporated community and census-designated place of 134 on NE 121 in northwestern Cedar County, about 2 miles west of US 81 and 2 miles east of Gavins Point Dam. Yankton, South Dakota, is about 4 miles away across the Discovery Bridge.

History

Aten replaced Green Island, a river town of about 150 people on the low ground near today's South Yankton that was destroyed by an ice-jam flood on March 30–31, 1881. Residents moved to higher ground, and the Green Island post office was renamed Aten in 1882 for postmaster John Aten; it closed on July 3, 1906.

Lewis and Clark held a council with the Yankton Sioux at Calumet Bluff, now the south end of Gavins Point Dam, in late August 1804. The dam was finished in 1957. Aten had 134 people in 2020.

Highways and trails through Aten

Route	One way	Other way
NE 121East–west through Aten	West past Gavins Point Dam (about 2 mi) to Crofton (about 11 mi)	East to US 81 (about 2 mi)

Nearby towns

South Yankton	about 2 mi east	NE 121
Yankton, South Dakota	about 4 mi northeast	NE 121 and US 81
Menominee	about 6 mi southeast	US 81 and county roads
Crofton	about 11 mi southwest	NE 121
Fordyce	about 14 mi south	US 81 and NE 12

Things to see

Nebraska Tailwaters campground below the dam (36 sites, boat ramp, fishing pier; May–October) · Lewis and Clark Visitor Center on Calumet Bluff · Aten Cemetery · Meridian Bridge at South Yankton

Health care

Nearest hospital Avera Sacred Heart, Yankton, S.D. (about 4–5 mi)

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; NEGenWeb Cedar County post offices; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Department of Transportation route mileposts. Distances marked "about" are estimates.