Kilgore Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Village · Cherry County · Population 63 (2020 census) · ZIP 69216 · Founded 1880s · Peak population 274 (1920)

About Kilgore

Kilgore is a village of 63 (2020) on US 20 in Cherry County, at about 2,917 feet, 21 miles west-northwest of Valentine. It is home to Cody-Kilgore Elementary School, and radio station KDJL 99.5 is licensed here. Kilgore keeps Mountain Time, though the line to Central Time is only about 2 miles east, between Kilgore and Crookston.

History

The settlement on the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad, later the Chicago & North Western, was first called Boulware and then Georgia, and it was incorporated as Georgia in 1893. Because the post office objected to the name, it became Kilgore in 1904, for a pioneer family. In its heyday from the 1900s to the late 1920s Kilgore had general stores, two hotels, a lumberyard, a grain elevator, car dealers and a depot with two passenger trains each way daily; a brick K–12 school went up in 1929, when the population was over 250. The Baptist church was organized in 1909. The population peaked at 274 in 1920, and the railroad was abandoned in the 1990s.

Highways and trails through Kilgore

Route	One way	Other way
US 20Through the village	East to Crookston and Valentine	West to Nenzel and Cody

Nearby towns

Nenzel	about 7 mi west	US 20
Crookston	about 11 mi east	US 20
Cody	about 15 mi west	US 20
Valentine	about 21 mi east-southeast	US 20
Simeon	about 26 mi south-southeast	County roads
Kennedy	about 28 mi south-southeast	County roads

Things to see

Crookston, the Fort Niobrara refuge and the Niobrara outfitters at Valentine, 21 miles east · Steer Creek Campground, about 20 miles south-southwest via Nenzel

Schools and health care

Schools: Cody-Kilgore Elementary School (PK–5), 100 N. Burlington St., (402) 966-2291; middle and high school in Cody

Health care: Nearest hospital: Cherry County Hospital in Valentine, about 21 mi east

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Who's Who in Nebraska, Cherry County (1940); NEGenWeb Cherry County; Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890); Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names; Nebraska Blue Books (1920, 1926); History Nebraska and its markers; National Register nominations; 49 CFR 71.7 (time-zone boundary); National Park Service (Niobrara National Scenic River); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Forest Service; Nebraska Game and Parks; Nebraska Department of Transportation; FAA via AirNav; FCC; Cherry County; City of Valentine; Valentine Community Schools; Cody-Kilgore Public Schools; Cherry County Hospital; Visit Nebraska; Nebraska Arts Council; Flatwater Free Press; Nebraska Examiner; Rural Radio Network. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.