Gurley Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Cheyenne County · Population 187 (2020 census) · ZIP 69141 · Founded 1913 · Peak population 329 (1960)

About Gurley

Gurley is a village of 187 (2020) on the tableland of Cheyenne County, at 4,285 feet on US 385 (the Gold Rush Byway) and the BNSF line, about 13 miles north of Sidney and 6 miles south of Dalton. Leyton Public Schools has its elementary and junior high here. Gurley is on Mountain Time.

History

Settlers had taken up homesteads in the area by 1884, but the town dates from 1913, when a station was laid out on the Burlington's Sidney–Alliance line on land given by the Rihn, Ruhter and Nelson families. It was named for Fred R. Gurley, a Burlington Railroad official. F. W. Busse ran the first store and post office, three bunk cars served as the depot in the winter of 1915–16, and a depot was built in 1919. The first grain elevator, built in 1914–15, burned in 1941.

On August 9, 1949, the Marathon Oil Company's Mary Egging No. 1 well, about 5 miles southeast of town, came in at 225 barrels a day, the first successful oil well in western Nebraska. Gurley's population peaked at 329 in 1960. In 1978 its school district merged with Dalton's as Leyton Public Schools, and Gurley celebrated its centennial in 2013.

Highways and trails through Gurley

Route	One way	Other way
US 385The Gold Rush Byway, through the village	North to Dalton and Bridgeport	South past Huntsman to Sidney

Nearby towns

Dalton	about 6 mi north	US 385
Huntsman	about 7 mi south	US 385
Sidney	about 13 mi south	US 385
Weyerts	about 13 mi east	County roads
Potter	about 19 mi west-southwest	County roads
Bridgeport	about 25 mi north-northwest	US 385

Things to see

the Discovery Oil Well marker on US 385, about 4 mi south of town · the Water Holes Ranch (National Register), an early trail stop about 7.5 mi west (private)

Schools and health care

Schools: Leyton Public Schools: Leyton Elementary and Junior High (PK–8), 521 Rose St., Gurley; high school in Dalton

Health care: Nearest hospital: Sidney Regional Medical Center, about 13 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; A. T. Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Grant L. Shumway, History of Western Nebraska and Its People (1921); Lilian L. Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names (1925); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890); Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries; NEGenWeb Cheyenne County; History Nebraska and its markers; National Register nominations; FortWiki; National Weather Service; Nebraska Department of Transportation; City of Sidney; Cheyenne County; Sidney Sun-Telegraph; KNEB; school, library and village sources; Visit Nebraska. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.