Potter Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Cheyenne County · Population 342 (2020 census) · ZIP 69156 · Founded 1870 · Peak population 554 (1960)

About Potter

Potter is a village of 342 (2020) in the western end of Cheyenne County, in the Lodgepole Creek valley at 4,374 feet. US 30 (the Lincoln Highway) passes just south of the business district, the Union Pacific runs along Front Street, and I-80 exit 38 is about a mile south by Link 17B. Potter shares Potter-Dix Public Schools with Dix in Kimball County and is on Mountain Time.

History

The Union Pacific built a station house here in 1870 that served as depot, post office and school, and the town was platted in 1885, when it had about 75 people. Wikipedia says it was named for a General Potter, a railroad shareholder. The village incorporated in 1907 (the state marker gives 1912), the year its first bank opened, and the Kinkaid homestead boom that followed the 1904 act filled the surrounding tableland with wheat farms; in 1920 Potter shipped 375 carloads of wheat. The Potter Review called it "the biggest little city in Nebraska."

On July 6, 1928, a hailstone 17 inches in circumference and weighing about 1.5 pounds fell at Potter, then believed to be the largest on record in the world. In the 1930s a soda jerk at the Potter Sundry, Pinky Thayer, is credited with inventing the Tin Roof Sundae. The Lincoln Highway was moved from Front Street to a route south of the tracks in 1929. The population peaked at 554 in 1960. The 1885 depot, moved away in 1971, came back to Potter around 1989–91 and opened as a museum in 1996.

Highways and trails through Potter

Route	One way	Other way
I-80Exit 38, about 1 mi south by Link 17B	East to Sidney	West to Dix and Kimball
US 30The Lincoln Highway, south of the business district	East past Point of Rocks and Brownson to Sidney	West to Dix and Kimball

Nearby towns

Point of Rocks	about 4 mi east	US 30
Dix	about 9 mi west	US 30 or I-80
Brownson	about 11 mi east-southeast	US 30
Lorenzo	about 17 mi southeast	County roads and NE 19
Kimball	about 18 mi west	I-80
Sidney	about 19 mi east-southeast	I-80 or US 30

Things to see

the Potter Sundry, 324 Chestnut St., home of the Tin Roof Sundae · Potter Duckpin Bowling, upstairs at 326 Chestnut St., with hand-set lanes · the Potter Depot Historical Museum, 845 Front St., in the 1885 Union Pacific depot, with a History Nebraska marker · the Potter Library, 333 Chestnut St. · Chuckaboo Station and Hangar 39, 947 Sherman St., a coffee shop and taproom in a former gas station · Bags' Bar & Steakhouse, 940 Front St. · Point of Rocks Motel & RV Park, about 2 mi east on US 30 · the stone Herboldsheimer Ranch (National Register), about 9 mi northeast (private) · events: the Potter CarBowl car show in late June and Potter Days on Labor Day weekend

Events in Potter

Potter CarBowl
Potter CarBowl is held in Potter, Nebraska, on the last weekend of June.
Potter Days
Potter Days is held in Potter, Nebraska, on Labor Day weekend.

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: Potter-Dix Public Schools: junior and senior high (7–12), 303 Walnut St., Potter, (308) 879-4434; elementary (PK–6) in Dix

Health care: Nearest hospitals: Kimball Health Services in Kimball, about 18 mi, and Sidney Regional Medical Center, about 19 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.