Ansley Nebraska

Village · Custer County · Population 459 (2020 census) · ZIP 68814 · Founded 1886 · Peak population 817 (1930)

About Ansley

Ansley is a village of 459 people (2020) in southeastern Custer County, at about 2,300 feet between the South Loup and Middle Loup valleys. NE 2 and NE 92 come through together from Broken Bow; here NE 92 turns east toward Loup City, NE 2 continues southeast to Mason City, and US 183 runs north to Westerville and Sargent. Ansley has its own PK–12 school, the Ansley Township Library, a swimming pool, municipal power and water, and Ansley Village Park with 5-acre Lake Ansley, ball fields and camping. Ansley is on Central Time.

History

Ansley was settled in the spring of 1886 as the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad built west, and the Lincoln Land Company platted it that year; the post office opened on April 20, 1886. It was named for Eliza J. Ansley, sister of the land company’s president, who invested heavily in the new town. Ansley Lumber, started in 1888, is the oldest business, and the volunteer fire department dates from 1895. The town slogan, “Push – That’s Ansley,” came from a sign painted on a shed by the tracks. Ansley was the first town west of Grand Island with its own power plant and water system; the municipal power plant of 1911 is still kept as a backup. The village reached 817 people in 1930. Molecular biologist James F. Bonner, football coach John Rhodes and Los Angeles council member Robert M. Wilkinson were born here.

Things to see

the First National Bank–Steinmeier Building, 624 Main St. (National Register) · Lake Ansley and the village park on NE 2: fishing for bass, catfish and bluegill, camping (reserve with the village clerk, (308) 935-1467) · the Ansley Township Library, 619 Main St. · the Muddy Creek Festival in late June and the all-school alumni reunion on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend in even years