Marsland Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Unincorporated community · Dawes County · ZIP 69354 · Founded 1889

About Marsland

Marsland is an unincorporated community in the Niobrara River valley of southern Dawes County, at about 4,160 feet on NE 2/71, which run together here, about 18 miles south-southeast of Crawford and 14 miles northwest of Hemingford. Only a few houses and old business buildings remain. Box Butte Reservoir State Recreation Area, a 1,600-acre lake, is about 11 miles east. Marsland is on Mountain Time.

History

Marsland grew up in 1889 as the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy built its line from Alliance north toward the Black Hills, and was named for Thomas Marsland, the railroad's general freight manager; the Corbin post office moved here. The 1890 gazetteer already counted about 200 people, with a newspaper, a grocery and a blacksmith. A hotel followed in 1895 and two churches in 1896, and a flour mill and ice harvesting were long-running employers. Fires after 1910 destroyed much of the business district, and drought drove families away, some taking their houses with them. High school classes ended in 1951; the 1915 brick school lost its condemned second story in 1947 and still stands, privately owned. The elementary school closed in 1992, and students now attend Hemingford schools.

Highways and trails through Marsland

Route	One way	Other way
NE 2 / NE 71Run together through Marsland	North to Crawford	South to Hemingford, Alliance and Scottsbluff

Nearby towns

Belmont	about 8 mi north-northwest	NE 2/71 and county roads
Pine Ridge	about 10 mi west-northwest	County roads
Hemingford	about 14 mi southeast	NE 2/71
Crawford	about 18 mi north-northwest	NE 2/71
Chadron	about 30 mi north-northeast	County roads and US 385
Alliance	about 32 mi southeast	NE 2/71

Things to see

the Belmont Tunnel, about 8 mi north near Belmont: 698 feet long, opened in 1889, bypassed in 1982 and believed to be the only railroad tunnel ever built in Nebraska (railroad property; view from public roads) · Box Butte Reservoir SRA, about 11 mi east, with camping, boat ramps and fishing · the Marsland Cemetery

Schools and health care

Schools: Students attend Hemingford Public Schools (Box Butte County)

Health care: Nearest hospitals: Box Butte General Hospital in Alliance and Chadron Community Hospital; clinic in Crawford

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Who's Who in Nebraska, Dawes County (1940); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890); Nebraska Blue Book (1926); History Nebraska and its markers; National Register nominations; Nebraska Game and Parks; U.S. Forest Service (Nebraska National Forest, Pine Ridge Ranger District); University of Nebraska State Museum; Nebraska Department of Transportation; Nebraska Emergency Management Agency; Dawes County; City of Chadron; City of Crawford; Chadron State College; Chadron Public Schools; Crawford Public Schools; Chadron Community Hospital; Discover Northwest Nebraska; Visit Nebraska; KNOP; KRVN. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.