Naponee Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Naponee Area Cameras

Village · Franklin County · Population 83 (2020 census) · ZIP 68960 · Founded 1871 · Peak population 391 (1950)

About Naponee

Naponee is a village of 83 in southwestern Franklin County, on Turkey Creek in the Republican valley about 4 miles below Harlan County Dam and 1.7 miles south of US 136 by the S-31C spur.

History

Settlers reached Turkey Creek between 1869 and 1871, and the post office opened in 1871. A Canadian Civil War veteran who bought land along the river named the place for his home town of Napanee, Ontario. Walther & Gallard began a flour mill in 1874, and Calvin R. Dodd opened the first store in 1877. When the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad arrived in 1879, it laid out a rival townsite, Perth, beside the creek and tried to move the town to it; the two finally joined when Naponee incorporated on November 30, 1909. The First Congregational Church, organized in 1881, built its octagonal church in 1887.

Clarence Mitchell, the major-league left-handed spitball pitcher who lined into Bill Wambsganss's unassisted triple play in the 1920 World Series, was born in a sod house on Turkey Creek just north of town in 1891, and actor David Janssen, star of The Fugitive, was born here in 1931. The Republican River flood of June 1, 1935, sent a wall of water through the valley and flooded "lower Naponee." Building Harlan County Dam in the 1940s and early 1950s brought workers, and the village reached its largest population, 391, in 1950. Naponee's school closed in 1984.

Highways and trails through Naponee

Route	One way	Other way
S-31CState spur into the village	North 1.7 mi to US 136	South end in Naponee

Nearby towns

Republican City	about 4.6 mi west-northwest	S-31C and US 136
Bloomington	about 5 mi east-northeast	S-31C and US 136
Franklin	about 10 mi east	S-31C and US 136
Alma	about 12 mi west	S-31C and US 136
Macon	about 13 mi northeast	County roads
Hildreth	about 19 mi north-northeast	County roads

Things to see

The First Congregational Church (octagon church), 1887, on the northwest edge of the village (National Register), used as a museum by the Naponee Historical Society · the village auditorium (1929) · Harlan County Dam, North Outlet Park and the River's Edge Nature Trail, about 4 mi west in Harlan County, with free dam tours on summer Sundays

Schools and health care

Schools: Naponee is in Franklin Public Schools (Franklin Elementary, Franklin Middle School and Franklin High School, 1001 M St., Franklin); some nearby rural families are in the Alma district

Health care: No clinic in Naponee; nearest: Franklin County Memorial Hospital, 1406 Q St., Franklin, (308) 425-6221, a 14-bed critical access hospital, about 10 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890); Who's Who in Nebraska, Franklin County (1940); NEGenWeb Franklin County and its county histories; History Nebraska and its historical markers; National Register of Historic Places; SABR; Nebraska Game and Parks; Nebraska Department of Transportation; Nebraska Department of Revenue; school, hospital, library and city websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.