Riverton Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Franklin County · Population 57 (2020 census) · ZIP 68972 · Founded 1871 · Peak population 426 (1880)

About Riverton

Riverton is a village of 57 in eastern Franklin County, on Thompson Creek in the Republican valley, with its downtown just south of US 136, about 10 miles east of Franklin and 13 miles west of Red Cloud.

History

The Thompson Colony from Omaha settled here in March 1871, among the first in the county; William C. Thompson became the first postmaster that summer, and the settlers built a stockade. Stores, a school and a hotel followed in 1872, and Isaac Shepardson and Vollintine built a flour mill on Thompson Creek in 1874. Riverton was on the 1874 ballot for county seat. The Burlington & Missouri River Railroad built through in 1878–79, setting off a building rush; in 1879 Riverton shipped more grain than any other point in the Republican Valley, and the 1880 census counted 426 people, the most it has ever had.

By 1890 Riverton had the Riverton State Bank, the Franklin House hotel, the Riverton Guard and about 40 businesses. West of town, between Riverton and Franklin, eight or ten young Black settlers from Omaha named Lovely Creek and laid out a town called Grant in the spring of 1871, but lacking money they left that summer.

Highways and trails through Riverton

Route	One way	Other way
US 136Along the north side of downtown	East to Inavale and Red Cloud	West to Franklin (about 10 mi)

Nearby towns

Inavale	about 6 mi east	US 136
Franklin	about 10 mi west	US 136
Red Cloud	about 13 mi east	US 136
Campbell	about 14 mi north	County roads and NE 4
Macon	about 13 mi northwest	County roads
Bloomington	about 15 mi west	US 136

Things to see

The Republican River Bridge, a 1911 pin-connected Pratt truss, 322 feet long, about 1½ mi south-southeast on a county road (National Register) · Congregational Christian Church (UCC) · the Limestone Bluffs WMA (480 acres), southwest toward the Kansas line

Schools and health care

Schools: Riverton is in Franklin Public Schools (Franklin Elementary, Franklin Middle School and Franklin High School, 1001 M St., Franklin, about 10 mi west)

Health care: No clinic in Riverton; nearest: Franklin County Memorial Hospital, 1406 Q St., Franklin, (308) 425-6221, a 14-bed critical access hospital, about 10 mi, or Webster County Community Hospital, Red Cloud, about 13 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.