Gosper County, Nebraska

Gosper County, Nebraska

County seat: Elwood · Organized: August 29, 1873, by the governor’s proclamation; confirmed by the Legislature in 1881 · Named for: John J. Gosper, Nebraska secretary of state · License plates: prefix 73 · Population: 1,893 (2020 census); peak 5,301 in 1900 · Area: 463 sq mi · Time zone: Central

About Gosper County

Gosper County lies on the high tableland between the Platte and Republican valleys in south-central Nebraska. Its villages are Elwood, the county seat, and Smithfield, and many of its people live around Johnson Lake, which straddles the line with Dawson County. It borders Dawson County on the north, Phelps on the east, Furnas on the south and Frontier on the west.

Settlers petitioned Governor Robert W. Furnas, who organized the county by proclamation on August 29, 1873; the Legislature confirmed it in 1881. The county seat moved from Daviesville to Homerville in 1882 and, after a contested election in 1888, to Elwood on the Burlington, which took the Homerville courthouse with it in 1889. The present Art Deco courthouse of 1939, built with a Public Works Administration grant, is the county’s only National Register listing. Water for Johnson Lake, Elwood Reservoir and the county’s irrigated fields comes by Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District canals from the Platte.

Towns of Gosper County

Travel Corridors

US 283 runs north–south through Elwood, from Lexington and I-80 past Johnson Lake to Arapahoe. NE 23 runs east–west through Elwood and Smithfield toward Holdrege, and NE 18 ends at US 283 south of Elwood (partly gravel to the west).

Cameras: View Gosper County cameras → · Road conditions: Nebraska 511

Parks and Outdoors

Johnson Lake State Recreation Area, about 7 miles north of Elwood, is on a canal reservoir of about 2,000 acres built in 1939–41, open to all types of boats, with three campgrounds (most sites 50-amp), a swim beach, fishing piers and a paved trail; (308) 785-2685. Elwood Reservoir, filled from the E65 Canal in the late 1970s, covers more than 1,300 acres with a 579-acre wildlife management area; it is a walleye lake with a 5 mph no-wake rule and no camping. Phillips Canyon State Recreation Area, opened in May 2026 on US 283, gives boat access to the canal below Johnson Lake. The 18-hole Lakeside Golf Club is at Johnson Lake.

Things to See

In Elwood: the Gosper County Courthouse (1939). At Johnson Lake: the George E. Johnson historical marker and winter eagle viewing at the CNPPID hydro plant. The Furnas–Gosper Historical Society museum is in Arapahoe, in Furnas County.

Gosper County Business Directory

Businesses within 20 miles of: Elwood · Smithfield · All listings →

Adjacent Counties

Dawson County (north) · Phelps County (east) · Furnas County (south) · Frontier County (west).

Events

The Gosper County Fair is held in Elwood in late July (July 21–25 in 2026), with a carnival run by local volunteers and a rodeo at the Elwood rodeo grounds. Johnson Lake has a Fourth of July boat parade and fireworks.

Gosper County at a Glance

Gosper County, Nebraska — organized on August 29, 1873, by proclamation of Governor Robert W. Furnas after settlers petitioned him, not by act of the Legislature, which is why sources disagree about its founding date. The Legislature caught up on March 2, 1881, legalizing the organization and defining the boundaries. County seat Elwood. Population peaked at 5,301 in 1900 and stands at 1,893, with lake homes at Johnson Lake holding up the count. 73 listings across 2 towns.

The man it is named for ended up running Arizona. John Jay Gosper, born in Ohio in 1842, enlisted in the 8th Illinois Cavalry, fought in some thirty engagements, served as quartermaster of the 29th U.S. Colored Infantry at the siege of Petersburg, and lost his left leg to a wound on December 4, 1864. He was Nebraska’s secretary of state in 1873–75. President Hayes made him secretary of Arizona Territory in 1877, and because Governor John C. Frémont was so often absent, Gosper served as acting governor for much of his term, during the Tombstone troubles. President Arthur gave the governorship to Frederick Tritle in 1882 instead. Gosper died penniless in a Los Angeles county hospital on May 14, 1913, and the Arizona Legislature appropriated $200 toward his funeral.

Three county seats in sixteen years, and a courthouse that was carried off. Daviesville was first but never built a courthouse. Homerville won the seat in 1882 and put up a two-story frame courthouse of lumber hauled from Arapahoe. After a bitterly contested election in November 1888 the seat went to Elwood, which the Burlington had reached in 1885, and in the spring of 1889 the Homerville courthouse itself was moved 8 miles to Elwood. It burned in 1895. Homerville and Daviesville are gone; only Homerville’s cemetery remains. The courthouse standing today is a 1939 Art Deco building by McClure & Walker of Kearney, paid for with a $42,000 bond and a Public Works Administration grant — one of seven Nebraska courthouses built through New Deal programs, and on the National Register since 1990. It is the county’s only National Register listing.

Getting there: US 283 runs north and south, with NE 23 and NE 18. Gosper County sits on the tableland divide between the Platte and the Republican, drained only by short creeks such as Plum Creek in the north, and its lakes are man-made, filled from the Platte through Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District canals. Elwood sits at 2,674 feet. Central Time. At 463 square miles it is a small county, and about 62 percent of its people live outside its two villages — most of them around the lake.

Outdoors: Johnson Lake, about 8 miles southwest of Lexington and 7 miles north of Elwood, is a canal reservoir built in 1939–41 and named for CNPPID engineer George E. Johnson, with more than 900 homes and cabins around it. All types of boats are allowed, which makes it a water-ski and powerboat destination. The state recreation area has three campgrounds, mostly with 50-amp service, and half the sites in the Main and South Inlet campgrounds can be reserved up to 180 days ahead from May 1 to October 15. Walleye, white bass and wiper. Three miles south, Elwood Reservoir was built in the late 1970s by pumping water from the E65 Canal: more than 1,300 surface acres, a 579-acre wildlife management area open to hunting, and a reputation as a top walleye fishery. Camping is not allowed on Elwood Reservoir land — that trips people up every season.

One correction worth making: the Furnas–Gosper Historical Society and Museum serves both counties but stands at Arapahoe, in Furnas County. Born here: John L. Champe (1895–1978) of Elwood, the University of Nebraska archaeologist known for his work at Ash Hollow Cave.