Hampton Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Hampton Area Cameras

Village · Hamilton County · Population 432 (2020 census) · ZIP 68843 · Founded 1879 · Peak population 457 (1920)

About Hampton

Hampton is a village of 432 people (2020) in eastern Hamilton County, at 1,765 feet on US 34 about 6 miles east of Aurora; Link 41D runs south to I-80 at Exit 338. Hampton has its own K–12 school, the Hawks, and The Loading Chute bar and grill, and the 1893 IOOF Opera House is on the National Register. The village holds Booster Days each June. Hampton is on Central Time.

History

Joshua Cox came from Illinois in March 1879, bought 440 acres that spring and drove the countryside collecting signatures for a railroad town; his brother James M. Cox bought 1,000 acres next to it. The town was surveyed and platted in October 1879 as the Burlington & Missouri River finished its line west from Lincoln, and the Williamsport post office moved in that December. According to the Plainsman Museum, the Coxes wanted to call it Plano, after their Illinois town; the railroad proposed Murray, and Hampton was the compromise. Hampton incorporated on January 10, 1883, had about 600 people by 1886 and shipped 1,065 carloads of grain in 1887. In June 1891 the Cox brothers shipped 600 cattle to Liverpool, England. The village peaked at 457 people in 1920.

Highways and trails through Hampton

Route	One way	Other way
US 34Through the village	West to Aurora and Grand Island	East to Bradshaw and York
Link 41DSouth from US 34	South to I-80 (Exit 338)

Nearby towns

Aurora	about 6 mi west	US 34
Bradshaw	about 7 mi east	US 34
Henderson	about 8 mi south-southeast	I-80 and county roads
Marquette	about 11 mi northwest	County roads
Stockham	about 12 mi south-southwest	County roads
Hordville	about 14 mi north	County roads
Polk	about 14 mi north-northeast	County roads
York	about 15 mi east	US 34
Giltner	about 16 mi west-southwest	I-80
Central City	about 17 mi north-northwest	NE 14

Things to see

the IOOF Opera House, N. 3rd and B Sts. (1893, National Register) · The Loading Chute, 114 N. 3rd St. · Booster Days in early June

Events in Hampton

Hampton Booster Days
Hampton’s village celebration in early June.

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: Hampton Public School (its own district), 458 5th St., (402) 725-3116: elementary (PK–6) and high school (7–12)

Health care: Nearest hospital: Memorial Community Health, Aurora, about 6 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); 1890 Hamilton County history (NEGenWeb); Bremer, Centennial History of Hamilton County (1967); Plainsman Museum town histories; History Nebraska; National Register; Nebraska Game and Parks; Prairie Plains Resource Institute; Memorial Community Health; Nebraska Secretary of State; Aurora News-Register; KOLN; SchoolDigger. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.