Hordville Nebraska

Village · Hamilton County · Population 131 (2020 census) · ZIP 68846 · Founded 1906 · Peak population 191 (1920)

About Hordville

Hordville is a village of 131 people (2020) in the northeast corner of Hamilton County, at 1,778 feet about 16 miles north-northeast of Aurora, 6 miles west of Polk and 6 miles east-southeast of Central City. The old school is now the village’s Hordville Event Center, and Fridhem Lutheran and First Baptist churches and the co-op elevator remain. Hordville is on Central Time.

History

Hordville was the last town founded in the county. When the Union Pacific built a branch from Stromsburg to Central City, the City Improvement Company of Stromsburg platted the town on land bought from five farmers and from Fridhem Lutheran Church, and lots were first sold on September 12, 1906. It was named for T. B. Hord, a Central City cattle feeder and grain dealer who built the elevator, and buildings from the nearby trading post of Stark moved in. The farmers’ co-op, organized in 1906, is said to be the fourth-oldest in Nebraska. Hordville incorporated in 1916 and peaked at 191 people in 1920. Passenger service ended on January 27, 1952; locals called the motor car that met the evening train the “Spook Eye.” Fridhem Lutheran, organized in 1880, built its present church in 1908, and First Baptist moved into town in 1920. The District 61 school of 1912 later joined Polk-Hordville (1988) and High Plains Community Schools (2001), and the village took over the building in 2004.

Things to see

Fridhem Lutheran Church (1908) · the Hordville Event Center