Culbertson Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Culbertson Area Cameras

Village · Hitchcock County · Population 534 (2020 census) · ZIP 69024 · Founded 1873 · Peak population 820 (1930)

About Culbertson

Culbertson is a village of 534, the largest in Hitchcock County, on a rise near the junction of Frenchman Creek and the Republican River, where US 6/34 meets NE 17. It has the county fairgrounds, Hitchcock County Elementary, a public library and a pool in Hillside Park.

History

Settlers arrived in February 1873, and in July W. Z. Taylor built a trading post here, named for Alexander Culbertson, a noted fur trader of the Upper Missouri who spent his last years at Orleans, Nebraska. The county was organized on August 30, 1873, at F. U. Martin's home two miles east, and Culbertson became its seat; the post office opened on September 10, 1873. Ranchers wintered here in the open-range years, and until about 1883 Culbertson was the only real town between Indianola and Ogallala. The Burlington & Missouri River Railroad arrived in the fall of 1881, and a courthouse was built in 1886. After a long contest, Trenton took the county records in 1893, and the old courthouse later became a school.

Branch lines up Frenchman Creek to Beverly (1889), Palisade (1891) and Imperial (1892) started here. Culbertson reached its largest population, 820, in 1930. On May 31, 1935, the Republican rose 11.4 feet, took both river bridges and flooded the fairgrounds; Roy Anspall, who went to warn a neighbor, and the six members of the Bernard J. Wallace family south of town were among the dead. Hall of Fame jockey Steve Brooks, who won the 1949 Kentucky Derby on Ponder, was born in McCook and raised around Culbertson; Carl L. Sackett, born near town in 1876, was U.S. Attorney for Wyoming from 1933 to 1949.

Highways and trails through Culbertson

Route	One way	Other way
US 6 / US 34Through the village together; they split about 3 mi west	East to McCook (about 11 mi)	West: US 34 to Trenton, US 6 to Palisade
NE 17Ends at US 6/34 in Culbertson	South 17 mi past the Stone Church to the Kansas line	North end at US 6/34

Nearby towns

Trenton	about 10 mi west-southwest	US 34
McCook	about 11 mi east	US 6/34
Palisade	about 16 mi west-northwest	US 6
Stratton	about 21 mi west-southwest	US 34
Hayes Center	about 22 mi north-northwest	US 6 and NE 25

Things to see

The "Culbertson" state historical marker on Arizona St., on the site of the 1886 courthouse · St. Paul's Methodist Protestant Church, the Stone Church, completed in 1900 of local limestone, about 8 mi south on NE 17 (National Register) · the Hitchcock County Fairgrounds and the county fair in July · the pool in Hillside Park, 500 Arizona St. · the Twin River Walking Trail along Frenchman Creek · the Culbertson Public Library, 612 Wyoming St. · the Fourth of July parade and fireworks

Events in Culbertson

Hitchcock County Fair
Hitchcock County Fair, a county fair in Trenton, Nebraska.

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: Hitchcock County Schools (formed in 2008 from the Culbertson and Trenton districts): Hitchcock County Elementary (PK–6), 712 Arizona St., Culbertson, and Hitchcock County Junior/Senior High (7–12), 312 W. 3rd St., Trenton

Health care: No clinic in Culbertson; nearest: Trenton Medical Clinic (Community Hospital, McCook), 406 E. 1st St., Trenton, (308) 334-5155, about 10 mi; hospital: Community Hospital, McCook, about 11 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890); Who's Who in Nebraska, Hitchcock County (1940); Morton and Watkins, History of Nebraska (railroad construction table); Southwest Nebraska Genealogical Society and NEGenWeb Hitchcock County; Hitchcock County centennial history; Hitchcock County website; History Nebraska and its historical markers; National Register of Historic Places; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Nebraska Game and Parks; National Weather Service (1935 flood); Nebraska Department of Transportation; Nebraska Department of Revenue; school, clinic, library and village websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.