Stratton Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Hitchcock County · Population 310 (2020 census) · ZIP 69043 · Founded 1879 · Peak population 663 (1930)

About Stratton

Stratton is a village of 310 on US 34 in western Hitchcock County, at the west end of Swanson Reservoir near the Dundy County line; Dundy County, just west, is on Mountain Time. It has a public library, a clinic and the Little House Museum.

History

In 1859 the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express ran its stagecoaches to the Colorado gold fields up the Republican; its Station 18 stood southwest of present Stratton, and Horace Greeley stopped there on June 2, 1859. Settlers came about 1879, when a post office named Frontier opened; it was renamed Stratton on July 22, 1881, for Mrs. (Mary) Stratton, whose family, the Zaccheus Strattons of Lincoln, owned a large cattle ranch here and helped found the town. Trains on the Burlington's main line to Denver began in May 1882, and the town was platted in 1883. By 1890 it had two banks and two newspapers.

Dr. W. E. Stewart built a hospital in 1918, and the village reached its largest population, 663, in 1930. On May 31, 1935, the flooding Republican and Muddy Creek put 13 houses under water; Myrtle Stonecipher, her daughter Mildred and her niece Ethel Black drowned when a rescue boat capsized east of town. Stratton was the birthplace of soprano Rita Bell (1893–1992), a star of vaudeville, Broadway and radio; George Sauer (1910–1994), Nebraska All-American and later coach at Navy and Baylor; and Jim Lankas (1918–1978), who played fullback for the Eagles and Packers.

Highways and trails through Stratton

Route	One way	Other way
US 34East–west through the village	East along Swanson Reservoir to Trenton (about 11 mi)	West into Dundy County to Max and Benkelman

Nearby towns

Trenton	about 11 mi east	US 34
Palisade	about 15 mi north-northeast	US 34, NE 25 and US 6
Hamlet	about 16 mi north	County roads
Max	about 9 mi west-southwest	US 34
Benkelman	about 18 mi west-southwest	US 34
Culbertson	about 21 mi east-northeast	US 34

Things to see

The Little House Museum, 908 Hartford St., in Pitner Park, open May–August on the 1st and 3rd Sundays, 1–5 p.m. · the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express state historical marker on Texas Ave. · a 1908 concrete bridge on a county road about 2 mi east (National Register) · the west end of Swanson Reservoir · the Stratton Public Library, 411 Bailey St.

Schools and health care

Schools: Stratton is in Dundy County-Stratton Public Schools; its schools are in Benkelman

Health care: Quality Healthcare Services Medical Clinic (Dundy County Hospital), 903 Bailey St., Stratton, (308) 276-2411; hospital: Dundy County Hospital, Benkelman, about 18 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.