Hooker County, Nebraska

Hooker County, Nebraska

County seat: Mullen · Created: March 29, 1889 · Named for: Gen. Joseph Hooker · License plates: prefix 93 · Population: 711 (2020 census); peak 1,378 in 1920 · Area: 721 sq mi · Time zone: Mountain

About Hooker County

Hooker County is Sandhills ranch country between the Middle Loup River in the north and the Dismal River in the south. Its only town is Mullen, the county seat, where NE 2 and NE 97 cross; the old railroad stations of Kelso, Hecla and Weir and ranch post offices such as Eclipse, Donald and Dunwell are gone. It borders Cherry County on the north, Thomas on the east, McPherson on the south, Arthur on the southwest and Grant on the west. Hooker is billed as the easternmost Nebraska county on Mountain Time.

Buffalo Bill Cody and Maj. Frank North ranched on the Dismal River from 1877, and Texas trail herds crossed the range in the late 1870s. The Burlington’s Grand Island & Wyoming Central came through in 1887, Mullen was platted in 1888, and the Legislature created the county on March 29, 1889, naming it for Gen. Joseph Hooker. Kinkaid Act homesteaders arrived after 1904, and the county peaked at 1,378 people in 1920 before drought and the Depression folded small claims into large ranches. When Nebraska numbered its counties by vehicle registrations in 1922, Hooker had the fewest and got plate prefix 93. The 1912 courthouse in Mullen and two archeological sites, Humphrey and Kelso, are on the National Register.

Towns of Hooker County

Travel Corridors

NE 2 — the Sandhills Journey National Scenic Byway, east–west through Mullen between Thedford and Hyannis, beside the BNSF main line. Highway 2 Corridor → NE 97 runs north–south through Mullen, from Valentine to Tryon and North Platte. No Interstate or U.S. highway enters the county.

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

Things to See and Do

In Mullen: the 1912 courthouse, the Hooker County Historical Museum in the 1917 Commercial Hotel, and the Mullen Arts Center. Glidden Canoe Rental runs canoe and kayak trips on the Dismal River and stock-tank, tube and kayak floats on the Middle Loup, and the Polar Bear Tank Race takes to the Middle Loup the first weekend of March. Golfers know the county for Sand Hills Golf Club, a Coore & Crenshaw course opened in 1994–95 and ranked among the best in the world, and the Dismal River Club, with courses by Jack Nicklaus and Tom Doak; both are private. Mullen Golf Club is open to the public. Guests can also stay at the Double R Guest Ranch north of town.

Hooker County Business Directory

Businesses within 20 miles of: Mullen · All listings →

Adjacent Counties

Cherry County (north) · Thomas County (east) · McPherson County (south) · Arthur County (southwest) · Grant County (west).

Events

The Polar Bear Tank Race on the first weekend of March; the Hooker County Fair at the fairgrounds in Mullen in late July or early August; and the Sharptail Shootout, a grouse-hunting contest, each September.

Hooker County at a Glance

Hooker County, Nebraska — 721 square miles of Sandhills between the Middle Loup and the Dismal, with 711 people and one town, Mullen, the county seat. 60 listings across 1 towns. Mountain Time.

Getting there: NE 2, the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway, from Thedford or Hyannis; NE 97 from North Platte and Tryon or from Valentine.

For visitors: river floats with Glidden Canoe Rental, the courthouse and historical museum in Mullen, a public nine-hole golf course and two famous private ones. Clinic in Mullen.