Kimball County, Nebraska

Kimball County, Nebraska

County seat: Kimball · Created: November 6, 1888, from Cheyenne County · Named for: Thomas L. Kimball, Union Pacific official · License plates: prefix 71 · Population: 3,434 (2020 census); peak 7,975 in 1960 · Area: 952 sq mi · Time zone: Mountain

About Kimball County

Kimball County is the southwestern corner of Nebraska, on the high plains where the state meets Wyoming and Colorado. Lodgepole Creek, the Union Pacific, US 30 and I-80 cross it from west to east through Bushnell, Kimball and Dix. In the far southwest corner, on the High Point Bison Ranch, is Panorama Point, at 5,424 feet the highest point in Nebraska, about a mile and a quarter from the marker where the three states meet.

The Union Pacific built through in 1867, with stations that became Bushnell and Antelopeville, renamed Kimball in 1885. Voters created the county from the western part of Cheyenne County on November 6, 1888, and named it for Thomas L. Kimball, a Union Pacific traffic official. Homesteaders came after the 1904 Kinkaid Act. Oil was struck southwest of Kimball in 1951, and the county became known as "Nebraska's Oil Capital," with more than 1,400 wells by the 1980s. In the 1960s the Air Force built Atlas E missile sites (1961–65) and then Minuteman sites run from F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming; all are on private land. The population peaked at 7,975 in 1960. Since 2018 a 30-megawatt wind farm north of Kimball has supplied the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska.

Towns of Kimball County

Travel Corridors

I-80 — across the county, with exits for Pine Bluffs, Wyoming (1), Bushnell and Panorama Point (8), Kimball and NE 71 south (20), Kimball and NE 71 north (22) and Dix (29). I-80 Corridor →

US 30 — the Lincoln Highway, along the Union Pacific through Bushnell, Kimball and Dix. US 30 Corridor →

Other highways — NE 71, the Heartland Expressway, runs north from Kimball to Harrisburg and Scottsbluff and south to the Colorado line, sharing I-80 between exits 20 and 22.

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

Things to See

Panorama Point, reached from I-80 exit 8 at Bushnell by county roads (a fee of about $3 per person at the gate). In Kimball, the Plains Historical Museum in the 1903 Fraternal Hall, the 1928 courthouse, the Wheat Growers Hotel and the Lincoln Highway crosswalks downtown. West of town, the 1912 Maginnis Irrigation Flume and its marker. The county has five National Register listings, all in or near Kimball.

Outdoors

Oliver Reservoir, on US 30 about 8 miles west of Kimball, is run by the South Platte NRD, with about 48 campsites, fishing, boating and swimming. In Kimball: the 18-hole Four Winds Golf Course, the community trails and dog park and the pool in Gotte Park. RV parks: High Point RV Park and Stahla's North RV Park in Kimball.

Kimball County Business Directory

Businesses within 20 miles of: Kimball · Dix · Bushnell · All listings →

Adjacent Counties

Banner County (north) · Cheyenne County (east) · Logan County, Colorado (southeast) · Weld County, Colorado (south) · Laramie County, Wyoming (west).

Events

Each year: Dix Days on the Fourth of July, the Kimball-Banner County Fair and rodeo in early August, Bushnell Day in mid-August and Kimball's Farmers Day on the last weekend of September.

Kimball County at a Glance

Kimball County, Nebraska — the southwestern corner of the state, on I-80 at the Wyoming line, with Panorama Point, Nebraska's highest point. County seat Kimball; Mountain Time.

Getting there: I-80 and US 30 across the county; NE 71 north to Scottsbluff and south to Colorado.

For visitors: Panorama Point by way of Bushnell; the Plains Historical Museum and Farmers Day in Kimball; Oliver Reservoir. Hospital: Kimball Health Services.