Panama Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Panama Area Cameras

Village · Lancaster County · Population 235 (2020 census) · ZIP 68419 · Founded 1888 · Peak population 256 (2010)

About Panama

Panama is a village of 235 people (2020) in southeastern Lancaster County, at 1,404 feet about 17 miles south-southeast of downtown Lincoln. It is in Norris School District 160. Panama is on Central Time.

History

The settlement first grew up about a mile south of the present site and moved north to be near the railroad. A cemetery association formed in 1879, and the village was laid out in 1888 on land of Moses J. Mitton, John Forrest and Gilbert F. Steeves; the 1890 gazetteer gave about 200 people on the Missouri Pacific’s Auburn–Crete branch. It is named for the Isthmus of Panama. Panama was incorporated in 1904. Local history says Caroline “Carrie” Steeves had a clause written into the village bylaws so that her family could reclaim land given to the village if it ever allowed alcohol sales, and alcohol sales remain illegal. U.S. Rep. Robert Dinsmore Harrison (1951–59) came from Panama.

Nearby towns

Bennet	about 6 mi north	County roads
Hickman	about 6 mi west-northwest	County roads
Firth	about 7 mi southwest	County roads
Roca	about 9 mi west-northwest	County roads
Palmyra	about 10 mi northeast	County roads
Adams	about 10 mi south	County roads
Lincoln	about 17 mi north-northwest	County roads

Schools and health care

Schools: Norris School District 160 (Norris Elementary, Intermediate, Middle and High School on one campus about 2 miles north and 1½ miles west of Firth; it serves Roca, Hickman, Firth, Cortland, Panama, Princeton, Holland, Cheney and Rokeby)

Health care: Hospitals: Bryan Medical Center (East and West), CHI Health St. Elizabeth and Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital, Lincoln, about 17 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890); NEGenWeb Lancaster County; History Nebraska; National Register; Nebraska Game and Parks; Lower Platte South NRD; City of Lincoln; Lincoln Airport; Nebraska State Capitol; Flatwater Free Press; school districts; city and village sites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.