Genoa Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

City · Nance County · Population 894 (2020 census) · ZIP 68640 · Founded 1857 · Peak population 1,376 (1910)

About Genoa

Genoa (je-NO-uh) is a city of 894 people (2020) on the north side of the Loup River in eastern Nance County, at about 1,572 feet near the Platte County line. NE 22 and NE 39 run together through town; NE 22 runs west along the Loup to Fullerton and east to Monroe and Columbus, and NE 39 runs south to Silver Creek and US 30 and north to St. Edward. Genoa has a hospital, Twin River Public Schools, a library, two museums, a city park campground and the weekly Genoa Leader-Times. Genoa is on Central Time.

History

Mormon colonists from St. Louis, Florence and Alton, Illinois, arrived on May 16, 1857, and about 100 families built a way station here for the Brigham Young Express and Carrying Company, with a steam mill and log, frame and sod houses. In 1857 the Pawnee ceded their lands except present Nance County, and in the fall of 1859 the Mormons left when Genoa became part of the Pawnee Reservation and its agency, where the government built a mill, shops and, from 1864, a two-story school. The Pawnee were removed to Indian Territory in 1874–75. On February 20, 1884, the Genoa U.S. Indian Industrial School opened in the old agency school, the only federal off-reservation Indian boarding school in Nebraska and the fourth in the nation; it grew to as many as 599 students from more than 40 tribes before closing in 1934, and at least 86 children died there, their cemetery now lost. The present town was platted in 1880 by D. A. and George E. Willard and incorporated in 1881. Genoa reached 1,376 people in 1910. From 1934 the Loup Power District built its canal from headworks on the Loup west of town.

Highways and trails through Genoa

Route	One way	Other way
NE 22 / NE 39Together through town on Willard Avenue	NE 22 west to Fullerton; NE 39 south to Silver Creek and US 30	NE 22 east to Monroe and Columbus; NE 39 north to St. Edward

Nearby towns

Krakow	about 4 mi south-southwest	County roads
Monroe	about 7 mi east-northeast	NE 22
Merchiston	about 9 mi west-southwest	NE 22
Silver Creek	about 10 mi south-southeast	NE 39
St. Edward	about 11 mi northwest	NE 39
Fullerton	about 14 mi west-southwest	NE 22
Clarks	about 17 mi south-southwest	NE 39 and US 30
Belgrade	about 17 mi west	NE 22 and NE 52
Columbus	about 19 mi east	NE 22
Albion	about 22 mi northwest	NE 39

Things to see

the Genoa Indian School Interpretive Center, 209 E. Webster Ave., in the 1907 shop building with its painted harness murals; summer weekends, (402) 993-6036 · the U.S. Indian Industrial School buildings (National Register) and the Recognition and Remembrance Day each September · the Genoa Historical Museum, 402 Willard Ave.: Pawnee artifacts and Mormon Trail exhibits; Fri–Sun 1–5 in summer · the "Pawnee" and "Genoa: 1857–1859" markers at the south entrance of Genoa City Park · Headworks Park, about 6 miles west on NE 22: free camping at the Loup Canal headworks, May to November · Don Dworak WMA, a mile south on NE 39

Schools and health care

Schools: Twin River Public Schools, 816 Willard Ave., (402) 993-2274: elementary and junior/senior high (formed 2001 from Genoa, Monroe and Silver Creek)

Health care: Genoa Community Hospital (Genoa Medical Facilities), 706 Ewing Ave., (402) 993-2283: hospital, clinic, assisted living and long-term care; Park Street Medical Clinic, 505 S. Park St.

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); 1890 Union Pacific Gazetteer of Nebraska; Bassett, Fullerton's First 100 Years (1979); Nance County and City of Fullerton (history, offices); History Nebraska (markers); National Register listings and nominations; Nebraska Game and Parks; Loup Power District; Nebraska Department of Revenue; Genoa U.S. Indian School Foundation; Nebraska Public Media; KOLN 10/11; VisitNebraska. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.