Columbus Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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City · Platte County · County seat · Population 24,028 (2020 census) · ZIP 68601 · Founded 1856

About Columbus

Columbus is a city of 24,028 people (2020), the most it has counted, and the seat of Platte County, at 1,447 feet near where the Loup River joins the Platte. US 30, the old Lincoln Highway, crosses US 81, the old Meridian Highway, in the city, and the Union Pacific main line runs through town. Cheap power from the Loup hydro project (finished in 1938) drew industry: Becton Dickinson, Behlen Manufacturing, Cargill, ADM, Vishay Dale and others have plants here, and the Nebraska Public Power District has its headquarters in Columbus. The city has Columbus Community Hospital, Columbus Public Schools, Central Community College’s Columbus campus and the public library in the Columbus Community Building, 2500 14th St., which also holds City Hall and the children’s museum. Omaha is about 75 miles east and Lincoln about 55 miles southeast. Columbus is on Central Time.

History

The Columbus Town Company, a group of mostly immigrant settlers who had organized in Columbus, Ohio, chose the site on May 28, 1856, and named the town for their old home; it became the county seat when the county was organized in 1857 and was incorporated on March 2, 1858. The Union Pacific arrived in June 1866. In the late 1860s promoter George Francis Train touted Columbus as a future national capital, since it lay near the middle of the country, and platted a “Capital Addition”; nothing came of it. Andrew Jackson Higgins, whose landing craft carried Allied troops ashore on D-Day and whom Eisenhower called “the man who won the war for us,” was born in Columbus on August 28, 1886. The Loup Power District’s canal and powerhouses, finished in the 1930s, brought cheap electricity and factories. Harrah’s Columbus Racing & Casino opened in 2024.

Highways and trails through Columbus

Route	One way	Other way
US 30East–west through the city	East to Schuyler and Fremont	West to Duncan and Grand Island
US 81North–south through the city	North to Platte Center, Humphrey and Norfolk	South across the Platte to Osceola and York
NE 22Begins at US 81 northwest of town	West to Monroe and Genoa	East end at US 81

Nearby towns

Lakeview	about 4 mi north-northwest	County roads
Duncan	about 8 mi west-southwest	US 30
Oconee	about 9 mi west-northwest	County roads
Bellwood	about 9 mi southeast	County roads
Platte Center	about 10 mi northwest	US 81
Monroe	about 13 mi west-northwest	NE 22
Tarnov	about 14 mi north-northwest	US 81
Schuyler	about 15 mi east	US 30
David City	about 17 mi southeast	County roads
Humphrey	about 19 mi north-northwest	US 81
Genoa	about 19 mi west	NE 22

Things to see

the Andrew Jackson Higgins National Memorial (2001) in West Pawnee Park: a full-size Higgins boat with bronze soldiers and sand from the D-Day beaches, beside the Freedom Memorial, a bronze eagle on a steel beam with World Trade Center steel · Glur’s Tavern, 2301 11th St., built in 1876 and on the National Register, believed to be the oldest continuously operating tavern west of the Missouri · the Platte County Historical Society Museum, 2916 16th St., with the 1857 Gottschalk log cabin; weekdays 8:30 to 1:30, plus summer weekend afternoons · the Columbus Area Children’s Museum in the Community Building, 2500 14th St. · the Columbus Commercial Historic District downtown and the 1922 Platte County Courthouse, both on the National Register · Pawnee Park, with Memorial Stadium, the 9-hole Van Berg golf course (1928) and the Pawnee Plunge water park (560 33rd Ave.) · the Loup Power District parks north of town: Lake North, Loup Park on Lake Babcock and the paved Two Lakes Trail · Quail Run Golf Course (public, 18 holes) · the Platte County Fair in July at Ag Park (July 8–12 in 2026), where the US 30 Speedway races on Thursday nights from April to September; Columbus Days in August; and the Columbus Marching Festival in late September

Events in Columbus

Columbus Days
Columbus Marching Festival
High school marching band festival in Columbus each September, with a parade and field competition.
Platte County Fair
Platte County Fair, a county fair in Columbus, Nebraska.

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: Columbus Public Schools (Columbus High, Columbus Middle and five elementary schools; offices at the Kramer Education Center, 2410 16th St., (402) 563-7000); Scotus Central Catholic (7–12) and Catholic grade schools; Lakeview Community Schools north of the city; Central Community College, 4500 63rd St., (402) 564-7132

Health care: Columbus Community Hospital, 4600 38th St., (402) 564-7118 (community-owned, about 50 acute-care beds)

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Phillips, Past and Present of Platte County (1915); Curry, History of Platte County; Platte County (plattecounty.ne.gov); National Register; History Nebraska; Loup Power District; Nebraska Game and Parks; Columbus Community Hospital; Platte County Visitors Bureau; Norfolk Daily News; Columbus Telegram. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.