Indianola Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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City · Red Willow County · Population 524 (2020 census) · ZIP 69034 · Founded 1873 · Peak population 815 (1930)

About Indianola

Indianola is a city of 524 on the east bank of Coon Creek near the Republican River, on US 6/34 about 11 miles east of McCook in Red Willow County. It has the Southwest elementary school, a medical clinic, a public library and the Indianola Historical Society's pioneer buildings.

History

Settlers came to Coon Creek in 1872, and D. N. Smith surveyed the town for the Republican Valley Land Association in 1873, naming it for Indianola, Iowa. At the county's organizing election on May 27, 1873, the Indianola ticket beat Red Willow by seven votes, and the town became the county seat; a brick courthouse followed in 1881–82. The Burlington reached Indianola in 1880, and for a time it was the end of the line, but in 1882 the railroad made McCook its division point. Indianola incorporated as a village in December 1880 and is now a city of the second class. McCook overtook it, and after a long court fight the county seat moved to McCook in 1896.

After the Battle of Massacre Canyon on August 5, 1873, settlers at Indianola cared for a wounded Pawnee woman until she died; she was buried near Coon Creek and reburied in the city park in 1975 with Pawnee representatives present. In November 1943 Camp Indianola, north of town, began receiving prisoners of war, mostly Germans captured in North Africa and Italy; the camp covered 250 acres with nearly 200 buildings and held up to 2,549 men, who worked for area farmers. The Bureau of Reclamation later housed dam workers there; the site, now mostly ruins on private land, was listed on the National Register in 2019. The 1935 flood sent Coon Creek over all of south Indianola. The town reached its largest population, 815, in 1930.

Highways and trails through Indianola

Route	One way	Other way
US 6 / US 34East–west through town on D Street	East to Bartley (about 6 mi) and Cambridge	West to McCook (about 11 mi)

Nearby towns

Bartley	about 6 mi east	US 6/34
Mccook	about 11 mi west	US 6/34
Cambridge	about 14 mi east-northeast	US 6/34
Danbury	about 14 mi south	County roads and NE 89
Lebanon	about 15 mi south-southeast	County roads and NE 89
Stockville	about 21 mi north	County roads

Things to see

The Indianola POW Camp state marker, 323 D St. (US 6/34) · the Pawnee Woman's Grave in the city park · the Indianola Historical Society's lot at Main St. and US 6/34, with the old Rocket Inn, a blacksmith shop and the District 27 schoolhouse · the first homestead marker (1904) at the old Red Willow town site, about 4½ mi west on US 6/34 · the Red Willow Diversion Dam WMA, 56 acres on Red Willow Creek about 6 mi northwest · St. Catherine Catholic Church · the Old Settlers Celebration on the second Saturday of August

Schools and health care

Schools: Southwest Public Schools (district 73-0179): Southwest Elementary (PK–5), 719 E St., Indianola, and Southwest Middle School and Junior/Senior High, 900 Coke St., Bartley

Health care: Indianola Medical Clinic (Tri Valley Health System), 119 S. 4th St., (308) 364-9290; hospital: Community Hospital, 1301 East H St., McCook, (308) 344-2650, a 25-bed critical access hospital, about 11 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Johnson's History of Nebraska (1880); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890); Who's Who in Nebraska, Red Willow County (1940); Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names; Southwest Nebraska Genealogical Society and NEGenWeb Red Willow County; McCook Gazette; History Nebraska and its historical markers; National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Game and Parks; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Nebraska Department of Transportation; Nebraska Department of Revenue; school, hospital, library and city websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.