McGrew Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Scotts Bluff County · Population 75 (2020 census) · ZIP 69353 · Founded 1911 · Peak population 139 (1940)

About McGrew

McGrew is a village of 75 (2020) in eastern Scotts Bluff County, on NE 92 at 3,783 feet, about 5 miles west of Bayard and 5 miles northwest of Chimney Rock. Its children attend Bayard Public Schools in Morrill County. McGrew is on Mountain Time.

History

Land was bought and a land office opened in 1910, the Union Pacific arrived late in 1911, and the post office opened on August 30, 1911, in F. E. Sheffer's store. The village incorporated in July 1912 and was named for C. F. McGrew, an Omaha banker. By the 1920s McGrew had a bank, a hotel, a newspaper called The Wasp, a creamery, a pickle station, a Chevrolet dealer and a 1920 brick school, which taught through high school until 1967 and closed in 1986. The McGrew Store closed in 1983, and the church became the Oregon Trail Chapel in 1986. The population peaked at 139 in 1940.

Highways and trails through McGrew

Route	One way	Other way
NE 92Through the village on Main Street	East to US 26 near Bayard	West to Melbeta and Gering

Nearby towns

Bradley	about 2 mi northeast	County roads
Bayard	about 5 mi east	NE 92
Melbeta	about 6 mi west-northwest	NE 92
Minatare	about 6 mi northwest	NE 92 and Link 79E
Gering	about 14 mi west-northwest	NE 92

Things to see

Chimney Rock National Historic Site, about 5 mi southeast in Morrill County · the High Butte Cemetery

Schools and health care

Schools: Bayard Public Schools (Morrill County)

Health care: Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff, about 15 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Who's Who in Nebraska, Scotts Bluff County (1940); Grant L. Shumway, History of Western Nebraska (1921); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890); Fitzpatrick and Link, Nebraska Place-Names (1960); National Park Service; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Nebraska Game and Parks; History Nebraska and its markers; National Register nominations; Nebraska Department of Transportation; Bureau of Reclamation; city and village websites; school districts; Regional West Health Services; Visit Scottsbluff; Star-Herald; KNEB; KHYY. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.