Loup City Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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City · Sherman County · County seat · Population 1,053 (2020 census) · ZIP 68853 · Founded 1873 · Peak population 1,675 (1940)

About Loup City

Loup City is a city of 1,053 people (2020) and the seat of Sherman County, in the Middle Loup River valley at about 2,070 feet. NE 58 and NE 92 run together through town, NE 92 west toward Ansley and Broken Bow and east with NE 58 toward Ashton and St. Paul, and NE 10 ends here after coming north from Kearney through Hazard. Sherman Reservoir is about 5 miles northeast. Loup City has Loup City Public Schools, the Loup City–Sherman County Library, a medical clinic, a swimming pool, a nine-hole golf course and the county fairgrounds; the nearest hospital is in Ord. Loup City calls itself the Polish Capital of Nebraska. It is on Central Time.

History

William and M. W. Benschoter laid out and named Loup City in 1873, the year the county was organized, and Frank Ingram opened the first store that April and became the first postmaster; the Loup City News, later the Sherman County Times, began that November. The county’s first courthouse, finished in 1874, burned on the day the commissioners accepted it and was rebuilt on its walls in 1878; the present Beaux Arts courthouse was dedicated on October 8, 1921. Polish and German settlers filled the surrounding country, and St. Josaphat’s Catholic Church keeps early-1900s stained-glass windows given by area families, most of them with Polish names. On June 14, 1934, rumors of a strike at the Fairmont Creamery poultry plant brought Ella Reeve “Mother” Bloor and Communist organizers to a rally on the courthouse lawn that ended in a clash with townspeople, the Loup City riot. Loup City reached 1,675 people in 1940. Desert naturalist Edmund C. Jaeger (1887) and Time and New York Times correspondent Charles Mohr (1929) were born here.

Highways and trails through Loup City

Route	One way	Other way
NE 92Through town with NE 58	West to Ansley and Broken Bow	East with NE 58 toward Ashton, then to St. Paul
NE 58Through town with NE 92	North to NE 70 near Arcadia	Southeast to Rockville, Boelus and Dannebrog
NE 10Ends here	South to Hazard, Pleasanton and Kearney	Continues east as the road to Sherman Reservoir

Nearby towns

Ashton	about 9 mi east-southeast	NE 92
Litchfield	about 13 mi southwest	County roads and NE 2
Rockville	about 13 mi south-southeast	NE 58
Arcadia	about 13 mi northwest	NE 58 and NE 70
Hazard	about 14 mi south-southwest	NE 10
Ravenna	about 18 mi south	NE 58 and NE 68
Mason City	about 18 mi west-southwest	County roads
Farwell	about 18 mi east-southeast	NE 92
Boelus	about 19 mi southeast	NE 58
Ord	about 22 mi north	NE 70 and NE 11
St. Paul	about 27 mi east	NE 92
Kearney	about 40 mi south	NE 10
Grand Island	about 41 mi southeast	NE 58 and US 281

Things to see

the 1920–21 Sherman County Courthouse (National Register), 630 O St., with the Loup City Riot marker on its grounds · the Frederick Hotel (National Register), 810 O St., and the 1917 Carnegie library building (National Register), 652 N St. · the stained glass at St. Josaphat’s Catholic Church, 704 N. 9th St., and the Polish white eagle painted at 7th and O streets · Sherman Reservoir State Recreation Area, about 5 miles northeast: 2,845 acres, 77 miles of shoreline, walleye and crappie, camping · Bowman Lake Recreation Area, a mile west of town · Polish Days the first full weekend of June and the Sherman County Fair in mid-July

Events in Loup City

Loup City Polish Days
Loup City Polish Days is held in Loup City, Nebraska, on the first weekend of June.
Sherman County Fair
Sherman County Fair, a county fair in Loup City, Nebraska.

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: Loup City Public Schools, 800 N. 8th St., (308) 745-0120: Loup City Elementary (PK–6), 630 N. 7th St., and Loup City High School (7–12), 800 N. 8th St.

Health care: VCHS Medical Clinic – Loup City, 130 N. 6th St., (308) 745-0324; nearest hospital: Valley County Health System in Ord, about 22 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Nebraska Who's Who (1940) county history; 1890–91 Nebraska State Gazetteer; NEGenWeb Sherman County (place names, after Fitzpatrick and Perkey); Sherman County and City of Loup City; History Nebraska (markers); National Register listings; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Nebraska Game and Parks; NEBRASKAland; Valley County Health System; SchoolDigger; Nebraska Secretary of State; KOLN 10/11; Fox Nebraska; Rural Radio Network. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.