Gilead Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Thayer County · Population 30 (2020 census) · ZIP 68362 · Founded 1889 · Peak population 181 (1910)

About Gilead

Gilead is a village of 30 in eastern Thayer County, just north of US 136 about 9 miles east of Hebron, near where NE 53 turns north to Alexandria.

History

William Erwin's family settled by the Rock Island right-of-way in the 1880s and opened a store, and the station and a lumberyard came in 1889; townspeople reportedly covered the tracks with dirt at night until the railroad moved the crossing to Main Street. The village took its name from Gilead Precinct, and local tradition says Gilead lies about as far from Hebron as its biblical namesake. A bank opened in 1904, shortly after the town was incorporated, and the population peaked at 181 in 1910.

Fires struck in 1907, 1923 and 1936, the bank closed in 1929, and the Rock Island line was abandoned in 1973. St. Paul's Lutheran Church, founded southwest of town in 1890, moved into the former Catholic church in Gilead after a tornado destroyed its building in 1996.

Highways and trails through Gilead

Route	One way	Other way
US 136Just south of the village	East to Fairbury; NE 53 turns north 1 mi east	West to Hebron (about 9 mi)

Nearby towns

Alexandria	about 7 mi north-northeast	US 136 and NE 53
Gladstone	about 6 mi east	US 136
Reynolds	about 7 mi southeast	County roads
Hebron	about 9 mi west	US 136
Hubbell	about 10 mi south-southwest	County roads
Fairbury	about 13 mi east	US 136

Things to see

The old bank building, 225 S. Main St., now the post office, with a marker · St. Paul's Lutheran Church · Mount Gilead Cemetery, a pioneer cemetery north of town · Meridian WMA, about 4 mi north-northeast

Schools and health care

Schools: Thayer Central Community Schools: Thayer Central Elementary (PK–6), 1020 Eads Ave., and Thayer Central High School (7–12), 930 Eads Ave., in Hebron

Health care: No clinic in Gilead; nearest: Thayer County Health Services, 120 Park Ave., Hebron, a 17-bed critical access hospital, with its Hebron Medical Clinic

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Who's Who in Nebraska, Thayer County (1940); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1917); History Nebraska and its historical markers; National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Game and Parks; Little Blue NRD; Nebraska Department of Transportation; Heritage Highway 136; village, school, museum and hospital websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.