Blair Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Blair Area Cameras

City · Washington County · County seat · Population 7,790 (2020 census) · ZIP 68008 · Founded 1869 · Peak population 7,990 (2010)

About Blair

Blair is the county seat of Washington County, a city of 7,790 on the bluffs above the Missouri River, where US 30 crosses into Iowa and US 75 runs north–south; NE 91 and NE 133 end here. It has Memorial Community Hospital, the Washington County Courthouse, Blair Community Schools, the Blair Public Library & Technology Center, Black Elk–Neihardt Park, the Bob Hardy RV Park and River Wilds Golf Club. The DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge is about 5 miles east.

History

The Carter brothers settled here in May 1855. When the Sioux City & Pacific Railroad chose to cross the Missouri at Carter Valley, railroad financier John I. Blair bought the townsite, and lots went on sale on March 10, 1869. Blair won the county seat by vote that same year and drew people and churches from De Soto and Cuming City; it became a city in 1872. An 1869 turntable accident here led to the U.S. Supreme Court case Sioux City & Pacific Railroad v. Stout (1873). The railroad bridge opened in 1883, and the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Bridge, a toll bridge carrying US 30, followed in 1929; its tolls ended in 1962 and it was replaced in 1991.

Danish Lutherans shaped the town: Trinity Seminary taught here from 1896 to 1954 and Dana College from 1884 until it closed in 2010. The Dana campus was listed on the National Register in 2021 and is now Dana Village, a housing community run by Lutheran Family Services. Cargill opened its corn-milling and biorefinery campus in 1995, and partner plants have joined it. On April 26, 2024, an EF4 tornado destroyed homes south of town. The population peaked at 7,990 in 2010.

Highways and trails through Blair

Route	One way	Other way
US 30Lincoln Highway, east–west through town	East across the Missouri to Missouri Valley, Iowa (about 10 mi)	West past Kennard (about 7 mi) to Arlington (about 14 mi) and Fremont
US 7513th Street and Washington Street	North to Herman (about 10 mi) and Tekamah (about 17 mi)	South to Fort Calhoun (about 9 mi) and Omaha (about 25 mi)
NE 91Eastern end at US 30/US 75	West to Nickerson (about 19 mi) and Hooper	Ends in Blair
NE 133Four-lane "Blair High Road," ends at US 30	South to Omaha (about 19 mi to West Dodge Road)	Ends in Blair

Nearby towns

De Soto	about 4 mi southeast	US 75
Kennard	about 7 mi southwest	US 30
Fort Calhoun	about 9 mi south	US 75
Herman	about 10 mi north	US 75
Arlington	about 14 mi southwest	US 30
Tekamah	about 17 mi north	US 75
Omaha	about 25 mi south	US 75 or NE 133
Cuming City	about 4 mi northwest	US 75

Things to see

Washington County Courthouse, 1555 Colfax St., built 1889–91 (National Register) · Congregational Church of Blair, 16th and Colfax streets (National Register) · Black Elk–Neihardt Park and its Tower of the Four Winds, on the town's highest ground · the Dana College campus (National Register) · Lewis and Clark campsite marker (August 3–4, 1804) at the YMCA, 1278 Wilbur St. · DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge and the steamboat Bertrand collection · Cuming City Cemetery and prairie preserve, about 4 mi northwest

Schools and health care

Schools: Blair Community Schools: Blair High School, 440 N. 10th St.; Otte Blair Middle School; Arbor Park and Deerfield elementary schools; South early childhood center

Health care: Memorial Community Hospital & Health System, 810 N. 22nd St. (25-bed critical access hospital with emergency care)

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); History Nebraska; National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Game and Parks; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Nebraska Department of Transportation route mileposts. Distances marked "about" are estimates.