Place names for Seward County Nebraska

Beaver Crossing - Village
Population - (1890): 300, (1940): 550, (1990): 827
Named after a place near the town where the Overland Trail from Fort Leavenworth crossed Beaver Creek. The first postmaster was appointed in January 1868.
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Bee - Village
Population - (1920): 228, (1990): 209
Named for the Seward County precinct that the village is located in (B), with a double "e" added. The post office was established in September 1887.
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Cordova - Village
Population - (1890): 100; (1990): 147
Founded in 1887. It was named "Hunkins" for Benjamin Hunkins, whose son Clarence was the first postmaster and store owner. That name was similar to the name of another village, so the name Cordova, after Cordova, Spain, because there was no village in Nebraska with a similar name.
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Garland - Village
Population - (1890): 225; (1990): 247
Founded in 1872, it was originally called Germantown because most residents were from Germany. A post office was established in March 1873. Named Garland in 1918 after Ray Garland, a soldier from Germantown who was the first to die during World War I.
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Goehner - Village
Population - (1890): 75; (1990): 192
Founded in 1888 as a station on the F.E. & M.V. Railroad, it was named for John F. Goehner, a prominent Seward merchant, who was born in Germany and emigrated to America in 1873, serving as a state senator in 1884.
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Milford - City
Population - (1890): 700; (1990): 1886
Milford was named for a ford on the Blue River and a mill built by J.D. Davison. A post office was established 1864. Milford was the county seat of Seward County from November 1867 to the fall of 1871. It is in the southern part of Seward county, and was on the A & N division of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad. In 1890, the Industrial Home for Women, a state institution, was located there. Also, in 1890, The Sanitarium, a health resort, had a five story building supplied with hospital resources.
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Pleasant Dale - Village
Population - (1890): 100; (1910): 257, (1990):
Post office established February 13, 1871, named by Capt. J.H. Culver, US Army, for the beautiful valley in which it is located. It was a station on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad.
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Seward - City
Population - (1890): 2000; (1980): 5713, (1990):
Post office establish in April 1867. The city was named for the county, and Seward became the county seat in 1871. The county was named in honor of William Henry Seward, Secretary of State under President Lincoln and Johnson. Concordia Teachers College was established in 1894. In 1973, the city was designated "Nebraska's Official Fourth of July City".
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Staplehurst - Village
Population - (1890): 300; (1980): 306, (1990):
Founded in 1876, with the post office established in February 1877, the town was named for Staplehurst, England by Ebenezer Jull, who came from there with his family in 1873.
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Tamora - Village, Zip Code: ; Population - (1910): 205; (1990):
Founded in 1876, the name was changed from Lafayette in 1879, and the post office was closed in 1970, with mail service coming from Seward. The village was originally given four names by each of the four original founders of the village, and they finally settled on the name Tamora.
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Utica - Village
Population - (1890): 600; (1990): 780
The post office was established in June 1874. The town was named for Utica, New York by G.A. Derby, who had the first post office in his home.
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Batesville - Post office established in January 1878; discontinued October 1878. The former village was possibly named in honor of a county commissioner, L.D. Bates.

Camden - During the summer of 1866, H.W. Parker settled here, and built a gristmill. It had a promise of being on the Burlington & Missouri railroad, and aspired to be the principal city on the Blue River. Post office in the southwestern part of Seward county, 18 miles from Seward, established September 7, 1887; discontinued October 1900. Population of 50 in 1870. The former village got its name, probably, from Camden, New Jersey. Additional information can be found in the History of Seward County by Cox.

Carlisle - The village was chartered on March 15, 1885 and was the proposed county seat of Greene County, which became Seward County in 1862.

Fouse Ranch - located in L Precinct, John E. Fouse had a ranch located at the mouth of Beaver creek her in 1862. John Fouse traded with the travelers and Indians. He lived in a large dug-out on the bank of Beaver creek. Thomas Tisdale had a small store and a post office on the ranch. They were moved to Beaver Crossing in the fall of 1871.

Germantown - see Garland

Glendale - a post office established in May 1877, and discontinued in September 1878.

Greenville - a proposed town when Seward County was still known as Greene County.

Groveland - on April 20, 1871, William Knight was appointed postmaster of this post office.

Grover - a post office in the northeastern part of Seward county, six miles east of Seward.

Hartford - early locality in Seward County, origin unknown.

Hartman - post office established in April 1871, and changed to Marysville in December 1873. Named for William Hartman, born in Clayton County, Iowa in 1857, who moved and settled here in 1866.

Hunkins - The original name for Cordova before the establishment of a post office. Named in honor of C.W. Hunkins, who became the first postmaster of Cordova.

Lafayette - post office established in November 1878, then name changed to Tamora in October 1879.

Leahey - former station on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad.

Marysville - a post office in the northwestern part of Seward county on the Blue River, about 12 miles from Seward.

Neldon - in January 1871, William Keen was recommended for postmaster of this post office, located 10 miles west of Milford on Walnut Creek.

North Fork - post office established in February 1869, then moved to Saline County.

Norval - name changed from West's Mill in 1871, and discontinued in 1884. Named in honor of Judge T.L. Norval, judge of the sixth district of Nebraska, elected State Senator in 1878, a city clerk of Seward, and district attorney. Additional information can be found in the History of Seward County by Cox.

Oak Grove - on April 13, 1871, S.W. Huston was appointed post master. Additional information can be found in the History of Seward County by Cox.

Orton - post office established in September 1871 and discontinued in December 1888.

Ost - former station on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad.

Pittsburgh - post office established in May 1873 and discontinued in April 1875.

Ruby - a former village in the south central portion of Seward County, on the Atchison and Columbus branch of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, five miles south of Seward.

Success - community with a store operated by John C. Tissue.

Thompson's Ranch - first settled by Daniel Millspaw in 1862, it was located just west of Beaver Crossing. Additional information can be found in the History of Seward County by Cox.

Unitt - Post office established in 1904 and discontinued in 1921. Named after Phillip Unitt, one of the leading stockmen in the 1880's in Nebraska. Additional information can be found in the History of Seward County by Cox.

Welden - former locality with the origin of the name unknown.

West's Mill - in the summer of 1864 Thomas West erected a sawmill and attached a corn burr to grind corn on the west Blue River. A post office was established her in January 1868, and changed to Norval in March 1882. Additional information can be found in the History of Seward County by Cox.

US Bureau of the Census - community classification and 1990 populations.
General History of Seward County, Nebraska, by John Waterman, published in 1914-15, Beaver Crossing, Nebraska.
History of Seward County, Nebraska, William W. Cox, published in 1888 by State Journal Company, Lincoln, Nebraska.
Nebraska State Gazetteer, Business Directory and Farmer list for 1890-1891, published in 1890 by J. M. Wolfe & Co., Publishers, 509-510 Paxton Block, Omaha, Nebraska.
Perkey's Nebraska Place Names, by Elton A. Perkey, Copyright 1995, Nebraska State Historical Society, Published by J & L Lee Company