Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the States Ballroom. Below: maps from 1966 on and the census since 1910.
The Bee post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bee’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Bee.
Bee was laid out in 1887 when the Chicago and North Western Railroad was extended to that point. The village was named from its location in B Township.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Bee, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The village of Bee, lying seven miles north and two miles east of Seward on the Northwestern railroad on broad and commanding ground, was purchased by the Pioneer Townsite Company and platted in the spring of 1887.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In March 1880 a terrible tragedy occurred at a school house in B precinct near where the village of Bee is located. A protracted meeting was being held at the school house and there was a family bv the name of Bates residing in the locality who were very much enthused with the spirit of the meeting and were taking a prominent part in the exercises.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
and west. Under these conditions the precinct caught a large percentage of the county's settlement in the early sixties. It has at present one market, postoffice and trading place — the village of Bee, established on the C. & N. W. rail road line in 1887. -Cprecinct is a North Blue river township, that stream entering it in section three flows to the south-east corner of the precinct. It also has Lincoln creek in the south-west
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
was the scene of one of the most desperate tragedies that has blackened the pages of Nebraska history. In the month of March 1880, in "B" precinct just south of the present village of Bee a congregation of the citizens was gathered for the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bee. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bee.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 149 and 228 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bee’s Wikipedia page.
Bee’s post office has been open since 1887.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Bee post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the States Ballroom (listed 1981).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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