Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Broken Bow

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
A−History
History · Broken Bow

Broken Bow’s post office opened in 1879, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #8 of 57 in Nebraska. What drives it

6 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 29 buildings. Below: 13 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1890.

1879first post office
6on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
13old photos & papers
8famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Broken Bow’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Broken Bow began

When was Broken Bow founded?

1879

The Broken Bow post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1882.

First census: 1,647 in 18902020 census: 3,506147 years

How historic is Broken Bow?

A−

More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Broken Bow post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1882.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Broken Bow’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Broken Bow is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #8 of 57 in Nebraska. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Broken Bow’s overall grade.
Founding era1879, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194033.6% of homes (±7.2) · typical NE town 17.8% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register6 listings, 34 historic buildings, 97.1 per 10,000 residents · typical NE town 16.3 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 82%
NewerOlder
Nebraska towns of 2,500+ (57)Ahead of 88%

Nebraska towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Nebraska town has 16.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Broken Bow’s 97.1 sits above most of its state (88% of Nebraska towns have fewer) while its 34 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1882 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Broken Bow’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1892 to 1918, drew every building in Broken Bow.A historic districtThe Broken Bow Commercial Square Historic District takes in 29 historic buildings.A town in old photos13 old photos, postcards and papers, 1886–1936.Landmarks on the Register6 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Every building

Broken Bow, building by building, 1892–1918

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Broken Bow fire insurance map, 1892, sheet 11892Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

6 listings protect 34 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
34
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Custer County Courthouse and Jail
Custer County Courthouse and JailArrow Hotel, built 1928Security State Bank BuildingBroken Bow Carnegie LibraryStillman P. Groat HouseBroken Bow Commercial Square Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Neo-Classical1
Palladian1
Renaissance Revival1
Mixed1
Late Victorian1
Italianate1
Custer County Courthouse and JailNeo-Classical
Arrow HotelBuilt 1928
Security State Bank BuildingRenaissance Revival
Broken Bow Carnegie LibraryMixed
Stillman P. Groat HouseBuilding
All 6 listings
Broken Bow Commercial Square Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2006

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

By decade

Broken Bow, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s7 items
Broken Bow Globe Hotel 18861886Broken Bow Globe Hotel 1886Broken Bow's First Jail 18861886Broken Bow's First Jail 1886Group posed in front of the Holland & McDonald hardware store1886Group posed in front of the Holland & McDonald hardwa…Group posed in front of the Holland & McDonald hardware store1886Group posed in front of the Holland & McDonald hardwa…Group posed in front of the Holland & McDonald hardware store1886Group posed in front of the Holland & McDonald hardwa…Broken Bow The Custer Leader newspaper 18871887Broken Bow The Custer Leader newspaper 1887DocumentBroken Bow Wagon Shop 18891889Broken Bow Wagon Shop 1889
1890s–1900s5 items
Broken Bow College 18901890Broken Bow College 1890Broken Bow Courthouse ca.1900c. 1900Broken Bow Courthouse ca.1900Broken Bow Balloon Ascension 19031903Broken Bow Balloon Ascension 1903Broken Bow Hull's Hotel ca. 1904c. 1904Broken Bow Hull's Hotel ca. 1904View of Broken Bow ca. 1904c. 1904View of Broken Bow ca. 1904
1930s1 item
Scene in rehabilitation office. Broken Bow, Nebraska1936Scene in rehabilitation office. Broken Bow, Nebraska
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
The story

How Broken Bow came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Broken Bow.

Read it all →

Broken Bow was platted in 1882. Its name, likely suggested by a settler who found a broken bow in a field at the site of a former Native American camping ground, was submitted by homesteader Wilson Hewitt to the U.S. Post Office Department. The railroad was built through Broken Bow in 1884, and the town was incorporated as a village that same year. Broken Bow was incorporated as a city of the second class in 1888.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Broken Bow in 1919

Passages that mention Broken Bow, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The next day the journey of Mr. Strong and ^Ir. Morrison was uneventful, and they put up for the night with C. D. Pelham, at or near where the present city of Broken Bow stands. Pelham kept the postoffice and a small stock of groceries, and the first hotel in Broken Bow. They had often seen the puz…
History of Custer County, Nebraska1919 · page 105Read the page →
Read the text

The next day the journey of Mr. Strong and ^Ir. Morrison was uneventful, and they put up for the night with C. D. Pelham, at or near where the present city of Broken Bow stands. Pelham kept the postoffice and a small stock of groceries, and the first hotel in Broken Bow. They had often seen the puzzle of the innkeeper who could put thirteen men

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
office from its inception to the present day. It is here quoted at length : In March, 1890, by an act of congress, the Broken Bow land district was created and the office established at Broken Bow, Nebraska. On April 24, 1890, Judge John Reese, of Broken Bow, was appointed the first register and Ho…
History of Custer County, Nebraska1919 · page 79Read the page →
Read the text

office from its inception to the present day. It is here quoted at length : In March, 1890, by an act of congress, the Broken Bow land district was created and the office established at Broken Bow, Nebraska. On April 24, 1890, Judge John Reese, of Broken Bow, was appointed the first register and Hon. James Whitehead, the first receiver,

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.

Timeline

Broken Bow, 1879 to 1975

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Broken Bow post office opens
  3. 1886In the archiveBroken Bow Globe Hotel 1886
  4. 1886Born hereEarl Cooper is born here
  5. 1886Born hereEarl J. Atkisson is born here
  6. 1890In the archiveBroken Bow College 1890
  7. 20th century
  8. 1900In the archiveBroken Bow Courthouse ca.1900
  9. 1928BuiltArrow Hotel is built
  10. 1936In the archiveScene in rehabilitation office. Broken Bow, Nebraska
  11. 1940Born hereKent McCloughan is born here
  12. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  13. 1975Born hereAmanda Grosserode is born here
On the map

Broken Bow on the map, 1951 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Broken Bow. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Broken Bow on the 1951 USGS mapBroken Bow on the 1978 USGS mapBroken Bow on the 1985 USGS map1951Broken Bow sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Broken Bow.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Broken Bow Globe Hotel 1886
Retake this viewBroken Bow Globe Hotel 1886, 1886

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Broken Bow’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Broken Bow, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,979

Between 1,375 and 3,979 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Broken Bow’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

8 famous people were born in Broken Bow

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Earl CooperAmerican racecar driver · b. 1886
Earl J. AtkissonColonel of the 1st Gas Regiment in World War I · b. 1886
A
Amanda GrosserodeAmerican politician · b. 1975
K
Kent McCloughanAmerican football player · b. 1940
Ray B. McCandlessAmerican football player and coach, basketball … · b. 1889
B
Bettina BedwellAmerican journalist and fashion illustrator · b. 1889
Help out

Finish Broken Bow’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBroken Bow Globe Hotel 1886: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Broken Bow’s history

What year was Broken Bow founded?

The Broken Bow post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1882.

How does Broken Bow rank for history?

Broken Bow is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #8 of 57 in Nebraska. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Broken Bow?

6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Custer County Courthouse and Jail (listed 1979, the first), and 1 historic district, the Broken Bow Commercial Square Historic District, with 29 contributing buildings. 34 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Broken Bow?

34% of Broken Bow’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Nebraska town; the median home was built in 1962.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.