Cordova was originally called Hunkins, in honor of pioneer settler Benjamin Hunkins, and under the latter name was platted in 1887 when the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad was extended to that point. Due to the similarity with the name of another post office in the state, Hunkins was soon renamed Cordova, after Cordova, Spain, in order to avoid repetition. A post office called Cordova has been in operation since 1888.
Peaked at 205 in 1920; 92 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cordova’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Cordova, 1905–1916
Passages that mention Cordova, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Seward County, Nebraska, and reminiscenses of territorial history1905 · page 261Read the page →
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Cordova, at this writing, is a brisk village of about 200 people, with a good supply of business houses; two elevators, bank, two churches, a tine school house and many neat residences. The town draws trade from Fillmore and York counties, and is in a flourishing condition. It is surrounded by a well developed and rich farming community.
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General history of Seward county, Nebraska1916 · page 245Read the page →
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Cordova is located in the south-west quarter of Seward county, seven miles south-west of Beaver Crossing. It was founded in 1887, the third new village on the line of the C.
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History of Seward County, Nebraska, and reminiscenses of territorial history1905 · page 52Read the page →
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Schreiter. The young doctor came to Nebraska in 1883, before he took his 1)1 ide and bad commenced his practice at Cordova, in 1888. He outgrew Cordova in a short time and moved to a more promising field at Beaver Crossing where he has now practiced his profession for eleven years.
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General history of Seward county, Nebraska1916 · page 151Read the page →
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H. Sage started a paper called the "Journal" at Cordova in 1889. It was shortlived. The "Cordova Progress" was started by Frank Dorsey in 1892. It was a bright little paper and continued publicaiion two or three years when it suspended.
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Cordova, 1888 to 1966
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 (7), Wikipedia, 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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