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History · Decatur

Decatur dates to 1856, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the A.B. Fuller House. Its Register listing is the A.B. Fuller House. Below: maps from 1986 on and the census since 1880.

1856founded
1on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Ammodramus · Public domain
Quick answers

How Decatur began

When was Decatur founded?

1856

Decatur dates its founding to 1856 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 533 in 18802020 census: 410170 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1887.The full story ↓

What stands out about Decatur’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Decatur are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 905 in 1940; 410 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Decatur’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Decatur’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Decatur, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 905

Peaked at 905 in 1940; 410 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Decatur came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Decatur.

Read it all →

The first European settler in the area was a man named Woods, who settled at the mouth of Wood Creek (his namesake) in 1837. Stephen Decatur arrived in the area in 1841. A former schoolteacher in New Jersey and New York, he had abandoned his wife and two children when he migrated to the West. Here he changed his name, dropping his former surname of "Bross." His farm was called Decatur Springs, after a spring which supplied water to the village for the next century.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Decatur, 1856 to 1986

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856
    FoundingDecatur is established
  3. 1860Born hereJohn J. Whitacre is born here
  4. 1887Post officeThe Decatur post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1912Born hereHarold McCluskey is born here
  7. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 905
  8. 1986On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Decatur, decade by decade

Today3 recent
A. B. Fuller House (site) NRHP 100005334 Burt County, NE2025A. B. Fuller House (site) NRHP 100005334 Burt County,…Decatur, Nebraska Broadway 12010Decatur, Nebraska Broadway 1NEMap-doton-Decatur2005NEMap-doton-Decatur
On the map

Decatur on the map in 1986

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Decatur.

Decatur on the 1986 USGS map1986Sioux City South sheet · 1:100,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Decatur

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2020
A.B. Fuller House
A.B. Fuller House
Buildings
All 1 listings
A.B. Fuller HouseBuilding · listed 2020

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Decatur

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

See all →
John J. WhitacreAmerican politician · b. 1860
H
Harold McCluskeySurvivor of radiation poisoning · b. 1912

Questions about Decatur’s history

What year was Decatur founded?

In 1856, according to Wikidata. Decatur’s post office opened in 1887, and the census of 1880 counted 533 people here.

What is on the National Register in Decatur?

One place: the A.B. Fuller House (listed 2020).

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). 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.