Most of Emmet was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: maps from 1964 on and the census since 1920.
Emmet was founded in 1882 when the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad was extended to that point. It was named after Irish nationalist Robert Emmet.
Like much of Holt County, the Emmet area is well suited for production of wild hay.
Early settlers cut it as a cash crop; in the 1920s, the Emmet-Elkhorn Valley Hay Company was founded; its name was later abbreviated to the Emmet Hay Company.
The community describes itself as the "Biggest Little Haytown in the World".
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 (2), Wikipedia, 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.
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