Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Niobrara

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
–Not graded
History · Niobrara

Niobrara dates to 1856

Most of Niobrara was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1986 on, and the census since 1880.

1856founded
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Niobrara’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Niobrara began

When was Niobrara founded?

1856

Niobrara dates its founding to 1856 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 475 in 18802020 census: 365170 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1857.The full story ↓

What stands out about Niobrara’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 761 in 1930; 365 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Niobrara’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewState Bank of Niobrara, Elm Street: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Niobrara, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 761

Peaked at 761 in 1930; 365 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Niobrara came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Niobrara.

Read it all →

Niobrara was founded in 1856, when a group of men headed by a Dr. Benneville Yeakel Shelly marked their claim to an area on the banks of the Missouri River. There, a fort was built to protect the early settlers from Indian attacks. The settlement took its name from the Niobrara River.

The village has been moved twice. It was first moved after a winter flood destroyed parts of the original settlement in 1881. It was moved again after a ruling in 1976 by the US Court of Claims, in the case of Barnes v. United States. The court ruled that US Corps of Engineers was responsible for ground water related damage driven by sediment build up caused by the Gavins Point Dam.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Niobrara, 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
    FoundingNiobrara is established
  3. 1857Post officeThe Niobrara post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 761
  6. 1986On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Niobrara, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
State Bank of Niobrara, Elm StreetDate?State Bank of Niobrara, Elm Street
Today4 recent
Niobrara, Nebraska downtown 22013Niobrara, Nebraska downtown 2Niobrara, Nebraska downtown 12013Niobrara, Nebraska downtown 1Niobrara, Nebraska Walnut Street 12013Niobrara, Nebraska Walnut Street 1NEMap-doton-Niobrara2005NEMap-doton-Niobrara
On the map

Niobrara on the map in 1986

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

Niobrara on the 1986 USGS map1986Atkinson 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 Niobrara.

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.

State Bank of Niobrara, Elm Street
Retake this viewState Bank of Niobrara, Elm Street

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Niobrara’s history

What year was Niobrara founded?

In 1856, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Niobrara’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1880 counted 475 people here.

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 (4), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), 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.