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History · Red Cloud

Red Cloud’s post office opened in 1871, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940

27 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Cather House, a National Historic Landmark, and four historic districts with 92 buildings between them. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1880.

1871first post office
27on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Red Cloud’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Red Cloud began

When was Red Cloud founded?

1871

The Red Cloud post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 677 in 18802020 census: 962155 years
Founding year: the first Red Cloud post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Red Cloud’s past

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

A National Historic Landmark27 places on the National Register, including Cather House, a National Historic Landmark.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1886 to 1922, drew every building in Red Cloud.A historic districtThe Seward Street Historic District takes in 47 historic buildings.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

27 listings protect 113 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
27
National Historic Landmark
1
Cather House
historic buildings protected
113
each building in a district counts
first listed
1969
Cather House
Burlington DepotFarmer's and Merchant's Bank Building, built 1888St. Juliana Falconieri Catholic ChurchWebster County CourthouseCity PharmacyGrace Protestant Episcopal ChurchWilliam Ducker HouseDr. Gilbert McKeeby House, built 1883Matthew R. Bentley House, built 1883Miner Brothers StoreMiner House, built 1878Moon BlockOpera HousePerkins-Wiener HouseWarner-Cather House, built 1904First Baptist ChurchUS Post Office-Red CloudAuld Public Library, built 1917Main Street Historic DistrictSeward Street Historic DistrictElm St. Historic DistrictGarber GroveJackson's ReserveRailroad Addition Historic DistrictCather House★
BuildingsDistrictsSitesStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular3
Greek Revival3
Eclectic1
English Queen Anne1
Renaissance1
Second Renaissance Revival1
★ Landmark
Cather HouseVernacular
Burlington DepotBuilding
Farmer's and Merchant's Bank BuildingEclectic · Built 1888
St. Juliana Falconieri Catholic ChurchBuilding
Webster County CourthouseRenaissance
City PharmacyBuilding
Grace Protestant Episcopal ChurchBuilding
William Ducker HouseGreek Revival
All 27 listings
Dr. Gilbert McKeeby HouseBuilding · listed 1982Matthew R. Bentley HouseBuilding · listed 1982Miner Brothers StoreBuilding · listed 1982Miner HouseBuilding · listed 1982Moon BlockBuilding · listed 1982Opera HouseBuilding · listed 1982Perkins-Wiener HouseBuilding · listed 1982Warner-Cather HouseBuilding · listed 1982First Baptist ChurchBuilding · listed 1982US Post Office-Red CloudBuilding · listed 1992Red Cloud BridgeStructure · listed 1992Auld Public LibraryBuilding · listed 1993Main Street Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1982Seward Street Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1982Chalk Cliff and Republican RiverSite · listed 1982Elm St. Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1982Garber GroveSite · listed 1982Jackson's ReserveSite · listed 1982Railroad Addition Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1982

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

Help out

Start Red Cloud’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAn Indian agency - distributing rations: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Red Cloud, building by building, 1886–1922

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.

Red Cloud fire insurance map, 1886, sheet 11886Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

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

The story

How Red Cloud came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Red Cloud.

Read it all →

The region of present-day Red Cloud was intermittently occupied and used as hunting grounds by the Pawnees until 1833. In that year, a treaty was signed in which the Pawnees surrendered their lands south of the Platte River. According to George Hyde, it is likely that the Pawnees did not realize that they were thereby giving up their lands, and that they were led to believe that they were only granting the Delawares and other relocated tribes permission to hunt in the area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Red Cloud, 1871 to 1971

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Red Cloud post office opens
  3. 1875In the archiveAn Indian agency - distributing rations
  4. 1878BuiltMiner House is built
  5. 1880In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Nebraska (NE) - Webster County - Red Cloud - ED 9…
  6. 1883BuiltDr. Gilbert McKeeby House is built
  7. 1883BuiltMatthew R. Bentley House is built
  8. 1888BuiltFarmer's and Merchant's Bank Building is built
  9. 20th century
  10. 1911Born hereWilliam Norris is born here
  11. 1918In the archiveMembers of DAR Captain Christopher Robinson Chapter (Crawford, Nebraska) at unveiling of …
  12. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,856
  13. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  14. 1971LandmarkCather House named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Red Cloud, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s–1910s3 items
An Indian agency - distributing rations1875An Indian agency - distributing rations1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Nebraska (NE) - Webster County - Red Cloud - ED 91-19 to 2018801950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Nebraska (NE)…Members of DAR Captain Christopher Robinson Chapter (Crawford, Nebraska) at unveiling of Red Cloud monument, October 27…1918Members of DAR Captain Christopher Robinson Chapter (…
1920s–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
Today6 recent
Starke Round Barn in2019Starke Round Barn inRed Cloud, Nebraska2013Red Cloud, NebraskaRed Cloud downtown from W on US1362010Red Cloud downtown from W on US136Red Cloud Republican bridge river US2010Red Cloud Republican bridge river USRed Cloud Republican bridge river DS2010Red Cloud Republican bridge river DSNEMap-doton-Red Cloud2005NEMap-doton-Red Cloud
On the map

Red Cloud on the map, 1940 to 1974

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

Red Cloud on the 1940 USGS mapRed Cloud on the 1974 USGS map1940Red Cloud sheet · 1:62,500

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

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.

An Indian agency - distributing rations
Retake this viewAn Indian agency - distributing rations, 1875

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Red Cloud, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,856

Peaked at 1,856 in 1920; 962 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Questions about Red Cloud’s history

What year was Red Cloud founded?

The Red Cloud post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Red Cloud?

27 listings: 19 buildings, among them the Cather House (a National Historic Landmark since 1971), 4 historic districts with 92 contributing buildings, 3 sites, and 1 structure. 113 historic buildings in all.

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 (8), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (9), the National Register of Historic Places (27), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.