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History · Rushville

Rushville’s post office opened in 1884, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 1 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers from 1908 on.

1884first post office
2on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Rushville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Rushville began

When was Rushville founded?

1884

The Rushville post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 816142 years
Founding year: the first Rushville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Rushville’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Rushville’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rushville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rushville’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 viewPhotographing the baby in a Sioux villa…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Rushville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Rushville.

Read it all →

Rushville was platted in 1885 when the Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley Railway was extended to that point. Rushville was incorporated in October 1885.

Rushville was named from Rush Creek. In the Lakota language, Rushville is known as Owátȟokšu or Iwátȟokšu Otȟúŋwahe, meaning "Place where things are transported" or "Transportation City".

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Rushville, 1884 to 1908

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Rushville post office opens
  3. 1892Born hereJay Stowitts is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1908In the archivePhotographing the baby in a Sioux village, Rushville, Neb. - photo made by S.D. Butcher &…
By decade

Rushville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s3 items
Photographing the baby in a Sioux village, Rushville, Neb. - photo made by S.D. Butcher & Son, Kearney, Neb1908Photographing the baby in a Sioux village, Rushville,…Photographing the baby in a Sioux village, Rushville, Neb. - photo made by S.D. Butcher & Son, Kearney, Neb1908Photographing the baby in a Sioux village, Rushville,…Photographing the baby in a Sioux village1908Photographing the baby in a Sioux village
1910s–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
Today10 recent
The Plains Theater in the northwest Nebraska town of Rushville2021The Plains Theater in the northwest Nebraska town of …Cowboy Trail near2019Cowboy Trail nearRushville, Nebraska S Main 12011Rushville, Nebraska S Main 1Rushville, Nebraska N Main 32011Rushville, Nebraska N Main 3Rushville, Nebraska N Main 22011Rushville, Nebraska N Main 2Rushville, Nebraska N Main 12011Rushville, Nebraska N Main 1Rushville, Nebraska 2nd Street 32011Rushville, Nebraska 2nd Street 3Rushville, Nebraska 2nd Street 22011Rushville, Nebraska 2nd Street 2Rushville, Nebraska 2nd Street 12011Rushville, Nebraska 2nd Street 1NEMap-doton-Rushville2005NEMap-doton-Rushville
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.

Photographing the baby in a Sioux village, Rushville, Neb. - photo made by S.D. Butcher & Son, Kearney, Neb
Retake this viewPhotographing the baby in a Sioux village, Rushville, Neb. - photo made by S.D. Butcher & Son, Kearney, Neb, 1908

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Rushville

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Gourley's Opera House
Gourley's Opera HouseSheridan County Courthouse
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

One-part Commercial Block with false front1
Romanesque1
Gourley's Opera HouseOne-part Commercial Block with false front
Sheridan County CourthouseRomanesque

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

Questions about Rushville’s history

What year was Rushville founded?

The Rushville post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Rushville?

Two places: the Gourley's Opera House (listed 1988) and the Sheridan County Courthouse (1990).

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 (11), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.