Sargent was laid out in 1883 by future Governor Ezra P. Savage.
Mrs. Ruth Sherman established a post office in 1879. The office was located in a soddy one half mile east of the now corporate limits of town. She chose the name "Sargent" in honor of her close friends, Mr. and Mrs. E.D. Sargent of Streator, IL.
J.K. Spacht built the first store in what is now Sargent, in July 1883, in the middle of a wheat field. After establishment of this general store, Mr. Spacht was able to persuade Mrs. Sherman to let him move her post office to his store if the name would remain "Sargent".
The town experienced rapid growth when the railroad extended to it in 1899.
Passages that mention Sargent, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Custer County, Nebraska1919 · page 781Read the page →
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and perseverance succeeded in the develo])- ment of a good property and the accumulation of a competence. In 18W he moved to Sargent, to take charge of the Beatrice cream station, which he conducted nine years, subsequently going into the postoffice, where he administered affairs as postmaster for seven years and established a good reputation as a
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History of Custer County, Nebraska1919 · page 215Read the page →
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town to dwindle down to a mere shadow of its former proportions. In the fall of 1899, however, the railroad was built from Arcadia to Sargent, making the latter the terminus, and since that time the town has had a very substantial growth. The Independent Telephone Company, of Broken Bow, extended its line to Sargent in the fall of 1900. The same fall
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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Sargent, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
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 Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
![and perseverance succeeded in the develo])- ment of a good property and the accumulation of a competence. In 18W he moved to Sargent, to take charge of the Beatrice cream station, which he conducted nine years, subsequently going into the postoffice, where he administered affairs as postmaster for …](https://images.townratings.com/story/10756/bk-d940862dff43dbdd-l.jpg)
1886
1886
2010
2010
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