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BHistory
History · Scottsbluff

Scottsbluff dates to 1899, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns · #33 of 57 in Nebraska. What drives it

9 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1910.

1899founded
9on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
16old photos & papers
21famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Scottsbluff’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Scottsbluff began

When was Scottsbluff founded?

1899

Scottsbluff dates its founding to 1899 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 1,746 in 19102020 census: 14,436127 years

How historic is Scottsbluff?

B

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1900.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Scottsbluff’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Scottsbluff is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #33 of 57 in Nebraska. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Scottsbluff’s overall grade.
Founding era1899, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194019.3% of homes (±3.7) · typical NE town 17.8% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register9 listings, 11 historic buildings, 7.7 per 10,000 residents · typical NE town 16.3 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 59%
NewerOlder
Nebraska towns of 2,500+ (57)Ahead of 43%

Nebraska towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Nebraska town has 16.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Scottsbluff’s 7.7 sits near the middle of its state (45% of Nebraska towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 points). Two sources give 1899.

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Scottsbluff’s past

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

On the map since 18984 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1985. Watch Scottsbluff change.A town in old photos16 old photos, postcards and papers, 1917–1941.Landmarks on the Register9 places on the National Register.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1912 to 1924, drew every building in Scottsbluff.
★ What stands out · On the map

Scottsbluff on the map, 1898 to 1985

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

Scottsbluff on the 1898 USGS mapScottsbluff on the 1963 USGS mapScottsbluff on the 1976 USGS mapScottsbluff on the 1985 USGS map1898Scotts Bluff sheet · 1:125,000

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

By decade

Scottsbluff, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1930s5 items
Through the leaves, 19171917Through the leaves, 1917The Beauty Market (1919) - Star Theater1920The Beauty Market (1919) - Star TheaterUntitled photo, possibly related to: Scottsbluff, Nebraska1935Untitled photo, possibly related to: Scottsbluff, Neb…Cattle in stockyards. Scottsbluff, Nebraska1939Cattle in stockyards. Scottsbluff, NebraskaFeeding cattle at stockyard. Scottsbluff, Nebraska1939Feeding cattle at stockyard. Scottsbluff, Nebraska
1940s11 items
Scottsbluff, Nebraska1941Scottsbluff, NebraskaBarn on farm near Scottsbluff, Nebraska1941Barn on farm near Scottsbluff, NebraskaScottsbluff and the old Oregon Trail, Nebraska1941Scottsbluff and the old Oregon Trail, NebraskaScottsbluff and the old Oregon Trail, Nebraska1941Scottsbluff and the old Oregon Trail, NebraskaUntitled photo, possibly related to: Scottsbluff, Nebraska1941Untitled photo, possibly related to: Scottsbluff, Neb…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Scottsbluff, Nebraska1941Untitled photo, possibly related to: Scottsbluff, Neb…Transport truck in service station. Scottsbluff, Nebraska1941Transport truck in service station. Scottsbluff, Nebr…Plowing ground for a garden. Scottsbluff Farmsteads, FSA (Farm Security Administration) project. Scottsbluff, Nebraska1941Plowing ground for a garden. Scottsbluff Farmsteads, …Dairy barn. Cooperative enterprise, at Scottsbluff Homesteads, FSA (Farm Security Administration) project. Scottsbluff,…1941Dairy barn. Cooperative enterprise, at Scottsbluff Ho…Taking in the hay on Scottsbluff Farmsteads, FSA (Farm Security Administration) project. Scottsbluff, Nebraska1941Taking in the hay on Scottsbluff Farmsteads, FSA (Far…Filling the trench silo on Scottsbluff Farmsteads FSA (Farm Security Administration) project. Scottsbluff, Nebraska1941Filling the trench silo on Scottsbluff Farmsteads FSA…
1950s–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
On the National Register

9 historic places in Scottsbluff

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

places listed
9
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
11
each building in a district counts
first listed
1981
Scottsbluff Carnegie Library
Scottsbluff Carnegie LibraryMarquis Opera House, built 1909US Post Office-ScottsbluffTri-State Land Company Headquarters BuildingMidwest TheaterLincoln HotelFontenelle Apartment House, built 1917Western Public Service BuildingSaddle Club
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Modern Movement2
Victorian1
Neoclassical1
Renaissance Revival1
Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Colonial Revival1
Scottsbluff Carnegie LibraryBuilding
Marquis Opera HouseVictorian · Built 1909
US Post Office-ScottsbluffRenaissance Revival
Tri-State Land Company Headquarters BuildingLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals
Midwest TheaterModern Movement
Lincoln HotelLate 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals
Fontenelle Apartment HouseLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements · Built 1917
Western Public Service BuildingModern Movement
All 9 listings
Saddle ClubBuilding · listed 2007

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

The story

How Scottsbluff came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Scottsbluff.

Read it all →

Scottsbluff was founded in 1899 by the Lincoln Land Company, a subsidiary of the Burlington Railroad. By 1900, the Burlington Railroad laid tracks into the town and placed a discarded boxcar next to the tracks as a temporary depot. Scottsbluff was the first town in the region to be located along a railroad line, resulting in some older businesses relocating from Gering to Scottsbluff.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Scottsbluff, 1891 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Born hereRobert G. Simmons is born here
  3. 1898On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1899
    FoundingScottsbluff is established
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900Post officeThe Scottsbluff post office opens
  7. 1906Born hereJ. McVicker Hunt is born here
  8. 1909BuiltMarquis Opera House is built
  9. 1917BuiltFontenelle Apartment House is built
  10. 1917In the archiveThrough the leaves, 1917
  11. 1920In the archiveThe Beauty Market (1919) - Star Theater
  12. 1935In the archiveUntitled photo, possibly related to: Scottsbluff, Nebraska
  13. 1941In the archiveScottsbluff, Nebraska
  14. 1946Born hereRandy Meisner is born here
  15. 1970Born hereAdrian Smith is born here
Every building

Scottsbluff, building by building, 1912–1924

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.

Scottsbluff fire insurance map, 1912, sheet 11912Sheet 1 of 5
Edition
BrickWoodStone

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

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.

Through the leaves, 1917
Retake this viewThrough the leaves, 1917, 1917

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Scottsbluff, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 15,039

Between 1,746 and 15,039 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

21 famous people were born in Scottsbluff

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Randy MeisnerAmerican musician and founding member of the Ea… · b. 1946
Adrian SmithAmerican politician · b. 1970
Robert G. SimmonsAmerican politician · b. 1891
J
J. McVicker HuntAmerican psychologist · b. 1906
K
Kelly StoufferAmerican football player · b. 1964
Dennis ShepardFather of Matthew Shepard and oil industry safe…
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Scottsbluff’s post office has been open since 1900.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Sunrise Village Mobile Home Park
1cemetery inside Scottsbluff
Fairview

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Scottsbluff’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
4 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewThrough the leaves, 1917: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Gering3 historic placesC+TerrytownIts storyD−

Questions about Scottsbluff’s history

What year was Scottsbluff founded?

In 1899, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Scottsbluff’s post office opened in 1900, and the census of 1910 counted 1,746 people here.

How does Scottsbluff rank for history?

Scottsbluff is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #33 of 57 in Nebraska. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Scottsbluff?

9 listings: 9 buildings, among them the Scottsbluff Carnegie Library (listed 1981, the first). 11 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Scottsbluff?

19% of Scottsbluff’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Nebraska town; the median home was built in 1963.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (14), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (9), 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.