Jefferson County, Nebraska
Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.
At a glance
SummaryThe National Register of Historic Places includes 14 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1972. Most listings are in or near Fairbury, Diller, Steele City.
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
Newspapers
Library of CongressNewspaper directory data for Nebraska is not yet loaded on this site. Browse Jefferson titles at the Library of Congress.
National Register of Historic Places
NPS NRHP11 of 14 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
14 listed properties
| Property | City | Listed |
|---|---|---|
| Colman House | Diller | 1982 |
| Diller, Anna C., Opera House | Diller | 1988 |
| District No. 1 School of Jefferson County | Steele City | 1997 |
| District No. 10 School | Powell | 1978 |
| Fairbury Commercial Historic District | Fairbury | 1997 |
| Fairbury Jr/Sr High School and Gymnasium-Auditorium | Fairbury | 1999 |
| Fairbury Public-Carnegie Library | Fairbury | 1985 |
| Fairbury Rock Island Depot and Freight House | Fairbury | 1996 |
| IOOF Temple Building | Fairbury | 1987 |
| Jefferson County Courthouse | Fairbury | 1972 |
| Kesterson, John C., House | Fairbury | 2019 |
| People's State Bank | Diller | 1984 |
| Smith, Woral C., Lime Kiln and Limestone House | Fairbury | 1974 |
| Steele City Historic District | Steele City | 1972 |
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBJefferson was formed in 1856 (1856-01-26) from Jones.
JEFFERSON created by Nebraska Territory from JONES (extinct).
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusJefferson County population from 1870 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1870 | 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,440 | 8,096 | 15,196 | 16,140 | 15,532 | 13,623 | 11,620 | 9,817 | 8,333 | 7,240 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
National Park Service sites nearby
NPSPark units within about 40 km of the county centroid (from NPS Public POIs; no API key).
| Site | Type | Dist. |
|---|---|---|
| HOME | Park unit | 29.2 km |
Source: NPS National Datasets / Public POIs. The NPS Developer API requires a free key and was not used.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS21 cemeteries and 2 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 21 of 21 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Bartel Cemetery |
| Bower Cemetery |
| Emmanuel Cemetery |
| Eureka Cemetery |
| Fairbury Cemetery |
| Grandy Cemetery |
| Harbine Cemetery |
| Hope Church Cemetery |
| Jansen Cemetery |
| Kilpatrick Cemetery |
| Megli Cemetery |
| Meridian Presbyterian Cemetery |
| Old Plymouth Cemetery |
| Powell Cemetery |
| Prairie Home Cemetery |
| Richland Center Cemetery |
| Saint Johns Cemetery |
| Saint Paul's Lutheran Cemetery |
| Silver Creek Cemetery |
| Steele City Cemetery |
| Woodlawn Cemetery |
Historical populated places — 2 of 2
| Name |
|---|
| Bower |
| Meridian |
Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.
Historical markers
HMdb linkMarker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.
Search HMdb for Jefferson County, Nebraska
Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.