Gibbon Township
Location
In bottom row of townships, 4th from west.
North 115th Road South Coal Chute
Road
East Pawnee road West Keystone
Road
Geographical Features
Wood River west to east winding through second row of sections from
top
Another stream parallel to Wood, north of it empties into Wood north
of Gibbon
Valleys Wood River and Platte
All cultivated, little grassland
Does not include the Platte River because there is another stray township
south of the Interstate below both Gibbon and Shelton Townships.
Man Made Features
East/west Highway 30 and UP railroad go through Gibbon and
on west in southerly slant
Interstate 80 catches corner
of the last southeast section with Windmill State Recreation Area at the
exit
North/south Ravenna Road
Gibbon on east edge in center north/south.
Pawnee Road County road on east edge of Gibbon township border.
Gibbon Road Country road on west
edge of Gibbon, 1mile west
Name 1866 - U P Railroad Gibbon
Siding
Named Gibbon
Siding in honor of Gen. John Gibbon, who served in the Mexican and Civil War
April 1871 Gibbon Homestead
Colony
56 Homestead
filings that year. On alternate [non-railroad owned] sections
Some history of Nebraska, Original
formation of Buffalo County,
and the Boyd Ranche
Nebraska
1854 Nebraska Territory Nebraska/Kansas Bill
All land west of Missouri to
Continental divide, from Kansas border to Canada est. population 2,732,
2/3rds living south of the Platte and near the Missouri River.
1861 Dakota Territory took land on
north
Francis Burt first governor, died two
days after taking oath of office. (Oct. 18, 1854)
Had intended
Bellevue to be capital.
Thomas Cumings, territorial
secretary, appointed acting governor (10-18-1854 - 2-20-55)
25 years old,
decided Omaha would be capital
This part of Nebraska, including Buffalo County, was Indian Territory until
1857
Except Ft. Kearny Military
Reservation surveyed & established in 1848
1860 Census Buffalo County, 114 people listed, all with Post Office at
Nebraska Center
Original Buffalo County
Named and boundaries set by first
Territorial Legislature in 1855.
Nebraska Center (Boyd Ranche) named
county seat
Record of elections held there in
1859 only county business of record here
All county business from 1859-1870
conducted in Hall Couty
County reorganized in 1870 our
county records begin at that point
Boyd Ranche
Located on Wood River where it comes
closest to Platte (2 ½ miles), mile west of Gibbon
North and
little east of Ft. Kearney 12 miles
Close enough
for protection
Far enough
away so Dobytown did not compete for trail business
Ranch started about 1847, no later
than 1848 when Ft. Kearny opened
First owner unknown
Business was trading animals and
selling whiskey
Mentioned in 1853 by Wescotts and
called Boyd Ranche
Brothers &
wives going to California and Capt. John Fullers party traveled together
Bought 20
gal. whiskey @ $20/gal ($200 worth)
Wives carried
the money difficulty convincing them the men hired to drive the wagons
needed whiskey
1867 Land had been surveyed and
opened for settlement
1867, Dec. Deed received by Joseph
Boyd from US gov. for Ranche property (first piece of and owned by an
individual in the county; therefore, first homestead in Gibbon township)
Must have
been a time lag- Joseph sold ranche to brother, James, in April 1867
James Boyd
Emigrated from Ireland in 1856
Lived in Omaha before taking over
management of the Ranche in 1858
Planted about 100 acres to corn and
barley, about 100 head of cattle
Sold whiskey and beer to fort as well
as those on the trail
1860 Western Stage Line established Boyd Ranche a stage stop
Buildings were all sod with dirt
roofs
1864 Went to Missouri, bought mules, intended to get into freight business
Brought load of lumber from Omaha to
build a house
1866 1870 contracted with UP to grade 300 miles of roadbed with those
mules
1868 moved to Omaha
1874 Ranch was sold
Gibbon as County seat
October 10, 1871 Regular election held, the county seat was, by vote,
located at Gibbon.
May 22, 1872 county records transferred to a building erected for a
private residence
County clerk was authorized to expend
not to exceed $50 for a desk and other furniture for his office.
Rent $10 per month
February, 1873 new courthouse the offices and records were transferred to
that building.
The Courthouse
Stone for the foundation and the lumber shipped from Omaha.
Brick manufactured at Gibbon.
Made from clay and sand found in the
immediate vicinity
Burn the brick with wood from the
Loup River about 25 miles away
3 yoke of oxen hauled a load of two
cords of wood
Drive of about twenty miles without
water
Drive in the night a portion of the
trip
Oxen could
not stand it without water if driven in the heat of the day.
Required three days, with good luck,
to make the trip with oxen
Usually took
longer as breakdowns occurred or wagon tires became loose
Timber on an island in the bend of
the river protected from prairie fires
No money in hauling this wood at $6 a
cord & green wood was not hot enough
Last brick made were burned with coal
When tearing down this courthouse in 1908, - brick in inside walls not
heated sufficiently hot enough to destroy the grass roots that had grown in
the clay
One serious accident
While working
in a sand pit on the north side of Wood River, to secure sand for the
construction of the building, the sand caved in and thereby William Brady
lost his life.
First death
in colony
The first meeting held in the new
courthouse was on Washington's birthday, February 22, 1873.
The Decision to Move the County
Seat to Kearney
August 24, 1874 - the county commissioners were induced to declare
the courthouse unsafe and to order that no meetings except for county
purposes be allowed in the building.
August 29, 1874 - a petition asking for a special election for the
relocation of the county seat.
October 13, 1874 - a special election held, resulting in its removal
to Kearney.
No records of number of votes cast
for and against this question
An inducement for the removal to
Kearney
South Platte Land Company and the UP would donate a site and erect a
building
The site donated is the one now in use by the county and which, for a
consideration of $1, was deeded to the county December 27, 1875, and
thereon was erected in 1875 by these two companies a cheap frame building,
two stories high, and used by the county until the erection of the present
courthouse. Bassett, a member of the Gibbon Homestead Colony.
This building was first occupied
January 4, 1876.
At its own expense the county
erected, on the present courthouse site, a small 1-story brick building,
with fireproof vaults, for the safe keeping of county records, and in this
building were the offices of the county clerk and treasurer.
The frame building was later moved to
another location, veneered with brick, and used as the W. C. T. U. Hospital.
[current VFW on 1st Ave.?]
Use of Gibbon Courthouse Building
Afterwards
"What a waste of money!....squander more than $70,000 in paying for a
courthouse that was used by the county less than two years for courthouse
purposes."
1875 - an academic department of the Gibbon schools, District No. 2 [high
school]
No high school in Central and Western
Nebraska
Served a large territory, especially
students desiring to teach
Equally as important and far-reaching
- a series of county farmers' institutes held in the courthouse building
from 1874 to 1880
1882 - Nebraska Baptist College, moved to Grand Island in 1885
1886 - a collegiate institute - United Brethren Church, moved to York in
1889
At
a later date commercial colleges were conducted by three different
professors.
In
the '90s the courthouse was sold to School District No. 2, Gibbon, for $1,
so the district could establish a
permanent commercial college.
This project failed after 1904
1908 - building was torn down and in its place erected an up-to-date high
school
100,000 of
the some 400,000 brick used in the construction of the courthouse
were used in the high school building.
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