Thayer County is Rich in History

225 North 4th. Street
Hebron, NE 68370

Phone: (402) 768-6126

The Thayer County Courthouse was completed in 1903 of Indiana limestone in the Romanesque and Gothic style.

In rural Gilead from the U.S. Highway 136 go north on Nebraska Highway 53 two miles, then take county road N ½ mile west.

Gilead, NE 68362

Phone: (402) 768-2468

This one-room school was built with native limestone rock obtained from the surrounding hills in 1873 and was operating until 1955.

145 N 5th St, Hebron, NE 68370

Painted by Miss Eldora Lorenzini in 1939.  The mural was part of the New Deal’s WPA Federal Art Project which employed thousands of artists during the Great Depression. The 12 ft. x 4 ft. mural, which depicts the scene of a corn train that left Hebron on the Rock Island Railroad on March 31, 1887, was one of 12 murals painted in Nebraska.  She was paid $670 for her efforts.

Jefferson Avenue between 7th. and 8th. Streets.

Hebron, NE  68370

Phone: (402) 768-6322, for tours (402) 768-7156

Established in the 1920’s, the gardens showcase eleven different varieties of trees, six different varieties of native grasses and many other types of plants.

East Entrance to Deshler on the south side of U.S. Highway 136

Deshler, NE 68340

Phone:  (402) 365-4260

This arboretum contains more than fifteen memorial trees, thirty-two varieties of shrubs and a number of native grasses.

912 Fourth Street
Deshler, NE 68340

Phone: (402) 365-4260

A garden including a Dragon Sculpture, flowers, trees, plus a replica gazebo of the old wooden agricultural hall that once stood on the grounds of the Thayer County Fair.

Several great trails to the West passed through Thayer County, including the Oregon-California Trail, the Pony Express Trail, and the overland stagecoach route.  The California Trail Marker is located at the museum site in Belvidere. One of the earliest trails in the county, it ran north of the Big Sandy Creek.

The red rock marker with a bronze plaque was erected in 1930 by the Oregon Trail Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution to honor the establishment of a stockade in 1869 called Ft. Butler. It was named in honor of the first Nebraska governor, David Butler.  The stockade was built on the bank of Spring Creek west of the present-day marker by Company A, First Nebraska Cavalry which consisted of about 65 men for protection of the settlers.

Approximately 9 miles south and 2 miles east of Deshler.

Served as a stopping place on the Oregon Trail, providing protection for early settlers from Native American raids. Some building foundations may still be seen.

Established by the Rev. Ives Marks, who also started the town of Rose Creek City. A marker shows the site of early pioneer businesses at the edge of the county on Hwy. 8.

The path for the nineteenth century’s dramatic westward expansion, when hundreds of thousands of Americans journeyed from west through Nebraska to Oregon’s Willamette Valley in search of farmland, while others split off to California in search of gold. Ruts of the Oregon Trail still exist near Alexandria today.  The route was later used by the Pony Express, freighters, overland stage companies and  railroads.  The largest marker on the Oregon Trail is located north of Hebron on Hwy. 81. The monument is made out of Red Granite and was dedicated May 24, 1915.

Used to carry mail by horseback from St. Joseph, Missouri to California and back. It followed much of the same path as the Oregon Trail.  Reenactments are held annually in June.

Nine miles east of Hubbell on Highway 8 and three miles south on Road 7300.

Hubbell, NE 68375

Phone: (402) 768-7407

Surveyor’s Marker, the 6th Principal Meridian was the basis for all land measurements for all of Nebraska and Kansas and parts of Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota.

Two markers are located on the site, one State of Nebraska Marker and a stone monument placed there by the American Association of Surveyors.