1871 Fillmore County 1971

The courthouse behind this marker is the county's second. The first, finished in 1873 soon after the jail, was outgrown within two decades, and after one failed attempt voters approved bonds for a fireproof building on plans by Geneva architect George E. McDonald, who modeled it on the Gage County Courthouse in Beatrice. Ground was broken in December 1892, Geneva contractor L. F. Pardue won the contract at $46,176.55, and the building was dedicated on February 22, 1894. Jeweler W. P. McCall installed the tower clocks in 1909, and the courthouse joined the National Register in 1978.

What the plaque says

1871 Fillmore County 1971 The first homesteads were filed in 1866 by William O. Bussard and William C. Whitaker along the West Fork of the Blue River. Mrs. E. A. Whitaker, the first white woman, came in 1867. The first white children, Emma Whitaker Hall, and Arthur Dixon were born in 1869. Fillmore City was the first town platted in 1870. Other settlers soon followed, and on April 21, 1871 an election was held for officers to organize a new county, named for President Millard Fillmore. The county seat was named for Geneva, Illinois, the former home of Nathaniel McCalla in whose dugout the election was held. The completion of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad across the county in 1871, resulted in large numbers of settlers taking up the land and the towns of Exeter, Fairmont and Grafton were platted. Other towns now in the county are Burress, Milligan, Ohiowa, Shickley and Strang. The early pioneers came from varied origins, Anglo-Saxon, Bohemian, German, and Swedish. Indians were not a major threat to the settlers but blizzards, grasshoppers, prairie fires and droughts were major hazards. HONOUR TO PIONEERS WHO BROKE THE SOD THAT MEN TO COME MIGHT LIVE. Descendants of Jonathan K. and Emma E. Hall Nebraska State Historical Society

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Fairmont Army Air Field — 5.0 mi
• Fairmont Creamery Company — 7.6 mi
• Fairmont Army Air Field — 8.1 mi
• The Pioneer Chapel and Český Bratří Cemetery — 10 mi