Cedar County

Cedar County took its name from the cedar groves in the area. St. Helena, the seat after St. James, was probably named for its patron saint, though its first settler, Carl C. P. Meyer, had a daughter named Helena. Hartington was platted in 1883 as a water stop on the railroad and named by a Mr. Whitten of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha for Lord Hartington of England; Coleridge, nearby, honoured Lord Coleridge. J. C. Stitt, the courthouse architect, was an untrained designer from Norfolk who set its tower on a corner.

What the plaque says

Cedar County Much of the early history of Cedar County involves the Indian inhabitants, the Ponca, Omaha, and Sioux. Several prehistoric and historic Indian villages were located in the region. In 1804, Lewis and Clark ascended the Missouri River near here during their exploration of the Louisiana Territory. From August 28-31, they held a council with the Sioux at Calumet Bluff, now the southern abutment of the Gavins Point Dam. Permanent settlement occurred during the 1850's and 1860's and formed the basis for Cedar County's future development. The county was organized by act of the territorial legislature on February 12, 1857. St. James was the county seat until 1869, when it was moved to St. Helena. Hartington, near the center of the county, was selected as the permanent county seat in an 1885 election. The Cedar County courthouse was constructed at a cost of $19,000 in 1891-92 during the terms of County Commissioners John Lorang, Theodore Beste, and Joseph Morten. Designed by J. C. Stitt, the building is an example of a simple Romanesque style of architecture and was constructed of brick manufactured locally. One of the contractors was Henry Stuckenhoff of Hartington, who also helped build many of the churches and early commercial buildings in Cedar County. Cedar County Historical Society Nebraska State Historical Society

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• National Music Museum — 21 mi
  One of the great collections of musical instruments in the world, on a college campus in a prairie town, built around a band teacher's thousands of horns, fiddles and curiosities.
• Spirit Mound Historic Prairie — 23 mi
  A lone hill north of Vermillion that Lewis and Clark walked to on a scorching day in 1804, now one of the few places left where you can stand exactly where they stood.

More markers nearby

• Hartington: Home of Two Nebraska Governors — steps away
• Paragon Cemetery — 4.7 mi
• William H. McMaster — 18 mi
• Meckling & Lincoln — 18 mi