Clay Center

Clay Center won the county seat at the end of a contest that began in 1875. In A. T. Andreas's account, Harvard outpolled Sutton 802 to 606 in 1876 but fell short of the three-fifths the law then required. After the law changed to favor the highest vote, the February 20, 1879 election went to Clay Center once Harvard Precinct's vote was thrown out for fraud, and County Judge E. P. Burnett, who refused to move, was impeached. That November Clay Center beat Harvard 1,967 to 1,867. Its brick courthouse of 1880 cost $22,000, double the estimate.

What the plaque says

Clay Center The town of Clay Center was laid out in the summer of 1879. An election on November 4, 1879, confirmed Clay Center as the location for the Clay County seat, following months of heated competition with rivals Sutton and Harvard. W. D. Young erected the first building on the site, a frame structure, which was used as the temporary courthouse. In February, 1887, Clay Center became an incorporated village. Industrial development began in 1903 when M. M. Johnson built a factory to manufacture "Old Trusty" poultry incubators and brooders that were sold nationwide. The factory provided employment for hundreds of local citizens. The Johnson Company established radio station KMMJ in 1925 to promote its products, and the station made Clay Center a well-known and respected name in farm homes throughout the Midwest. Clay Center experienced dramatic change in 1942 when a Naval Ammunition Depot was built just west of town to produce bombs and shells during World War II. This property was later transferred to the U. S. Department of Agriculture and has been designated by Congress as the Roman L. Hruska U. S. Meat Animal Research Center. Clay Center Centennial Committee Nebraska State Historical Society

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer — 30 mi
  Edward Durell Stone's island pavilion in Grand Island and an 1890s railroad town of moved buildings, among them the cottage where Henry Fonda was born in 1905.

More markers nearby

• Harvard Jail — 6.8 mi
• Harvard — 6.8 mi
• Harvard Army Air Field — 6.8 mi
• Midair Collision of B-17 Bombers — 6.8 mi