History and Facts of Nebraska Counties

Today’s Nebraska counties did not always exist in the present form. They went through many different changes in the space of a few short years.

Nebraska Territorial Counties

The Nebraska Territory was organized on May 30, 1854. There were originally 8 Nebraska counties when it was first organized as the Nebraska Territory in 1854.

The State of Nebraska was created as the 37th state on March 1, 1867.

Nebraska Counties Today

Today, Nebraska is divided into 93 counties.  States bordering Nebraska are Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Fun Facts about Nebraska Counties

Counties by Year

• Burt, Cass, Dodge, Douglas, Otoe, Nemaha, Richardson and Washington Counties was the original 8 counties created on November 23, 1854.
• Garden County was the last county created on November 02, 1909.

County Size Facts

• Cherry County (5,961 sq mi) is the largest county in Nebraska.
• Sarpy County (241 sq mi) is the smallest county in Nebraska.

County Population Facts

• Arthur County (458) is the least populated county in Nebraska.
• Douglas County (537,256) is the most populated county in Nebraska.

Nebraska City Facts

Nebraska’s 10  largest cities (2018 est.) are:

1. Omaha (446,970) is in Douglas County
2. Lincoln (280,364) is in Lancaster County
3. Bellevue (53,505) is in Sarpy County
4. Grand Island (51,517) is in Hall County
5. Kearney (33,520) is in Buffalo County
6. Fremont (26,519) is in Dodge County
7. Hastings (24,991) is in Adams County
8. Norfolk (24,348) is in Madison County
9. North Platte (24,110) is in Lincoln County
10. Columbus (22,851) is in Platte County

Boundary Changes of Nebraska Counties from 1854-1925

This Interactive Map of Nebraska Counties show the historical boundaries, names, organization, and attachments of every county, extinct county and unsuccessful county proposal from 1854 to 1925.

List of Nebraska Counties

List of Old Former / Extinct Nebraska Counties

Nebraska contains some counties that no longer exist because they were discontinued, renamed or merged with another county. These are important for genealogy research purposes.

The below counties formerly within the area of the State of Nebraska no longer exist:

• Blackbird County was created on March 16, 1855 from Nebraska Territory. It was abolished in 1889, area formed as Thurston in 1889.
• Calhoun County was created on March 14, 1856 from Lancaster County. It was renamed to Saunders County in 1862.
• Emmet County was created on 18 Feb 1867 renamed from L’Eau Qui Court, renamed Knox 1873
• Forney County was created on March 23, 1854 from Nebraska Territory. it was renamed to Nemaha County in 1856.
• Jackson County was created March 16, 1855 from Jones county. On January 26, 1856 the County lost all territory to the creation of  Filmore County.
• Jones County was created November 23, 1854 from non-county area. On 16 March 16, 1855 the county lost area to creation of Clay County, Jackson County, Johnston County, Saline County, and York County. The County was eliminated on February 18, 1867 and remaining area merged into Jefferson County.
• Greene County was created on 1855 from Cass and Pierce Counties. It was renamed to Seward County in 1862.
• Izard County was created on November 23, 1854 from Nebraska Territory. It was renamed Stanton County in 1862
• L’Eau Qui Court County was created on 10 Feb 1857 from Nebraska Territory and renamed Emmett County in 1867
• McNeale County was created on 1855 from Burt County. It was abolished in 1856 and became part of Madison County
• Old Pierce County was created on November 23, 1854, it was renamed to Otoe County in 1855.
• Shorter County was created on January 7, 1860 Nebraska Territory renamed Lincoln 1861
• West County was created on 13 Jan 1860 Nebraska Territory renamed Holt 1862

COUNTY County, Nebraska

Created on DATE from LAND. COUNTY County was renamed to COUNTY County on November 7, 1907.