by Catherine Renschler
Hayland, the last village established in Adams County, was founded in 1912 by the Hastings and Northwestern Railroad, on a branch line of the Union Pacific known as the Gibbon cutoff. It was originally called Meyersville. Located only two miles south of Prosser in Section 17, Verona Township, it was named for lush prairie grass nearby. A post office was established in 1914 and discontinued in 1943. Postmasters have been Joe C. Snavely 1914 - 1917; Walter A. Stewart 1917 - 1919; John F. Ernstmeyer, 1919 - 1935; and Mrs. Nellie Jane Moore 1935 - 1943.
In 1917 the village's population was 15. Walter Augustine operated an implement business and the Farmers Elevator also operated a lumber Company. The post office was located in the Hayland Mercantile Company store building.
The State Bank of Hayland was founded by Herman Redman of Doniphan and Max Moritz of Prosser. It opened for business on August 1, 1913. The bank building also housed Hayland's post office after 1919. When the bank closed in 1934, its cashier, Fred Ernstmeyer, moved to Hastings and became clerk of the Adams County District Court.
The district 45 schoolhouse, moved to Hayland about 1920, closed in 1942. From a peak population of about 50, the community gradually lost its identity. Nothing remains today but foundations.
In 1973 the Juniata Farmers Coop elevator purchased the Hayland elevator. A new million bushel elevator was erected in 1977, making Heartland Coop (the firm created by the merger of the Juniata and Trumbull cooperatives) the county's only grain shipping firm with facilities on both the Union Pacific and Burlington railroads.
ADAMS COUNTY DIRECTORY 1925-26
Published by Wolfe and Pickering, Kenesaw, Nebraska
Alphabetical List of Hayland Residents
Borrell, Samuel Section Foreman, wife Anna, Barbara 4, Betty 1, LeRoy 6
Ernestmeyer, J. F. Cashier First State Bank, wife Lena, Loraine 7, Milton 9.
Howard, John Blacksmith.
Knott, Henry, Section Hand, widower.
Monthy, Mrs. Anastasia, widow, Ella 12, Jessie 10, Gladys 7, Viola 5, Fred 17, Leo 15, Albert 14.
Moore, J. F. Mgr. Farmers Union Store, wife Nellie.
Munnerly, Thomas Section Hand, single.
Reisner, H. G. Agent - Northwestern RR, wife Syloya, Luella 10, Ruth 3, Delmar 8, Ira 8 mos.
Royston, J. W. Farmer wife Alma, Leona 16, Herbert 17.