Dawson County Place Names
Dawson County NEGenWeb Project
Sources:
 From a Railway map of Nebraska issued by State Board of Transportation 1889. To see the State map see: Library of Congress State Map Collections Follow the link for Nebraska, then for the 1889 Nebraska map. |
| Buffalo. Census not available. Post office established May 4, 1896; discontinued 1957. Former town named for its location on Buffalo Creek. Community centered around a Lutheran Church, school, and combined store-post office. The name of the creek derives from the former presence of buffalo in the vicinity. (1.) (3.) |
| Buzzard's Roost. Union Pacific Railroad livestock loading siding, constructed by the Buzzard's Roost Ranch operated by John B. Colton, a California forty-niner. Named for buzzard roost in Buzzard's Roost Canyon. Located north of Eddyville. (1.) |
| Cantella. |
| Congdon. See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Coyote. See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Cozad. Peak population (1980), 4,453. Post office established June 18, 1874; name changed to Gould June 15, 1881; name retained as Cozad October 23, 1885. Named in honor of its founder, John J. Cozad, head of a company of Ohio pioneers in 1873. (1.) See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Darr. Named after George B. Darr, owner of the site, formerly a banker in Lexington, later a resident of Omaha. (3.) |
| Dawson. |
| Dewey. |
| Dorrington. |
| Doss. "This is an inland place name in the northern part of Logan precinct. It was named after a local resident, a colored boy, who worked on a ranch in the vicinity and carried mail from Overton." (3.) |
| Eddyville. Named by the Union Pacific railroad promoters after Eddyville, Iowa, which had been named for J. P. Eddy, an early post trader in the vicinity. (3.) |
| Esther. |
| Farnam. First settled in 1883 by a company from Pennsylvania. The town was located in 1887and named in honor of a Burlington railroad official, apparently Henry W. Farnam. (3.) See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Gothenburg. Named by E. G. West after Gothenburg, Sweden. (3.) See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). A short history of Gothenburg from the Gothenburg, NE homepage: Gothenburg, NE |
| Gottenburgh. |
| Gould. See Cozad. |
| Guernsey. See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Hilton. See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Humpback. |
| Jewell. See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Josselyn. Named for S. T. Josselyn, a Burlington Pacific railroad official. (3.) See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Jovlan. |
| Keystone. |
| Leoti. |
| Level. See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Lexington. See Plum Creek. County Seat. Organized as Plum Creek in 1878 on the Overland Trail. Changed to the name of Lexington in 1889 in commemoration of the battle of Lexington of the War of the Revolution. (3.) See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Markel. |
| Meriden. See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Merom. See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Midway. |
| Myers. |
| Newington. |
| Newport. |
| Overton. "This is the first station on the line of the Union Pacific Railroad in this county, and is ten miles east of Plum Creek. This is one of the very finest locations for a town. It was first settled in June, 1873, by James N. Patton and his family, who built the first house. George Slocum built the next house the same year." (2.) See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Peucie. |
| Plum Creek. Later called Lexington. The post office was first established in the spring of 1872, at the Union Pacific Depot. First Postmaster: J. A. McDonald. First laid out and platted as a town in 1873. (first town in the county.) (2.) |
| Potter. |
| Ringold. See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Rugby. |
| Simonds. A station on the Union Pacific railroad in the southeastern corner of the county. Named by the railroad officials. (3.) See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Sumner. Named in 1888 for Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts who was the first senator to advocate the freedom of the slaves. Townsite laid out in 1890. (3.) See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Trappers Grove. |
| Trued. |
| Velte. See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Warren. |
| White Rabbit. See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Willow. |
| Willow Island. First settler here was Josiah Huffman, who located here in April, 1873. Named after an island directly south of the town. (2.) (3.) See Business Listing for "Nebraska State Gazetteer and Business Directory" (1890). |
| Willow Island #2. |
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