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History of Thomas County
In 1884, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad surveyed the unorganized
territory west of Blaine County and, although the first homestead had been filed
in 1880, the area had virtually no people. Five town sites were set aside:
Natick, Norway, Halsey, Seneca, and Thedford, the last three ultimately
developing as true towns. On March 31, 1887, 720-square-mile Thomas County was
created by the Legislature and names for Civil War Major General George H.
Thomas. The Legislature also placed the county seat at Thedford, not because of
its size or importance but because it was near the center of the county. Because
the new county was in the Sandhills and suitable
primarily
for large-scale ranching and not farming, growth was extremely slow, with the
1890 census showing a population of 517. The Kincaid Act of 1904 amended the
Homestead Act of 1862 and increased the maximum area to be claimed from 160 to
640 acres. Quite naturally this attracted immigration, and primarily for this
reason the county reached its peak population of 1,773 in 1920. Today, of 13
post offices, only Halsey, Thedford, and Seneca remain. Purdum was moved to
Blaine County in 1894, Shidler to Logan County in 1915, and Summit to McPherson
County in 1923. Today, Thomas County has a population of 800, of which
approximately 550 are registered voters.
In 1887, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad reached Thedford, named for
Thedford, England, directly or perhaps for its namesake in Ontario, no one seems
quite sure. Of the sidings along the railroad, Thedford had a leg up, having
been designated county seat. In November, the official post office had opened
and the first courthouse begun. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Thedford
Depot As in the county, growth was slow and the village was not incorporated
until 1914, when its listed population was 138. The one big event in the town
began in 1904 when the Thedford
Livestock Association started lobbying for the proposition to allow larger
homesteads in the Sandhills, asking for two-section parcels. The Kincaid Act was
an offshoot of its efforts. Unfortunately, the courthouse burned in 1920, which
spurred Seneca to challenge Thedford as county seat. Thedford prevailed on a
514-362 vote and built a 12-by-24-foot temporary building
while
the extant, then-new three-story – counting the “sunlight basement” – building
was completed. In 1908, Thedford reached its peak population of 313 and retained
the county seat. The second railroad town in Thomas County was Seneca, named
either for the Seneca tribe or Seneca, Kansas, which in turn was probably named
for the tribe anyway. Although not the least central, located on the far west
border of the county, the railroad made it a division point and Seneca quickly
became the largest community in the county. In 1920, Seneca had a population of
476 and claimed a large number of prosperous businesses including two hotels,
two banks, and three grocers. Farmers Union Store Seneca, Nebraska 1926 An
often-quoted high point came when Harry Truman visited
on his whistle-stop campaign in 1948. The downward spiral got a toehold when the
railroad closed its roundhouse and division facilities in 1968. The third, and
last of the Thomas County villages was Halsey, which established its post office
May 11, 1912. The station was named for Halsey E. Yates, a member of the
original railroad survey crew, later vice president of the Yates Lumber Company
in Lincoln, and son of Lincoln’s Charles E. Yates, who was superintendent of the
railroad’s telegraph system for lines west. Halsey is the eastern-most village
in the county, so close to the edge that the depot was virtually half in Blaine
County and at one point the city’s post office was entirely in Blaine.
Halsey Forest
Headquarters Halsey is perhaps the best known of Thomas County’s villages due to
President Theodore Roosevelt’s establishing the Nebraska National Forest, often
referred to as Halsey Forest. The 93,000-acre forest is known for being the
largest “planted” forest in the world, with about 13 million seedlings planted
in the first two decades. Halsey reached its peak population of 160 in 1950,
just before the railroad station was closed in 1957. By Jim McKee Thedford,
Nebraska Thedford, Nebraska was surveyed and platted on February 13, 1888 and
the Deed of Dedication was filed on February 20th of the same year (Lynch).
Prior to that time, the land was occupied by Major Wm. W. Cowles as a
Pre-emption claim, and George L. Mathews as a Homestead. These men, although
rivals, maintained friendly relations until an Armistice was agreed upon. As a
result, Major Cowles paid Mr. Mathews $500 to relinquish his Homestead right.
Final proof was made by Major Cowles on his Pre-emption and thus, the original
town of Thedford was surveyed and platted (Lynch). Incorporation did not take
place until July 23, 1914, when Thedford rose from the rank of town to the
dignity of a village (Lynch).
Thedford Main Street Livery Stable The town of Thedford originally contained 40
acres (Lynch). However, time was the cause of much change. Land located south of
the railroad tracks was mortgaged to the Lombard Investment Company, who would
eventually foreclose and vacate the area (Lynch). Other homesteaders, however,
began to add sections of land to the town. For instance, Walter, W. Kuhn
surveyed and platted 20 acres of his homestead. J.M. McMillan and John Doyle
also added land (Lynch). Throughout the years Thedford has grown to just over
150 acres. The people of Thedford represented many different nationalities, but
were predominately of English or German decent (Lynch). In fact, it is believed
that Thedford was named after Thedford, England. Unfortunately, no one can
really be sure. However, we are certain that Thedford, Nebraska is the only town
in the entire nation with its name. As far as we know, there are only two others
in the world, Thedford, England and Thedford, Canada.
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