Pawnee City, the county seat of Pawnee County, was platted and the first lots were sold in the spring of 1857. The county, named for the Pawnee Indians who lived in Nebraska for generations, was defined by the territorial legislature on March 3, 1855. This site was designated as the county seat when the county was organized at a November 4, 1856 election. A permanent courthouse of limestone construction was completed in 1869. Pawnee City's population was 763 by 1880.
A disastrous fire in August of 1881 destroyed two-thirds of the business district which was rebuilt primarily with fireproof construction during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Fifty-six structures in a six-block area, including the 1911 county courthouse, are included within the Pawnee City Historic Business District listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. Pawnee City has been home to several notable individuals including Nebraska's first state governor David Butler, U.S. Senator Kenneth Wherry, silent film legend, Harold Lloyd, TV's "Irish" McCalla, who portrayed "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle," and comedian Dan Whitney, better known as "Larry the Cable Guy."
]]>Warnings to avoid "bloody Kansas" prompted the Steinauer brothers, Anton, Nicholas, and Joseph, to settle here in Pawnee County. They arrived in September 1856, only two years after the creation of Nebraska Territory. Famine and depression had forced them to leave their native Switzerland in 1852.
Although the brothers were among the first to claim land in this area, other immigrants of Swiss, German, Austrian and Bohemian descent soon settled nearby. Nebraska City became their chief social and trading center. Indians, including the Oto, hunted and trapped in the region.
Turkey Creek and Linden were early popular designations for the site which became Steinauer post office in 1874. After the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railway reached Steinauer in 1887, the village grew steadily and incorporation followed in March 1893. With railroad development, St. Joseph, Missouri became the chief urban market for the agricultural products of Steinauer and the surrounding area.
By 1910, the village's peak population of 248 had been achieved. Over the years, the pronunciation of the name evolved to "Steener" though the original spelling has been retained. Today, Steinauer is a quiet community which remains rooted in the history and traditions of its pioneer settlers.
]]>The Řád Jan Kollár čis. 101 ZČBJ Hall is a major Czech-American landmark in the Pawnee and Richardson County immigrant community. The lodge of the Western Bohemian Fraternal Association (ZČBJ) was designed in the distinctive Czech-American Baroque Revival style by local builders Frank Daniel and Morris Hartung. The hall served multiple functions including meetings, dances, funerals, celebrations, and theatrical performances. It was dedicated in 1921. The Kollár Hall is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
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