In 1850, a group of pioneers from Maryland founded a small community on the banks of the swift-moving Nemaha River. Known as Falls Mills, the settlement was near the junction with the Missouri River and considered an ideal spot for a grinding mill.
Heavy spring rains sent the river out of its banks, forcing settlers to seek higher ground a few miles north. The new location, incorporated in 1857, came to be known as Falls City.
]]>Humboldt was platted in 1868 and the first business on the city square was established in 1869. Town founder O.J. Tinker deeded two acres for a public square in 1871 and Humboldt was incorporated in 1873. The bandstand in the center of the City Square Park was built in 1912 and dedicated to Tinker's memory.
Humboldt reached a peak population of 1,455 in 1930, and the built environment reflects this prosperity through modernization of existing buildings, as well as construction of several new buildings. Brick streets were laid in 1920. The auditorium was constructed as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in 1942 using concrete and locally quarried limestone. The buildings included in the historic district date from 1877 to 1947.
The city square became the home of the Humboldt Fall Festival in 1921, followed by the Richardson County Fair in 1924. The square played a very important role in the development of Humboldt and continues to be a focal point in the community. The Humboldt Commercial Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
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]]>The Kansas-Nebraska Act of May 30, 1854 created the territories of Nebraska and Kansas, which had to be surveyed before settlement could proceed. In November 1854, Captain Thomas J. Lee of the U.S. Army Topographic Engineers determined the Fortieth Degree of North Latitude along the Missouri River. On May 8, 1855, the cast iron monument on the bluff above was erected by Charles A. Manners to mark the beginning of the base line (Fortieth Parallel) forming the Nebraska - Kansas boundary.
In 1855-56 Manners surveyed westward from the cast iron monument along the base line 108 miles to establish the Initial Point of the Sixth Principal Meridian. The Initial Point controls the system of section, townships, and ranges of the public land surveys in Nebraska, Kansas, and parts of Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota.
The original surveys of Nebraska were completed in 1883. All land transactions (patents, deeds, and easements) within Nebraska are filed with the register of deeds of each county and reference the corners set during these surveys.
]]>On this day the explorers passed along this stretch of the Missouri River and camped a few miles north of here on the Nebraska side. The tranquil weather recorded by Clark in his journal for July 13 was in sharp contrast with violent storms the night before.
Two notable incidents occurred on July 12. Private Alexander Willard was court-martialed for falling asleep on guard duty and sentenced to receive "one hundred lashes on his bear back, at four different times in equal propation." Captain Clark went a short distance up the Nemaha River, where he "observed artifical mounds (or as I may more Justly term Graves) which to me is a Strong indication of this Country being once Thickly Settled." This site is a prehistoric Oto village and cemetery.
Near the mouth of the Nemaha River, Clark "observed Some Indian marks, went to the rock which jutted over the water and marked my name & the day of the month and year." No evidence of his inscription can be found today.
]]>The Missouri River, created by geological glacial action thousands of years ago, historically has served as a gateway to the west. First used by prehistoric Indians, it served successively fur traders, explorers, and homesteaders. Among the earliest Europeans using the river were the French, who competed with the Spanish and British for ownership of the area.
After buying the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803, the U.S. set out to explore its new territory. The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed here in 1804 on its way to the headwaters of the Missouri (and eventually to the Pacific Ocean) and returned in 1806. The explorers camped near here. The first steamboat to pass this way was the Western Engineer in 1819. With the establishment of Nebraska Territory in 1854, steamboats hauled freight and passengers until replaced by railroads.
A major railroad bridge, constructed here by the Burlington in 1887, was replaced in 1977. The highway bridge was completed in 1939. Today the Corps of Engineers maintains a 9-foot channel to Sioux City, and the river, railroads, and highways combine to serve this agricultural heartland of America.
]]>The first publicized report of oil in Nebraska was an 1883 newspaper account of a "vein of petroleum" discovered in Richardson County. Over the next 57 years, the search for oil consumed thousands of dollars, and hundreds of wells were drilled throughout Nebraska. Traces of oil were reported at various locations across the state, but Nebraska did not have a producing well until 1940.
In 1939 and 1940 the Pawnee Royalty Company had two encouraging but unsuccessful drillings near Falls City. A third well, known as Bucholz No. 1, was begun near here on April 22, 1940. On May 29, 1940, the well began producing and averaged 169-1/2 barrels daily for the first 60 days.
Bucholz Well No. 1 thus easily qualified for a $15,000 bonus offered by the Nebraska Legislature for the first oil well in the state to produce at least 50 barrels daily for 60 consecutive days. Interestingly, Bucholz No. 1 was located about five miles east of the "vein of petroleum" reported in 1883.
Although today Nebraska's oil production is largely centered in the southwestern panhandle, the pioneer efforts in this area have resulted in a major contribution to the economy of the state.
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