Edgar 1872-1972

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Edgar lies in the Little Blue River Valley just north of the old Oregon and California trails. The townsite was pre-empted in March 1872 by Henry Gipe with funds provided by the Nebraska Land and Townsite Company. The first postoffice was established in June of that year in a log cabin on the A. J. Ritterbush farm. One month later the St. Joseph and Denver City Railroad completed tracks into the area and laid out the town of Eden, which later became Edgar. The town was surveyed in May 1873. Edgar was incorporated on March 15, 1875. The droughts and grasshopper plagues of the middle 1870s slowed the development of the community temporarily, but by 1880 the population had grown to nearly 600. The 1886 coming of the Nebraska and Colorado Railroad, part of the Burlington system, assisted the community's rise as a manufacturing center. At its height Edgar had a creamery, a brick and tile company, a cannery, and several mills. The farm depression of the 1890s, however, signaled an end of growth for the town. Edgar today is a quiet community and remains a part of the great American agricultural heartland. Although its role as a service center for the area has declined, the people of Edgar carry the proud traditions and the rugged spirit of their pioneer ancestors.