Wandermore in Nebraska

07/21/2026

Town Spotlight: Wauneta, Nebraska
Population: 549
County: Chase
Town: 414/531
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George Rowley and his wife were the first to settle here in 1875 when they built a seven-room sod house on the west bank of the Frenchman River. His wife was known for treating visitors to her piano playing, and she became such a well-known pianist in the area that the town was named Wauneta after "Juanita," a famous love song published in December 1853 that she frequently played. The townspeople originally wanted to keep the spelling as it was, but due to the presence of Juniata (a village in Adams County), they changed it to Wauneta to avoid confusion within the postal service. As immigrants from England, France, the Czech Republic, and the rest of Europe made their way to the frontier in search of new opportunities, Wauneta began to grow in population and soon had a general merchandise store, a hotel, a livery stable, a newspaper, and a grist mill. The town is still home to Nebraska's last operational family-owned roller mill, the Wauneta Roller Mills. The "Wauneta Breeze" newspaper has remained in circulation since its inception in 1887. By 1892, the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad had extended its line through here, solidifying the community's presence and helping it reach its highest population of 926 in 1950. West of Wauneta in the unincorporated community of Enders is Enders Reservoir State Recreation Area. It is one of Nebraska's four "Southwest Reservoirs" and encompasses an impressive 5,700 acres where locals swim, fish, hunt, camp, and boat.
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These photos of Wauneta range in date from July 7, 2020 to the present day. Towns are dynamic entities and are always changing, so please note that things may look different today. Not every business, point of interest, etc. in every town will be pictured. We hope you enjoy the photos shared and we encourage you to add your own pictures, thoughts, memories & anecdotes in the comments! If you love these spotlights, you might be interested in book on Nebraska history: Visit531Nebraska. It’s a historical, pictorial, and travel guide to all 531 of Nebraska’s incorporated towns. Join thousands of others who have already picked up a copy and “wander more” around the Cornhusker State with us! https://wandermorepublishing.com/shop/p/nebraskatravelguide

07/18/2026

Town Spotlight: Hamlet, Nebraska
Population: 27
County: Hayes
Town: 413/531
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First named Hudson to honor its founders, William and Eliza Hudson, the town renamed itself Hamlet in 1904 because another nearby post office bore the name Hudson. It is said that one night James Hagerman received a box of gold in the mail that was supposed to be delivered to Hudson, Colorado. After spending the night guarding it from potential adversaries, the townspeople thought it appropriate to come up with a new name. They settled on "hamlet" because their town represented a literal hamlet (a small human settlement). Hamlet expanded in the 1920s with a railroad depot, a slew of new businesses, a brick schoolhouse, and a Union Church. As of the 2020s, only 27 people live here, although as many as 220 people called it home in the 1940s.
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These photos of Hamlet range in date from July 7, 2020 to the present day. Towns are dynamic entities and are always changing, so please note that things may look different today. Not every business, point of interest, etc. in every town will be pictured. We hope you enjoy the photos shared and we encourage you to add your own pictures, thoughts, memories & anecdotes in the comments! If you love these spotlights, you might be interested in book on Nebraska history: Visit531Nebraska. It’s a historical, pictorial, and travel guide to all 531 of Nebraska’s incorporated towns. Join thousands of others who have already picked up a copy and “wander more” around the Cornhusker State with us! https://wandermorepublishing.com/shop/p/nebraskatravelguide

07/18/2026

Town Spotlight: Palisade, Nebraska
Population: 294
County: Hitchcock
Town: 412/531
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Samuel L. True named this town because the town's surrounding terrain resembled palisades: fences or defensive walls often made from wooden stakes or tree trunks. He built a store here near Bobtail Creek in 1879, and the following year he took on the role of postmaster despite there being only his family's sod house and his wooden-frame store. As more people opted to stay near True and form a settlement, rumors began to spread that the Burlington Railroad would soon be laying track through the area. They were right in their assumptions, but unfortunately, the right-of-way was platted half a mile outside of town. A decision was made to move all but one of the town's structures to the land of Ira Potter and Charles Parker, therefore locating the townsite on the railroad. By the 1920s, Palisade had expanded dramatically, hosting five churches, a plethora of businesses, and over 500 residents. The population grew throughout the Great Depression and World War II despite the challenges of the time, and by the 1940 Census, there were 799 people living there.
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These photos of Palisade range in date from July 7, 2020 to the present day. Towns are dynamic entities and are always changing, so please note that things may look different today. Not every business, point of interest, etc. in every town will be pictured. We hope you enjoy the photos shared and we encourage you to add your own pictures, thoughts, memories & anecdotes in the comments! If you love these spotlights, you might be interested in book on Nebraska history: Visit531Nebraska. It’s a historical, pictorial, and travel guide to all 531 of Nebraska’s incorporated towns. Join thousands of others who have already picked up a copy and “wander more” around the Cornhusker State with us! https://wandermorepublishing.com/shop/p/nebraskatravelguide

07/17/2026

Town Spotlight: Hayes Center, Nebraska
Population: 224
County: Hayes (County Seat)
Town: 411/531
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Hayes Center, the judicial seat of Hayes County, is named for its location at the county's geographic center (represented by the prefix 79 in the Nebraska license plate system). The county's name seeks to honor Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th President of the United States. The origins of the town start with General Custer and his military trail that ran alongside the Frenchman River, and the Texas cattle trail. Between the two was founded the Hayes Center in 1885, which received its first courthouse shortly thereafter. As the courthouse was being constructed, the county government paid a private homeowner $10 per month to hold its meetings and house its records. Less than five years after it was founded, 27 businesses were in operation, as were a school, a newspaper, churches, and professional offices. There is no railroad affiliation with Hayes Center, despite its designation as a county seat, and it remains one of the very few incorporated "inland" municipalities in the Midwest today. During an 1871 visit to the States, Grand Duke Alexis of Russia (accompanied by Buffalo Bill Cody) went on a grand buffalo hunt, during which the Duke shot a total of eight buffalo. The event is now known as the "Last Great Buffalo Hunt."
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These photos of Hayes Center range in date from July 7, 2020 to the present day. Towns are dynamic entities and are always changing, so please note that things may look different today. Not every business, point of interest, etc. in every town will be pictured. We hope you enjoy the photos shared and we encourage you to add your own pictures, thoughts, memories & anecdotes in the comments! If you love these spotlights, you might be interested in book on Nebraska history: Visit531Nebraska. It’s a historical, pictorial, and travel guide to all 531 of Nebraska’s incorporated towns. Join thousands of others who have already picked up a copy and “wander more” around the Cornhusker State with us! https://wandermorepublishing.com/shop/p/nebraskatravelguide

07/16/2026

Eliese and I are chuggin’ along in Colorado…only 110 communities to go before we complete state #7. 😁🚗 Wandermore in Colorado state history has been a lot different from anywhere else we’ve ever covered!

How many of y’all have visited Colorado recently or are planning to soon? We plan to have our Colorado travel guide/history book published this October. Just in time for Christmas!! 😁 Sign up at wandermorepublishing.com/colorado if you’d like us to notify ya when it’s published!

A lot of y’all have asked how we keep track of where we’ve been and what towns we need to cover. And honestly, it’s pretty easy…we just color in a map and visit towns by county! 😁 My kindergarten teacher would be so proud of how far I’ve come with my coloring skills (shoutout Mrs. Nelson)!

Since embarking on this project a few months ago, Eliese and I have already covered about two-thirds of Colorado. Isn’t that crazy?! We really only have the Western Slope left to visit (stage four), and the remainder of the Denver metropolitan area and a few places beyond that towards northwest Colorado. As of mid-July, we’ve visited and documented 161 communities and 35 counties in total, or 59.71% of the state’s municipalities. 🥳

Now let’s be honest here. Any normal person must wonder…why on earth are we driving around for 16 hours a day snapping tens of thousands of pictures of Colorado’s towns big and small? Why aren’t we just normal tourists where we go check out a site or two and then continue on our way? Well, aside from wanting to help document history for future generations, we’re also working on a large Colorado history book! It’ll be several hundreds of pages long and have not only history on every incorporated community, but also travel information, hundreds of colored photos (and access to many thousands more online), restaurant and lodging recommendations, and a bunch of other stuff that’ll never make it onto the page. Anybody who has any interest in Colorado history or the story of the state will absolutely love it. 📕

If my history and photos have brought back some nostalgia and memories or helped you learn something new about Colorado, please consider adding your name to the forthcoming Colorado book. For a contribution of only five bucks per name, folks can place their own name, a friend or family members, “In Memory of,” a business, or even a pet in the acknowledgements section of every copy of “Wandermore in Colorado” forever. The book—and those who help us stay on the road (gas is expensive!!) by contributing—will serve as a permanent testament to Colorado’s 273 incorporated communities and the people who helped me to document them for future generations to enjoy. The town spotlights you see on Facebook are posted voluntarily—all the work we do is out of our passion for writing, photography, travel, and small-town America! 🇺🇸🚗

wandermorepublishing.com/donatecolorado is where you can add your names to the Colorado book. And, if you’d potentially like to pick up a copy of it this Fall, be sure to sign up at wandermorepublishing.com/colorado to get an email reminder when it’s released! 📧

In the meantime, we’re actively preparing for stage four out west. Town spotlight #182 will officially be the 2/3rds point of the project. We seriously can’t thank you all enough for supporting our project and for continuing to “wander more” throughout Colorado!! ❤️ See ya on the road very soon!

07/16/2026

Town Spotlight: Wallace, Nebraska
Population: 318
County: Lincoln
Town: 410/531
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Wallace, a community of 318 residents found in Lincoln County, was thought to have been named by the head of the Lincoln Town Site Company in honor of his son-in-law, Wallace. Another etymology story suggests that it was named for the early pioneer Frank Wallace, who was largely responsible for bringing the first school to Wallace. It was originally located half a mile south of its present site and was known as "Kain's Corner" for William and Mary Kain before the arrival of the railroad in 1887. A Methodist Episcopal Church was among the first buildings, but a major drought from 1893 to 1895 nearly killed the town, as the soil became so unfertile that the population dropped to only 42 people. Better fortunes were inbound about a decade later, around the time that Wallace incorporated and hundreds of new homesteaders took their chances on the small community. The discovery of the Ogallala Aquifer and its bountiful waters is to thank for the sustained growth of Wallace, as throughout the 20th century the town was fortunate to build a brick schoolhouse with additions, several more churches, and even an airport. One interesting local business is Dayspring Bank, a small Nebraska-based chain headquartered in Gothenburg but with branches in the Omaha metro, Mullen, North Platte, and Wallace.
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These photos of Wallace range in date from July 7, 2020 to the present day. Towns are dynamic entities and are always changing, so please note that things may look different today. Not every business, point of interest, etc. in every town will be pictured. We hope you enjoy the photos shared and we encourage you to add your own pictures, thoughts, memories & anecdotes in the comments! If you love these spotlights, you might be interested in book on Nebraska history: Visit531Nebraska. It’s a historical, pictorial, and travel guide to all 531 of Nebraska’s incorporated towns. Join thousands of others who have already picked up a copy and “wander more” around the Cornhusker State with us! https://wandermorepublishing.com/shop/p/nebraskatravelguide

07/15/2026

Town Spotlight: Paxton, Nebraska
Population: 516
County: Keith
Town: 409/531
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For several years, this settlement was called "Alkali" because of the high alkaline content of its soil. It was later renamed to honor W. A. Paxton, a prominent local rancher. As the Union Pacific Railroad was laying its tracks westward in 1867, Edwin Searle made his home here as a telegraph operator for the railroad as they worked on the depot. Europeans began arriving in droves by train and the Oregon Trail, and by the 1890s, Paxton was home to about a dozen businesses, a school, and three Church congregations: Methodist (1886), Catholic (1887), and Baptist (1891). As the population crossed the 500-person threshold in 1930, over half of Paxton's nearly 60 businesses closed due to drought and poor economic conditions. In the century since then, its population has hovered between the 500- and 600-resident marks. Josh Rouse, a folk-pop singer-songwriter known for his song "Do You Really Want To Be In Love?" has ties to the community. Paxton's greatest attraction is Ole's Big Game Steakhouse and Lounge, home to over 200 big game trophies and a multitude of mementos from Ole's worldwide safaris.
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These photos of Paxton range in date from July 7, 2020 to the present day. Towns are dynamic entities and are always changing, so please note that things may look different today. Not every business, point of interest, etc. in every town will be pictured. We hope you enjoy the photos shared and we encourage you to add your own pictures, thoughts, memories & anecdotes in the comments! If you love these spotlights, you might be interested in book on Nebraska history: Visit531Nebraska. It’s a historical, pictorial, and travel guide to all 531 of Nebraska’s incorporated towns. Join thousands of others who have already picked up a copy and “wander more” around the Cornhusker State with us! https://wandermorepublishing.com/shop/p/nebraskatravelguide

07/13/2026

Town Spotlight: Hershey, Nebraska
Population: 649
County: Lincoln
Town: 407/531
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This Lincoln County village got its start in 1867 as a railroad station on the Union Pacific Railroad. It was officially platted on February 5, 1892, on the seven acres of land owned by Annie S. Guthrie, and named "Hershey" after one of the original settlers, J. H. Hershey. He had been a proprietor of the Paxton & Hershey Land and Cattle Company. As the advent of the railroad furthered the development of the area, the residents of Hershey would establish everything from a blacksmith and a post office (formerly known as O'Fallons on the Pony Express) to a lumberyard and several merchants. In 1909, an act of the legislature incorporated the city, and its excellent location on the railroad attracted more permanent citizens who would help build an opera house, a hotel, two mills, two grain elevators, a cement factory, and churches of the Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian denominations. The opportunities for work in agriculture (including farming sugar beets and alfalfa) or on the railroads made Hershey a "melting pot" of sorts, attracting settlers from all over the world, including Japan, Sweden, Germany, Russia, and Mexico. Two of the town's more notable residents of the past are Walt Golvin, who had a brief stint in Major League Baseball in 1922, and Ben Kuroki, the only Japanese-descended American pilot to fight in the Pacific during World War II.
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These photos of Hershey range in date from July 7, 2020 to the present day. Towns are dynamic entities and are always changing, so please note that things may look different today. Not every business, point of interest, etc. in every town will be pictured. We hope you enjoy the photos shared and we encourage you to add your own pictures, thoughts, memories & anecdotes in the comments! If you love these spotlights, you might be interested in book on Nebraska history: Visit531Nebraska. It’s a historical, pictorial, and travel guide to all 531 of Nebraska’s incorporated towns. Join thousands of others who have already picked up a copy and “wander more” around the Cornhusker State with us! https://wandermorepublishing.com/shop/p/nebraskatravelguide

07/12/2026

Town Spotlight: Wellfleet, Nebraska
Population: 72
County: Lincoln
Town: 405/531
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Wellfleet, platted circa 1887, was named after the town of Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Its founding can be traced to the New England realtor Carroll Hawkins and his close acquaintance, Doctor Tomkins, the two of whom were chiefly responsible for establishing the townsite. Its early growth came largely with the prospect of the construction of the Medicine Creek dam and the arrival of the railroad company, and early residents wasted no time in building a depot, hotel, post office, stockyards, sorghum mill, and other typical infrastructure for a Midwestern community of the era. Sadly, the growth of Wellfleet was halted when construction of the dam was canceled, and plans to build a sugar beet refinery and several other mills were scrapped altogether. The settlers who remained decided to incorporate their little hamlet in the 1920s, but over the last century, the population has steadily declined to only 72 people as of the 2020 Census.
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These photos of Wellfleet range in date from July 7, 2020 to the present day. Towns are dynamic entities and are always changing, so please note that things may look different today. Not every business, point of interest, etc. in every town will be pictured. We hope you enjoy the photos shared and we encourage you to add your own pictures, thoughts, memories & anecdotes in the comments! If you love these spotlights, you might be interested in book on Nebraska history: Visit531Nebraska. It’s a historical, pictorial, and travel guide to all 531 of Nebraska’s incorporated towns. Join thousands of others who have already picked up a copy and “wander more” around the Cornhusker State with us! https://wandermorepublishing.com/shop/p/nebraskatravelguide

07/11/2026

Town Spotlight: Maywood, Nebraska
Population: 262
County: Frontier
Town: 404/531
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Once called Laird in honor of James Laird, Maywood was chosen as a replacement name (in honor of May Wood, the youngest daughter of the first landowner, Israel Wood) because there was another Laird in Colorado on the same railroad line. The town's growth was slow throughout the 19th century because of its location in the far western reaches of Frontier County. Early buildings included a handful of homes, a three-room schoolhouse, a store, a saloon, and a post office. As the nearby county seat of Stockville steadily lost residents and its school, it consolidated with Maywood and built a state-of-the-art (in 1964) brick school building to accommodate the influx of students. Two of Maywood's most noted events of the past were the Southwest Nebraska District Fair, which began in 1915 and had horse races, concerts, boat races, tractor pulls, and other entertainment options until it ceased to exist in 1923, and the Maywood Trail-Ride, which was widely regarded as the "world's largest one-day trail ride" from 1960 to 1977. Thousands of people and horses showed up to participate in the ride until there was no longer enough space to accommodate everyone.
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These photos of Maywood range in date from July 7, 2020 to the present day. Towns are dynamic entities and are always changing, so please note that things may look different today. Not every business, point of interest, etc. in every town will be pictured. We hope you enjoy the photos shared and we encourage you to add your own pictures, thoughts, memories & anecdotes in the comments! If you love these spotlights, you might be interested in book on Nebraska history: Visit531Nebraska. It’s a historical, pictorial, and travel guide to all 531 of Nebraska’s incorporated towns. Join thousands of others who have already picked up a copy and “wander more” around the Cornhusker State with us! https://wandermorepublishing.com/shop/p/nebraskatravelguide