View source for Neligh, Nebraska

{{short description|City in and county seat of Antelope County, Nebraska, U.S.}}
{{Redirect|Neligh|the townships in Nebraska|Neligh Township, Nebraska (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name                     = Neligh, Nebraska
|settlement_type          = [[City]]
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    =

<!-- Images -->
|image_skyline            = Neligh Mill from NW 4.JPG
|image_caption            = Neligh Mill on bank of Elkhorn River (2010)
|image_flag               = 
|image_seal               =

<!-- Maps -->
|image_map                = Antelope_County_Nebraska_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Neligh_Highlighted.svg
|map_caption              = Location within Antelope County and Nebraska
|image_map1               = 
|map_caption1             =

<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[Nebraska]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Nebraska|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Antelope County, Nebraska|Antelope]]

|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = Mayor
|leader_name              = Joe Hartz
|leader_title1            = 
|leader_name1             = 
|established_title        = 
|established_date         =

<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref                = Imperial
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="TigerWebMapServer">{{cite web|title=ArcGIS REST Services Directory|url=https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=September 18, 2022}}</ref>
|area_total_km2           = 3.82
|area_land_km2            = 3.79
|area_water_km2           = 0.03
|area_total_sq_mi         = 1.47
|area_land_sq_mi          = 1.46
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.01

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_est           = 
|pop_est_as_of            = 
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 1536
|pop_est_footnotes = 
|population_density_sq_mi = 1050.62
|population_density_km2   = 405.72

<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [[North American Central Time Zone|Central (CST)]]
|utc_offset               = -6
|timezone_DST             = CDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -5
|elevation_footnotes      = <ref name=gnis/>
|elevation_ft             = 1755
|coordinates              = {{coord|42|07|44|N|98|01|47|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 68756
|area_code                = [[Area code 402|402]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 31-33775<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|accessdate=2008-01-31|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref>
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 838151<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|838151}}</ref>
|website                  = {{URL|https://www.neligh.org/|neligh.org}}
}}

'''Neligh''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|iː|l|iː}} {{respell|NEE|lee}}<ref>[http://www.ap.org/nebraska/pronunciation.htm Nebraska Pronunciation Guide.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100312013606/http://www.ap.org/nebraska/pronunciation.htm |date=2010-03-12 }}  [http://www.ap.org/nebraska/index.html Associated Press.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310084325/http://www.ap.org/nebraska/index.html |date=2010-03-10 }}  Retrieved 2010-02-11.</ref> is a city in and the [[county seat]] of [[Antelope County, Nebraska]], United States.<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx|accessdate=2011-06-07|title=Find a County|publisher=National Association of Counties}}</ref>  The population was 1,599 at the [[2010 United States Census|2010 census]].

==History==
In 1872, John D. Neligh and a few of his friends took a trip up the [[Elkhorn River]] from [[West Point, Nebraska]].  Neligh took note of the scenic landscape and thought it would be the ideal setting for a town and the county seat.  He immediately left for [[Omaha]] to buy 520 acres for the town site.  Misunderstanding the prime land he was selling, Omaha banker [[Herman Kountze]] sold the land required to develop Neligh. He was apparently not aware it would make the ideal county seat, which Neligh eventually became. The records were moved to Neligh on January 1, 1884.<ref>(1888) [https://web.archive.org/web/20030508234919/http://www.kancoll.org/books/andreas_ne/antelope/antelope-p3.html "Antelope County."] ''Andreas' History of Nebraska.'' Retrieved 7/1/07.</ref> Neligh was platted in 1873 by John Neligh and others, and named for him.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dlas_EPVGFEC&pg=PA15 | title=Nebraska Place-Names | publisher=University of Nebraska Press | author=Fitzpatrick, Lillian L. | year=1960 | pages=15}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=InM_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA96 | title=History of Hamilton and Clay Counties, Nebraska, Volume 1 | publisher=S.J. Clarke Publishing Company | author=Burr, George L. | year=1921 | pages=96}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q_lKAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA11 | title=History of the Origin of the Place Names in Nine Northwestern States | year=1908 | pages=11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.antelopecountymuseum.org/neligh.html|title=NELIGH|website=Antelope County Museum}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

=== White Buffalo Girl ===
In May 1877, the [[Ponca]] tribe was forced to leave their homeland on the [[Niobrara River]] and move to [[Indian Territory]] in present-day [[Oklahoma]].  The rigors of the journey and resettlement led to the death of one-third of the tribe's population.  During the migration, an 18-month-old girl named White Buffalo Girl died near Neligh. Her father, Black Elk, asked the townspeople "to respect the grave of my child just as they do the graves of their own dead".  She was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Neligh, and her grave tended by the residents; in 1960, owing to the deterioration of the monument, the marker was set on a new foundation.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20061115223903/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/timeline/white_buffalo_girl.htm "White Buffalo Girl"]}}.  {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/19990129073714/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/index.htm Nebraska State Historical Society.]}}  Retrieved 2016-02-09.</ref>

=== Neligh Mill ===
Shortly after founding the town, John D. Neligh began building the [[Neligh Mill]] in the southern part of town.  The original two-story mill was built with bricks made by John J. Crawford, using local clay.<ref name="kancoll.org">{{Cite web|url=http://www.kancoll.org/books/andreas_ne/antelope/antelope-p3.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030508234919/http://www.kancoll.org/books/andreas_ne/antelope/antelope-p3.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2003-05-08|title=Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska - Antelope Co. Part 3|website=www.kancoll.org}}</ref>  Currently, the Neligh Mill is a Nebraska State Historical site.

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|1.11|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, of which {{convert|1.10|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is land and {{convert|0.01|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is water.<ref name="Gazetteer files">{{cite web|title=US Gazetteer files 2010|url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|accessdate=2012-06-24|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125061959/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt|archive-date=2012-01-25}}</ref>

===Climate===
This [[climate|climatic]] region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters.  According to the [[Köppen Climate Classification]] system, Neligh has a [[humid continental climate]], abbreviated "Dfa" on climate maps.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=38552&cityname=Neligh,+Nebraska,+United+States+of+America&units=|title=Neligh, Nebraska Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)|website=Weatherbase}}</ref>
{{Weather box
|location = Neligh, Nebraska
|single line = Yes
|metric first = Yes
|Jan high F = 31
|Feb high F = 35
|Mar high F = 47
|Apr high F = 60
|May high F = 72
|Jun high F = 80
|Jul high F = 87
|Aug high F = 84
|Sep high F = 76
|Oct high F = 62
|Nov high F = 43
|Dec high F = 32
|year high F = 59
|Jan low F = 9
|Feb low F = 13
|Mar low F = 23
|Apr low F = 34
|May low F = 46
|Jun low F = 57
|Jul low F = 61
|Aug low F = 59
|Sep low F = 51
|Oct low F = 37
|Nov low F = 23
|Dec low F = 11
|year low F = 35
|Jan precipitation inch = 0.6
|Feb precipitation inch = 0.7
|Mar precipitation inch = 1.6
|Apr precipitation inch = 2.4
|May precipitation inch = 3.8
|Jun precipitation inch = 4
|Jul precipitation inch = 3.1
|Aug precipitation inch = 3
|Sep precipitation inch = 2.2
|Oct precipitation inch = 1.7
|Nov precipitation inch = 1
|Dec precipitation inch = 0.7
|year precipitation inch = 24.9
|Jan precipitation days = 4
|Feb precipitation days = 4
|Mar precipitation days = 6
|Apr precipitation days = 8
|May precipitation days = 10
|Jun precipitation days = 10
|Jul precipitation days = 8
|Aug precipitation days = 8
|Sep precipitation days = 7
|Oct precipitation days = 6
|Nov precipitation days = 4
|Dec precipitation days = 4
|year precipitation days = 79
|source 1 = Weatherbase <ref name=Weatherbase>
{{cite web
|url =http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=38552&cityname=Neligh-Nebraska
|publisher=Weatherbase
|title=Weatherbase.com
|year=2013
}}
Retrieved on October 10, 2013.</ref>
|date=October 2013
}}

==Demographics==
{{US Census population|align=left
|1880= 326
|1890= 1209
|1900= 1135
|1910= 1566
|1920= 1724
|1930= 1649
|1940= 1796
|1950= 1822
|1960= 1776
|1970= 1764
|1980= 1893
|1990= 1742
|2000= 1651
|2010= 1599
|2020= 1536
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|accessdate=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}

===2010 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name ="wwwcensusgov">{{cite web|title=U.S. Census website|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|accessdate=2012-06-24}}</ref> of 2010, there were 1,599 people, 707 households, and 407 families residing in the city. The [[population density]] was {{convert|1453.6|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 781 housing units at an average density of {{convert|710.0|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The racial makeup of the city was 97.2% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.3% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.3% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.4% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 1.2% from [[Race (U.S. Census)|other races]], and 0.8% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] people of any race were 4.2% of the population.

There were 707 households, of which 24.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.4% were non-families. 39.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.93.

The median age in the city was 47.1 years. 23% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 19.1% were from 25 to 44; 28.6% were from 45 to 64; and 24% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.8% male and 52.2% female.

===2000 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 1,651 people, 697 households, and 443 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|1,731.7|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 771 housing units at an average density of {{convert|808.7|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the city was 98.97% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.55% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.48% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] people of any race were 1.45% of the population.

There were 697 households, out of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.5% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.3% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 22.2% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 24.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.5 males.

As of 2000 the median income for a household in the city was $30,580, and the median income for a family was $39,750. Males had a median income of $29,261 versus $16,667 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $17,888. About 10.6% of families and 14.2% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 23.2% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.

==Media==
There are two media groups in Neligh - the ''[[Antelope County News]]'' and ''[[Neligh News & Leader]]''. Both are members of the Nebraska Press Association.

The ''Antelope County News'' was launched in January 2014 as online-based media from Pitzer Digital, LLC. The company purchased ''The Orchard News'' in February 2016, and expanded the content and doubled circulation as ''The Orchard News/Antelope County News'', becoming the first newspaper in the county to publish in color. Besides print and online forms, the ''Antelope County News'' is also available on radio station WJAG and on television with partner News Channel Nebraska.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.myantelopecountynews.com/about-us.html|title=About &#124; Antelope County News in Northeast Nebraska|website=Antelope County News}}</ref>

The ''Neligh News & Leader'' serves all of Antelope County and has a circulation of more than 1,600.

==Notable people==
* [[John DeCamp]] - politician and author of ''The Franklin Cover-up''
* [[Robert Almer Harper|Robert A. Harper]] (1862-1946) - botanist who researched the cytology and development of fungi, slime molds, and plants; he taught Greek and Latin at Gates College in Neligh 1886–1888.<ref name=famous900>Kral, E. A. (2008).  [http://www.nebpress.com/pdfs/900FamousNebraskans.pdf "900 Famous Nebraskans".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017021711/http://www.nebpress.com/pdfs/900FamousNebraskans.pdf |date=October 17, 2020 }}  [http://www.nebpress.com/ Nebraska Press Association.]  Retrieved 2013-04-12.</ref><ref>Thom, Charles (1948).  [http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/harper-robert.pdf "Biographical Memoir of Robert Almer Harper, 1862-1946".]  [http://www.nasonline.org/ National Academy of Sciences.]  Retrieved 2013-04-12.</ref>
* [[Frank Hughes (sport shooter)|Frank Hughes]] - sport shooter
* [[Josephine Roche]] - industrialist, activist, and politician; Assistant Secretary of the Treasury 1934–1937

==See also==
{{portal|Nebraska}}
* [[List of municipalities in Nebraska]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Neligh, Nebraska}}
* [https://www.neligh.org/ City of Neligh]
* [http://memories.nebraska.gov/cdm/search/searchterm/Neligh/field/subjec/mode/all/conn/and/order/title Historical images of Neligh] - Nebraska Memories

{{Antelope County, Nebraska}}
{{Nebraska county seats}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Cities in Antelope County, Nebraska]]
[[Category:Cities in Nebraska]]
[[Category:County seats in Nebraska]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1873]]
[[Category:1873 establishments in Nebraska]]