JIM MCKEE

(This column originally ran Aug. 24, 2014)

A number of Nebraska towns started as colonies of similar-minded groups usually of a common ethnic or religious belief, though some were formed to take advantage of the state’s vast unclaimed land, often available through railroad holdings. Many, like Grand Island, were very successful; a few withered. Gibbon, in Buffalo County, was born of a more commercial process and has had an almost unbroken record of population growth in its more than 140 years.

In the summer of 1866, the Union Pacific Railroad built through what would become Buffalo County and established a siding to supply Gen. John Gibbon’s troops stationed at Fort Kearny. The siding was named Gibbon’s Switch in honor of the Civil and Indian War officer, though the only resid

See Full Page