Coleridge

History

Coleridge was platted in 1883 when the railroad was extended to that point. It was named for Lord John Coleridge, the Lord Chief Justice of England, who was then paying a visit to the United States. Mr. Norris and the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway failed to reach agreement for a right of way through his town of Norris in 1883. Thus, the railroad was built two miles west of Norris, and lots began selling in what would become the town of Coleridge, approximately three miles west and one mile north of Norris. By early 1885, many of Norris’ businesses had moved to Coleridge. A Cedar County Plat Map (2) showed Norris still having 16 lots at its original location in 1899. The Norris School (District 30), organized March 16, 1880, was dissolved and merged with Coleridge District 41 in 1959. The Norris Cemetery is located outside of Coleridge, one mile east and ¾ mile north of the former city of Norris. On June 23, 2003, on the 2003 South Dakota tornado outbreak, a devastating F4 tornado damaged or destroyed several homes and farms, unfortunately 1 person was killed. This F4 is overshadowed by the Manchester, South Dakota F4 of the same day. During the late afternoon on June 17, 2014, a massive EF3 tornado clipped the edge of town. A scoreboard and bleachers were swept away, and trees and power lines were blown down. No casualties were reported.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  123
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  97
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  89
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  88
• Common Grackle

  Quiscalus quiscula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  70
• Western Meadowlark

  Sturnella neglecta Audubon, 1844 · Aves
  63
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  61
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  58

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2025-02-05
  8 km SSE of Tilden, Nebraska
• M 2.5 — 2024-03-06
  6 km SSE of Santee, Nebraska
• M 3 — 2023-12-10
  11 km ESE of Wakonda, South Dakota
• M 3.1 — 2021-01-04
  5 km N of Tyndall, South Dakota