Osceola

History

According to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the first settlers of Osceola, which included the families of Reverend James Query and Vinson Perry Davis, arrived in October 1868. Davis is credited with naming the settlement after a city of the same name in Iowa, which had been named after Chief Osceola of the Seminole people. After three years of settlement and disputes over the permanent location, the town itself was organized by frontiersmen William Francis Kimmel and John Hopwood Mickey in the early fall of 1871. It had been decided in an election by a margin of 14 votes, prior to the formation that the "geographic center of the county" was best suited to be the settlement's site. A courthouse was erected the following spring and a general store was founded in May. During the summer, a post office was built, which served as a terminus between the cities of Lincoln and Ulysses. The town's first full year concluded with the establishment of a public school. The following year brought Methodism to the town, and a church for the faith had been completed by 1878. In the succeeding year, Nebraska Wesleyan college was founded in the church, serving 11 students by means of 4 instructors. The school would later move to Fullerton. The Omaha and Republican Valley Railroad, reached the town in 1879 and named a locomotive after the city, however it was ultimately renamed the number "9." Two years following the arrival of the railroad, the settlement was incorporated as a village on August 26, 1881 after accumulating a population of 200 citizens. The city would ultimately reach its peak of 1,200 residents in 1920. A newspaper titled The Homesteader was established in August 1873. It was renamed the Osceola Record in March 1876, and as of 1995 it is known as the Polk County…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. Using paved roads, Stromsburg and Shelby are tied as the closest cities to Osceola, located approximately away. Polk, which is in the same county as Osceola is located away. Outside of the county, Silver Creek is the closest city, found away. With regard to the largest cities of the state, Osceola is found northeast of Grand Island, northwest of Lincoln and to the west of Omaha. Osceola has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa), with cold, dry winters and warm, humid summers. Precipitation is highest in the late spring and summer months, with an annual average of . }}

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Brown-belted Bumble Bee

  Bombus griseocollis (De Geer, 1773) · Insecta
  161
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  153
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  127
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  100
• Common Grackle

  Quiscalus quiscula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  96
• Bumble bee

  Bombus pensylvanicus (De Geer, 1773) · Insecta
  94
• Common Eastern Bumble Bee

  Bombus impatiens Cresson, 1863 · Insecta
  89
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  79

Largest nearby schools

• SHELBY - RISING CITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · SHELBY · 212 students · 11.2:1 ratio
• CROSS COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · STROMSBURG · 169 students · 10.6:1 ratio
• CROSS COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL
  High · STROMSBURG · 123 students · 9.5:1 ratio
• OSCEOLA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · OSCEOLA · 119 students · 11.9:1 ratio
• SHELBY - RISING CITY HIGH SCHOOL
  High · SHELBY · 110 students · 9.2:1 ratio
• SHELBY - RISING CITY MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Middle · SHELBY · 89 students · 17.8:1 ratio
• CROSS COUNTY MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Middle · STROMSBURG · 75 students · 10.7:1 ratio
• OSCEOLA HIGH SCHOOL
  High · OSCEOLA · 68 students · 7.6:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2025-02-05
  8 km SSE of Tilden, Nebraska
• M 2.8 — 2024-11-21
  3 km W of Harvard, Nebraska
• M 3.3 — 2010-11-18
  4 km E of Octavia, Nebraska
• M 3.3 — 2002-06-20
  8 km NE of Scotia, Nebraska