Plattsmouth

History

The area that would become Plattsmouth was long inhabited by the Otoe tribe before European exploration. In 1739, French explorers Pierre and Paul Mallet reached the confluence of the Platte and Missouri rivers while traveling westward. In 1848, Libeas T. Coon established a ferry across the Missouri River to convey Mormon emigrants traveling westward to Utah. The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed the mouth of the Platte River, just north of what is now Main Street Plattsmouth, on July 21, 1804. Between 1850 and 1860, during the golden age of Missouri River steamboating, numerous side-wheelers and stern-wheelers docked at Plattsmouth near the foot of what is now 3rd and Main Streets, affording nearly daily service to the town. The Missouri River was crossed by ferryboats until 1880, when a rail bridge was constructed across the river. Plattsmouth first appeared in 1854 as "the Barracks", a trading post established by Sam Martin, owner of the Platteville ferry in neighboring Mills County, Iowa, ferryman Wheatley Mickelwait, and Glenwood, Iowa attorney and politician Colonel Joseph Longworthy Sharp. The community was renamed Plattsmouth for its location at the mouth of the Platte River, and was incorporated on March 15, 1855. The organization of the city under the charter of March 1855 and Enos Williams, W. M. Slaughter and Jacob Vallery, Aldermen. This Council met and proceeded to business on January 29, 1857, their first ordinance, approved by the Mayor March 2, 1857, levying a tax of one-half of 1 per cent on all taxable property within the corporate limits of the city of Plattsmouth, the amount collected to be expended in the improvement of the streets and alleys and steamboat landings at and in the city. On December 7, 1857, the Council voted each member an…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  2,689
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,425
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,979
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,788
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,786
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,746
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,673
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,651

Largest nearby schools

• PLATTSMOUTH HIGH SCHOOL
  High · PLATTSMOUTH · 491 students · 12.3:1 ratio
• PLATTSMOUTH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · PLATTSMOUTH · 451 students · 13.3:1 ratio
• PLATTSMOUTH MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Middle · PLATTSMOUTH · 395 students · 13.2:1 ratio
• CONESTOGA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · MURRAY · 393 students · 11.9:1 ratio
• CONESTOGA JR/SR HIGH SCHOOL
  High · MURRAY · 316 students · 11.7:1 ratio
• PLATTSMOUTH EARLY CHILDHOOD
  Other · PLATTSMOUTH · 167 students · 23.9:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2009-12-17
  2 km NW of Auburn, Nebraska
• M 3.5 — 2004-07-16
  6 km SSE of Riverton, Iowa