West Point

History

West Point was founded in the spring of 1857, when Omaha businessmen formed the Nebraska Settlement Association in order to find suitable townsites in the Elkhorn Valley. Uriah, John, and Andrew Bruner (three brothers from Pennsylvania), and William Sexauer chose its location on a bend along a river, which they called New Philadelphia. The name was soon changed to West Point because it was the westernmost outpost along the valley. West Point became the county seat of Cuming County on October 12, 1858, after winning the election over the community of DeWitt. A total of 19 votes were split between the two towns with West Point obtaining 12 votes. By the spring of 1859, over 4,000 Pawnee natives flooded the Elkhorn Valley during a hunting excursion and, displeased to find white settlers in the valley, burned several homesteads and killed livestock. The so-called Pawnee War ended near Battle Creek without a fight. West Point grew slowly at first, but with the coming of the railroad in 1870, its population boomed to over 700. By the mid-1970s, the future of railroad service came into question. The Chicago & North Western tracks had been experiencing declining freight traffic volumes. Revenue railroad service ended in spring of 1982, when flooding from the Elkhorn River damaged sections of the track. With freight traffic declining and flooding damage, the C&NW filed a request with the Interstate Commerce Commission to abandon the line. Permission was granted a short time later, leaving the tracks with a dismal future. Plans were made to revive railroad service from the newly formed Fremont & Elkhorn Valley Railroad, who purchased the abandoned C&NW track. Those plans were to bring tourists in that got on the train in Fremont & possibly run freight. However, the…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. West Point lies on the eastern bank of the Elkhorn River.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  391
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  376
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  286
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  240
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  234
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  231
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  220
• Brown-headed Cowbird

  Molothrus ater (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  197

Largest nearby schools

• WEST POINT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · WEST POINT · 294 students · 12.3:1 ratio
• WEST POINT-BEEMER HIGH SCHOOL
  High · WEST POINT · 247 students · 11.2:1 ratio
• WEST POINT - BEEMER MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Middle · WEST POINT · 187 students · 11.7:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2025-02-05
  8 km SSE of Tilden, Nebraska
• M 3.3 — 2010-11-18
  4 km E of Octavia, Nebraska