Hype for the Future 79U: The Nebraska Panhandle

Introduction

The westernmost portion of the State of Nebraska forms a panhandle between the forty-first and forty-third parallels, between the States of Colorado and South Dakota. Located on the western edge of the State of Nebraska are such communities as Scottsbluff, Alliance, and Chadron.

Chadron Area

The community of Chadron is a city in and the county seat of Dawes County, home to Chadron State College, the Museum of the Fur Trade, the Dawes County Historical Museum, and the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center. To the east of the City of Chadron is the Opening of the Sandhills Historical Marker of western Cherry County, notable for representing the historical significance of the region, as well as the Tri-State Oldtime Cowboys Memorial Museum of the City of Gordon in Sheridan County.

West of Chadron

Along Route 20 to the west of the City of Chadron, the communities are identified as firmly Western by nature as every community approaches the modern State of Wyoming. The community of Crawford is located to the west of Chadron within Dawes County and is home to the historic Red Cloud Agency, the Crawford Historical Museum, and the Fort Robinson Museum and History Center.

Within Harrison, the county seat of Sioux County, the community is home to the Sioux County Historical Society as well as the Harrison House Hotel. To the south, the community of Agate is home to the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument.

Box Butte County

Located on the north side of Alliance in Box Butte County is the iconic attraction known as Carhenge, identifiable by the series of cars associated with the region. To the south, still along the northern fringes of the community, is Dobby’s Frontier Town, while even further into the community are the Sallows Military Museum and the Alliance Knight Museum.

Scotts Bluff

The Scottsbluff area in the Nebraska Panhandle is perhaps most notable for the Scotts Bluff National Monument, with the Pony Express having largely been associated with traversing the community from relatively east to relatively west. In general, the Scottsbluff area is situated nearly along the north-south axis that was Route 71.

Southern Panhandle

The southern portion of the Nebraska Panhandle, most notable around the community known as Sidney, is the site historically associated with Cabela’s and sporting goods and equipment associated with the stores. The community, located a mere nine (9) miles north of the Colorado state line, serves as the county seat of Cheyenne County and is accessible by way of the Interstate 80, Route 30, and Route 385 corridors. Within the general area, the National Pony Express Monument is located at the crossroads to indicate the specific historical significance most associated with the region.

Hype for the Future 79I: The Smallest County Seats in America

Introduction

While the vast majority of counties in the United States have obviously defined county seats, a number are actually out of the ordinary in a number of respects, including, but not limited to, the consolidated city-county and town-county arrangements and the independent cities. Each county mentioned below contains a relatively lower population count relative to other counties in the United States of America as a whole, and the communities are typically situated in the Great Plains states, where the land area of counties remains relatively similar to the land areas represented in counties further east.

Selected Counties

Slope County is located in the southwestern portion of the State of North Dakota, with only one county, Bowman, located further south. Amidon serves as the county seat of Slope County, though the community does not represent the largest area in the county or region. However, the county is accessible by way of United States Route 85, which merely expands the geographical anomaly as the U.S. Numbered Highways in the Great Plains region often represent the larger communities of the respective corridors.

Blaine County, Nebraska, located in the Sandhills region associated with the State, is the second-smallest county by population in the entire State and often represented in the bottom twenty-five (25) of counties in the United States by population count. The City of Brewster, a community of only around seventeen (17) residents, serves as the county seat, resulting in the community being representative of the least populated incorporated county seat in the United States of America, a role that had been taken by Amidon prior to the 2010 census. Today, the community is accessible primarily by Routes 7 and 91, with the former leading exclusively northward toward the City of Ainsworth, the Brown County seat with under two thousand residents. The latter leads both to the east and to the west, and Route 183 is within the easterly vicinity of the community.

Loving County, located within the West Texas region beyond the Permian Basin in the State of Texas, is home to the fewest residents of all counties in the United States containing a permanent population, with recent estimates around sixty-four (64) residents for the entire county. The only community within the county is the unincorporated community of Mentone, having recorded around nineteen (19) of the residents of the county, which itself is accessible in the state highway network exclusively by way of Route 302 east of United States Route 285 and south of the New Mexico state line.

Within Buffalo County, South Dakota, the situation may appear even more confusing initially, as the communities East River are often identified as more humid and with higher rural base populations than West River. However, this specific East River county, located relatively downstream from the City of Pierre in Hughes County, is identified as a county with a population of fewer than two thousand residents. Gann Valley is an unincorporated community located on the eastern side of the county whose population makes the area the least populated unincorporated county seat in the United States.