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Dating back to 1854, Decatur is proud to be the Second Oldest Settlement in Nebraska. Incorporated in 1856, Decatur will celebrate 150 years in 2006. The community lies at the foot of a high scenic bluff and next to the Missouri River along Highway 75, 60 miles north of Omaha, Nebraska and 40 miles south of Sioux City, Iowa. The current population is 641.
Are you Decatur alumni from 1935 - 1984?
If yes, visit: http://webpages.charter.net/awc1/decatur/index.htm
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ARCHITECTURE
The Missouri River and the Famous Dry Land Bridge:
From the beginning, fortunes of Decatur were closely tied to the Missouri River. Many boats tied up at the Decatur landing during the heyday of river traffic transporting supplies and lumber. Townspeople would board the boats and dance on the decks. Ferry boats carried horses, wagons, and cars across the river until the late 1930s. Among the more famous steamers that came to Decatur were the Emily La Barge, the Deerlodge, and the Cora.
In 1946, the Burt County Bridge Commission asked the U.S. Army Engineers to approve a bridge site at Decatur. Construction of the Decatur Bridge was authorized in 1950.
The village of Decatur received nationwide notoriety in the 1950s because of the famous dry land bridge that was supposed to be across the Missouri River. The original plans were to build the bridge across the Missouri River to connect Decatur to Onawa, Iowa. The river, on the other hand, had different ideas and changed its course, thus leaving the proposed bridge site about a quarter of a mile distant from the river. Plans were changed and the bridge was built on dry land with the river to be rechanneled under the bridge upon completion. The bridge was completed in 1951 but, because of the Korean War, Federal funds could not be appropriated to place the water under the bridge. The $2 million bridge soon was well known as the bridge "that went nowhere, because it lost it's river." Funds finally became available to move the Missouri River under the bridge and the first traffic crossed the bridge on December 19, 1955. The bridge was officially opened May 5, 1956 during Decatur's Centennial.
HISTORICAL
Blackbird Hill Overview:
3 miles north of Decatur on US Hwy 75, milepost 152
Roadside pullout with interpretation in the vicinity of Blackbird’s grave
Blackbird was once the chief of the then powerful Omaha tribe, located in Northeastern Nebraska. It was commonly accepted that he had the power to predict deaths, which in fact he was able to do, thanks to a supply of arsenic he obtained from French-Canadian traders. Blackbird was one of the victims of the smallpox that decimated the Omaha tribe in 1800. (400 members of Omaha tribe lost their lives to the epidemic in 1800. White traders brought smallpox to the western frontier.) He was buried astride his horse on a hill overlooking the Missouri. Lewis and Clark respectfully stopped at this site and placed a flag at the burial site.
Open daylight hours, Free, 402-837-5301
PARKS
Beck Memorial Park: Beautiful recreational park on the Missouri River just south of the famous Dry Land Bridge. Boating, dock, fishing access, picnic area, hiking, showers, camper pads (fee)
Daily 5 am to 10pm, Free, 402-349-5360
Pedestrian Bridge:
A long envisioned pedestrian bridge over Elm Creek linking Beck Memorial Park to downtown Decatur became a reality December 31, 1997. The structure is a joint project of the village of Decatur and the Papio-Missouri River NRD. The 150-foot bridge, weighs 46,000 pounds.
STATE RECREATION AREA
Lewis and Clark State Park & Blue Lake:
On August 10, the explorers were across from Decatur, NE, at “a place where the river cut through,” part of today’s Blue Lake and Lewis and Clark State Park, five miles west of Onawa, IA. A replica of the expedition’s keelboat and two pirougues are features of the park. Annual festival 2nd weekend in June
Swimming, fishing, boating, nature, hiking trails, 81 campsites with hookups,
water, modern showers, grills, fire rings, tables, 30’ limit, dump station
Fee, Open year round, 712-423-2829
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CAMPING
Beck Memorial Park, East to 3rd Ave to 11th St
24 trailer spaces, 23 tent spaces, boat ramp, dump station, electricity, fishing, toilets, showers
Open April 1 to November 1, Fee: $10-$12, 402-349-5360, www.ci.Decatur.ne.us
FUEL
BJ’s Mini Mart, 742 S Broadway, 402-349-5577
Boat Fuel: Pop n’ Docks, 123 N 1st Ave, 402-349-5357
RESTURANTS
Pop n’ Docks, 123 N 1st Ave, 402-349-5357
The Green Lantern Steakhouse, 653 N Broadway, 402-349-5645
BANK/ATM
First Nebraska Bank, 753 South Broadway, 402-349-5353
CHURCHES
United Methodist Church: 803 South 4th Ave, 402-349-5120. Sunday 8:45 a.m. Worship Service, 10 a.m. Sunday School
Holy Family Catholic Church: 703 South 4th Ave, 402-374-1692. Sunday 8:30 a.m. Mass during DST, 10:30 a.m. otherwise
Trinity Lutheran Church, 603 4th Avenue. Worship Service at 9, Sunday School at 10
Word of Life Ministries, 1043 S. Broadway. Sunday School at 10, Worship Service at 10:45
Early churches played an important role in the life of settlers. The Decatur Episcopal Church was founded in 1862 and was the second church of that faith in the diocese and the state of Nebraska. The building was sold in 1949 to the Trinity Lutheran Church of Decatur. Lutheranism in Decatur began in the early 1900s as a mission church, services being held in homes and later in the vacated Presbyterian Church on Main Street. The first sunday school began in 1861 by the Methodists, who erected their present building in 1889. A Presbyterian church, built in 1871, was dismantled in 1965. The Reorganized Church of the Latter Day Saints was organized in 1879 in a small log school house southeast of Decatur. A new frame building was erected in 1886 and used until 1903 when the present building was dedicated. First Catholic masses in Decatur were celebrated in homes from 1862 until 1880 when a building was purchased and moved to the lots adjoining the present site of the new and present building, erected in 1924. The Word of Life Ministries of Decatur was started in Decatur in 1980.
Hillcrest Cemetery
Hillcrest Cemetery is situated on the high bluff rising to the west part of Decatur. The cemetery, one of the oldest in Nebraska, provides a panoramic view of the village, of the winding river below, and farmland fields for miles around. The avenue of American flags on the eastern slope on Memorial Day is a memorable sight.
MEDICAL
Burgess Family Clinic, 12th & Broadway, 402-374-5116 or 5592
The Village of Decatur has a Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Unit. Their equipment includes a Jaws-of-Life, well-equipped rescue unit, and a rescue boat.
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City of Decatur
Decatur Tourism Information: 402-349-5593.
Decatur History
Among the first white men to know the Decatur area were Captains Lewis and Clark and members of their expedition who moved up the Missouri River in 1804 to explore the Northwest. The first permanent settlement by a white man within the corporate limits of Decatur was Woods. Woods settled at the mouth of Wood Creek (his namesake) in 1837.
Decatur's origin dates back to 1854 when Indian traders, Colonel Peter A. Sarpy and Clement Lambert of Bellevue and Henry Fontenelle, built log houses and transacted business with the Omaha Indians in the interests of the American Fur Company at the mouth of Wood Creek.
In September of 1853, the U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs visited the Omaha Indians to negotiate for the purchase of 300,000 acres of their land. The treaty was signed June 21, 1854.
Stephen A. Decatur had arrived from Bellevue in 1841 and made his home with the Omaha Indians. He later was a clerk in Sarpy's trading post. He located on a farm which was called Decatur Springs, owing to a spring of pure water which supplied water for the town for another century. S.A. Decatur was a highly educated man who claimed he was a nephew of Commodore Decatur, Naval hero of the War of 1812.
The incorporation of Decatur took place in the fall of 1856. The name of the incorporation was "The Decatur Townsite and Ferry Company." Incorporators were Stephen A. Decatur, for which the town was named, Thomas H. Whitacre, T.H. Hineman, George W. Mason and Herman Glass. In the spring of 1857 the town was laid out and surveyed by Thomas H. Whitacre, assisted by Silas T. Leaming. Following the dissolution of the Decatur Townsite and Ferry Company, the first Decatur Village election by the people was on January 14, 1858. Silas T. Leaming was elected as the first Mayor of Decatur. Letters patent of the United States, signed by President Abraham Lincoln, were granted the town May 1, 1862.
The first blacksmith in Decatur was George Irwin, and the first shopkeeper, John Chase. The first physician was Dr. Thomas Whitacre. The first postmaster was Robert Percival, appointed in 1857. Another early settler was the Honorable Frank Welch who located in Decatur in 1857. He was later elected to Congress from Nebraska. The history of Decatur would not be complete without mentioning Hamilton and Fontenelle. The Reverend William Hamilton, who made his home in Decatur, was for many years a missionary to the Indians. Henry Fontenelle lived on a farm on the southeast corner of the Omaha Indian Reservation, just outside of Decatur. Henry was a brother to Logan Fontenelle, who is considered by many to have been the greatest chief of the Omaha's. One of the first building erected in Decatur was the "Turn About Tavern;" a shanty made of cottonwood slabs owned by Matt Wilber.
The town's first newspaper, The Decatur Herald, was established in 1881. About the same time, a monthly magazine called the Round Table also began circulation. A second paper, The Decatur Eaglet, was published in 1884.
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