At 860 sq. miles, Gage County is much smaller than Cherry County, whose space covers simply over 6,000 sq. miles, which, in flip, is much bigger than all the state of Rhode Island which encompasses 1,214 sq. miles.
Nonetheless Gage County grew by 50% when it absorbed half of outdated Clay County in 1864 and, at one level, contained a 250-square-mile American Indian reservation. Like many Nebraska counties, the arrival of the railroad introduced new communities like Odell into existence, a few of which prospered and a few withered.
In March of 1855 the Nebraska Territorial Legislature created Gage County, named for Methodist Reverend William D. Gage, the primary chaplain of each homes of the Territorial Legislature, and set the county seat close to its middle at a website “with out a single precise settler” which they named Whitesville.
That August colonists at Beatrice held an admittedly “casual” and possibly invalid election with a complete of 33 votes forged, establishing town of Beatrice, and naming it the county seat. This motion was formalized at an election on March 13, 1858, the place additionally they elected county officers.
Inside months the legitimacy of that election was questioned by Blue Springs, which was nearer the middle of the county and on a longtime path, nonetheless it was felt too near the 250-square-mile Otoe Indian Reservation. One other vote in April of 1859 “destroyed eternally” Blue Springs’ hopes and reaffirmed Beatrice as county seat.
Whereas Whitesville had been staked out, it merely disappeared, by no means having any inhabitants. U.S. Sen. Algernon Paddock, who lived in Gage County, launched a invoice permitting the sale of half of the Otoe Reservation. The gross sales proved profitable and in 1881 a second invoice licensed the sale of the stability of the reservation, and in 1882 the remaining Otoe Indians moved to Purple Rock, Oklahoma.
In 1862 the Central Overland California & Pike’s Peak Specific Firm established a path by the Otoe Reservation on what was known as the Oketo Cutoff. Though the path proved short-lived, the place it met Indian Creek, William LaGorgue established the village of Charleston on the south financial institution of the creek in 1873, which opened its put up workplace on Nov. 7, 1877.
In 1879 Perry Walker purchased a tract of land within the former Otoe Reservation, however in lower than a 12 months bought 360 acres of it to J.D. Myers of Chicago, who, in flip, bought half of that to Charles Perkins who was performing for the Lincoln Land Firm, a division of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, for a reported $1,900. Perkins later grew to become the president of the railroad, underscoring the very shut relationship between the boys, the land firm and the Burlington.
When the railroad positioned its line within the space, they constructed on the north aspect of Indian Creek, thus lacking Charleston. Myers then proposed a village on the railroad, providing a free lot to the dad and mom of the primary little one born there. The kid, Frank LaGrande (LaGorgue) Odell Triska, was the son of Mr. Triska (typically Triskey) who opened a common retailer within the new village, thus named Odell.
Nearly all the village of Charleston then relocated to Odell. The village of Odell was platted in September of 1880, the put up workplace moved from to Charleston to Odell in October and formally registered/integrated in November. Perry Walker constructed a 20 by 40-foot, two-story constructing in Odell for the put up workplace with a public corridor on the higher flooring.
A Nebraska historical past revealed in 1882 confirmed there have been about 40 companies in Odell together with “the Retailer on the Hill” constructed by J.D. Meyers by which his common retailer additionally “did a small banking enterprise.”
One other retailer, operated by the Pleasure household additionally did “a flourishing banking enterprise” which later grew to become Hinds’ Financial institution when Edward Pleasure retired and moved to Havelock, the place he opened the Pleasure-Karnes Retailer, later identified merely as Karnes Dry Items. The historical past additionally reported that 100 prepare carloads of fantastic limestone had been shipped from Odell to Omaha and the inhabitants had reached 400. Odell’s peak inhabitants of 500 was reached in 1886, which was repeated within the Nineteen Fifties.
J.D. Myers unique financial institution, generally known as Myers & Wentworth, was joined by the Financial institution of Odell in 1884, which was renamed First Industrial State Financial institution in 1888 however closed in 1894 throughout a nationwide recession. The financial institution constructing, as pictured above, has had a variety of subsequent tenants by the years and was positioned on the Nationwide Register of Historic Locations in 2007 when it was repurposed because the Outdated West Trails Middle.
Thomas R. Callan moved to Odell in 1883 the place he established a ironmongery store. His son John S. Callan was Odell’s postmaster and served within the Nebraska Legislature from 1933 till his loss of life in 1950. John’s son Clair Callan was elected to the U.S. Home of Representatives in 1964 and is remembered in Lincoln when he got here to protection of the U.S. Veterans Hospital right here, saving it from closure.