Explore Nebraska's Birthplace

© 2011 All Rights Reserved  Sarpy County Museum 2402 Clay St, Olde Towne, Bellevue, NE  68005  (402)292-1880         websites by Charlene

Bellevue Settlement of what became Bellevue began when a fur trading post was built in 1822 by Joshua Pilcher, then president of the Missouri Fur Company based in St. Louis. Gretna Gretna started shortly after the Burlington Railroad built a short line between Omaha and Ashland in the summer of 1886. La Vista What began in La Vista, Nebraska, 1960, as the House of Nines is now a thriving community of more than 19,000 residents.  Papillion The first town named "Papillion" was located several miles northeast of the present city by that name. Platted in 1856 and incorporated the following year, it had a post office, but soon vanished from the records.  The city now bearing that name was platted more than a dozen years later on land owned by the Beadle brothers.  Springfield Springfield had its roots in the old town of "Sarpy Center." Established by Capt.J.D.Spearman, the town had a hotel, store, blacksmith shop, two churches, a public park, and a newspaper, the "Sarpy County Sentinel," that touted the town as "the perfect location for the county seat."  Sarpy Center lost the election, but the town remained for a time.