Bancroft, Nebraska facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bancroft, Nebraska
Village
John G. Neihardt study in Bancroft
Motto(s):  "Where Quality Of Life Is Still Cherished"
Location of Bancroft, Nebraska
Country	United States
State	Nebraska
County	Cuming
Area
• Total	0.37 sq mi (0.95 km2)
• Land	0.37 sq mi (0.95 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation	1,345 ft (410 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	496
• Density	1,355.19/sq mi (523.01/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	68004
Area code(s)	402
FIPS code	31-03005
GNIS feature ID	2398027

Bancroft is a small village in Cuming County, Nebraska, United States. In 2020, about 496 people lived there.

A famous writer named John Neihardt, who later became Nebraska's official poet, lived in Bancroft for 20 years. He wrote many of his important works there. You can still visit his old study at the John G. Neihardt State Historic Site in the village.

History of Bancroft

For thousands of years, different groups of Native American people lived in this area. By the mid-1700s, the Omaha tribe lived on the west side of the Missouri River.

The place that became Bancroft was first called Unashta Zinga. This means "little stopping place" in a Native American language. In the 1870s, Ford Bella Barber and Deborah Barber from Maine settled here. They used the Homestead Act to claim land.

In 1880, a railroad company, the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway, planned a train line through the area. The Barbers gave 80 acres of their land to the railway to build a town. About 25 people lived there then. They were mostly from Germany, Ireland, and Scandinavia.

The town was first going to be called Barbersville, but the Barbers didn't want that honor. So, the village was named Bancroft. Some say it was named after a famous historian, George Bancroft. Others say it was named after a popular civil engineer who worked for the railroad.

In 1884, a large part of the Omaha Reservation was sold. This brought many new settlers to the area. Bancroft, being close to the reservation, grew a lot from the new businesses. The population grew until 1910, reaching its highest point of 742 people.

During the Great Depression, many people left Bancroft for bigger cities. But when World War II started, the village became busy and successful again.

John Neihardt's Time in Bancroft

In 1900, when he was 19, John G. Neihardt moved to Bancroft with his family. He worked as an assistant to a trader who worked with the Omaha tribe. This job helped him learn a lot about the Omaha traditions and customs.

Neihardt had already started writing. He published his first book in 1897. His experiences with the Omaha people greatly influenced his later writings.

In 1903, Neihardt became a co-owner and editor of the local newspaper, the Bancroft Blade. He liked writing opinion pieces, but he wasn't very interested in everyday local news. So, he left the newspaper in 1905 to focus on writing stories and poems. He quickly became well-known across the country.

In 1911, Neihardt rented a small, one-room building to use as his writing study. In 1912, he started writing his long series of poems called Cycle of the West there. He continued to work in this study until 1920, when he moved away. The next year, the Nebraska Legislature named him "Poet Laureate of Nebraska and the Plains." This means he was recognized as the state's official poet.

Neihardt's study was fixed up in 1967. In 1970, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This is a list of important historical places. In 1976, the John G. Neihardt State Historic Site opened. Besides his study, it has a museum, a library, and a special garden called the Sacred Hoop Prayer Garden. This garden's design is based on ideas from Neihardt's famous book, Black Elk Speaks (1932). This book shares the stories and spiritual teachings of Black Elk, a respected Oglala Lakota medicine man.

Geography

Bancroft is located about 19 miles northeast of West Point, which is the main town in Cuming County.

The village covers a total area of about 0.37 square miles, and all of it is land.

Climate

Population Information

2010 Census Details

In 2010, the village of Bancroft had 495 people living in 210 households. About 137 of these were families. The village had about 1,338 people per square mile.

Most of the people (92.9%) were White. There were also Native American, Asian, and people of two or more races. About 2.4% of the population was Hispanic or Latino.

In Bancroft, 30% of households had children under 18. More than half (55.7%) were married couples. About 30.5% of all households had only one person living there. About 15.8% of households had someone aged 65 or older living alone.

The average age in the village was 40.9 years old. About 26.1% of residents were under 18. About 18.2% were 65 or older. The population was almost evenly split between males (48.1%) and females (51.9%).

Economy

Main Street in Bancroft

The two biggest employers in Bancroft are the Village of Bancroft government and the Bancroft Public Schools.

Other important businesses include Renz Electric, which does plumbing, heating, and electrical work. Triple C Products makes farm equipment.

Tourism is also a big part of Bancroft's economy. The Neihardt Center brings visitors from all over the country. They have special events there, like a conference in April and a festival called Neihardt Day in August.

Education and Media

The schools in Bancroft and Rosalie joined together in 1982. This new school district, Bancroft-Rosalie Public Schools, is based in Bancroft. In 1999, the junior-senior high school had 164 students.

The Bancroft Public Library has a collection of over 8,000 books.

The local newspaper, the Bancroft Blade, which John Neihardt used to work for, was combined with another newspaper in 1954.

Infrastructure and Transportation

Bancroft is located near where Nebraska Highway 16 and Nebraska Highway 51 meet. There are no large interstate highways close by.

The train station in Bancroft closed in 1963. The closest active railroad is about 25 miles away. The nearest river port is in Sioux City, Iowa, about 45 miles from Bancroft. The closest international airport is Eppley Airfield in Omaha, which is about 88 miles away.

Cuming County Public Power District provides electricity to Bancroft. Black Hills Energy supplies natural gas. The Village of Bancroft provides water and sewer services to its residents.

The village has a volunteer fire department with 23 members. Bancroft also has one full-time and one part-time police officer to keep the community safe.

A medical clinic in Bancroft is open two days a week. It is staffed by medical workers from the Pender Community Hospital, which is about 10 miles away in Pender.

See also

In Spanish: Bancroft (Nebraska) para niños