Holt County, Nebraska facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Holt County
U.S. county
Holt County Courthouse in O'Neill
Location within the U.S. state of Nebraska
Nebraska's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Nebraska
Founded	1862 (created) 1876 (organized)
Named for	Joseph Holt
Seat	O'Neill
Largest city	O'Neill
Area
• Total	2,417 sq mi (6,260 km2)
• Land	2,412 sq mi (6,250 km2)
• Water	5.1 sq mi (13 km2)  0.2%%
Population  (2020)
• Total	10,127
• Density	4.2/sq mi (1.6/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	3rd

Holt County Nebraska Map

Holt County is a county located in the state of Nebraska in the United States. In 2020, about 10,127 people lived there. The main town and county seat (where the county government is) is O'Neill.

Holt County is part of the "Outback" area of Nebraska. This means it's a more rural and open part of the state.

If you look at Nebraska license plates, cars from Holt County have the number 36. This is because Holt County had the 36th-largest number of registered vehicles when the license plate system started in 1922.

History of Holt County

Holt County was officially created in 1862 by the government of the Nebraska Territory. It was fully organized and ready to operate in 1876.

The county is named after Joseph Holt from Kentucky. He was an important person in the government. He served as the Postmaster General (in charge of mail) and the Secretary of War (in charge of the military) for President James Buchanan. There is also a Holt County in Missouri, but it's named after a different person.

Geography and Nature

The land in Holt County has gentle, rolling hills. Many flat areas are used for farming. Two important rivers flow through the county. The Niobrara River flows along the northern border, and the Elkhorn River flows through the middle part of the county towards the southeast.

Holt County covers about 2,417 square miles. Only a small part, about 5.1 square miles, is covered by water. It is the fifth-largest county in Nebraska by land area.

Main Roads in Holt County

These are the major highways that help people travel through Holt County:

• U.S. Highway 20
• U.S. Highway 275
• U.S. Highway 281
• Nebraska Highway 11
• Nebraska Highway 95

Neighboring Counties

Holt County shares its borders with several other counties:

• Antelope County - to the east
• Boyd County - to the north
• Knox County - to the east
• Wheeler County - to the south
• Garfield County - to the south
• Loup County - to the southwest
• Rock County - to the west
• Keya Paha County - to the northwest

Population Changes Over Time

In 2000, there were 11,551 people living in Holt County. The average number of people per square mile was about 5. Most people in the county were White (98.86%).

About 31.6% of households had children under 18 living with them. The average age of people in the county was 40 years old.

Towns and Villages

Holt County has several communities where people live.

Cities in Holt County

• Atkinson
• O'Neill (This is the county seat)

Villages in Holt County

• Chambers
• Emmet
• Ewing
• Inman
• Page
• Stuart

Smaller Communities (Unincorporated)

These are smaller places that are not officially cities or villages:

• Amelia
• Anncar
• Catalpa
• Deloit
• Dorsey
• Dustin
• Inez
• Meek
• Opportunity
• Paddock
• Redbird
• Stafford
• Star

Townships in Holt County

Townships are smaller divisions of the county, often used for local government or land organization:

• Antelope
• Atkinson
• Belle
• Chambers
• Cleveland
• Coleman
• Conley
• Deloit
• Dustin
• Emmet
• Ewing
• Fairview
• Francis
• Golden
• Grattan
• Green Valley
• Holt Creek
• Inman
• Iowa
• Josie
• Lake
• McClure
• Paddock
• Pleasant View
• Rock Falls
• Sand Creek
• Saratoga
• Scott
• Shamrock
• Sheridan
• Shields
• Steel Creek
• Stuart
• Swan
• Verdigris
• Willowdale
• Wyoming

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Holt (Nebraska) para niños