Thurston County, Nebraska Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Thurston County
U.S. county
Thurston County courthouse in Pender
Location within the U.S. state of Nebraska
Nebraska's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Nebraska
Founded	1889
Named for	John Mellen Thurston
Seat	Pender
Largest village	Pender
Area
• Total	396 sq mi (1,030 km²)
• Land	394 sq mi (1,020 km²)
• Water	2.5 sq mi (6 km²) 0.6%%
Population (2020)
• Total	6,773
• Density	17.104/sq mi (6.604/km²)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	1st

Thurston County is a county located in the northeastern part of Nebraska, a state in the United States. In 2020, about 6,773 people lived here. The main town, or county seat, where the county government is located, is Pender.

If you look at Nebraska's license plates, Thurston County is shown by the number 55. This number was given because it had the 55th largest number of vehicles registered when the system started in 1922.

Thurston County is special because it is home to two Native American reservations. These are for the Omaha and Ho-Chunk (also known as Winnebago) tribes. In fact, these two reservations make up all the land in the county!

History of Thurston County
Geography and Nature
- Main Roads in Thurston County
- Neighboring Counties
People of Thurston County
Towns and Areas
Education in Thurston County
Images for kids
See also

History of Thurston County

For hundreds of years before Europeans arrived, different groups of indigenous peoples lived along the rivers in this area. The Omaha tribe lived here and in much of Nebraska and western Iowa. They had moved west from the Ohio Valley in the early 1600s.

Thurston County was officially created by European Americans in 1889. The land used to be part of Dakota and Burt counties. The county was named after John M. Thurston, who was a US Senator.

Geography and Nature

Thurston County is located on the eastern side of Nebraska. Its eastern border is the Missouri River, which separates it from the state of Iowa. A creek called Logan Creek flows through the western part of the county.

The county covers a total area of about 396 square miles. Most of this is land (394 square miles), and a small part (2.5 square miles) is water. As mentioned, all the land in Thurston County is part of the Omaha and Winnebago Indian reservations.

Main Roads in Thurston County

U.S. Highway 75
U.S. Highway 77
Nebraska Highway 9
Nebraska Highway 16
Nebraska Highway 94

Neighboring Counties

Thurston County shares its borders with several other counties:

Dakota County to the north
Woodbury County, Iowa to the northeast (across the river)
Monona County, Iowa to the east (across the river)
Burt County to the southeast
Cuming County to the southwest
Wayne County to the west
Dixon County to the northwest

People of Thurston County

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1870	31	—
1880	109	251.6%
1890	3,176	2,813.8%
1900	6,517	105.2%
1910	8,704	33.6%
1920	9,589	10.2%
1930	10,462	9.1%
1940	10,243	−2.1%
1950	8,590	−16.1%
1960	7,237	−15.8%
1970	6,942	−4.1%
1980	7,186	3.5%
1990	6,936	−3.5%
2000	7,171	3.4%
2010	6,940	−3.2%
2020	6,773	−2.4%
2023 (est.)	6,557	−5.5%
US Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010 2020 2022

In 2020, the people living in Thurston County were mostly Native American (57.5%) and non-Hispanic White (36.1%). There were also smaller groups of African American and Asian people, and about 3.8% were Hispanic.

In 2000, there were 7,171 people living in the county. The average family size was about 3 to 4 people. Many households had children under 18 living with them. The median age of people in the county was 30 years old.

The towns of Emerson, Rosalie, Pender, and Thurston have mostly White residents. The towns of Macy, Walthill, and Winnebago have mostly Native American residents.