About Dalton

Dalton is a village in Cheyenne County, in the Nebraska panhandle, about 18 miles north of Sidney on U.S. Highway 385. It keeps Mountain time. The village covers roughly a third of a square mile and is ringed by wheat, corn and bean fields. Published population counts differ; a few hundred people live here. The Burlington Northern line still runs through town.

History

The Nebraska, Wyoming and Western Railroad surveyed a route through Cheyenne County in 1899 and bought land at the site in January 1900. By that autumn there was daily freight and passenger service north to Deadwood, South Dakota, and south to Denver. A post office was established on 7 June 1902. In 1909 commissioners incorporated a five mile square tract as the Village of Dalton. The Dalton Herald, the first newspaper, began publishing in 1909; the Dalton Delegate replaced it in 1914 and came out every Friday until it stopped in September 1951. A hospital operated in the village from 1925 to 1969.

Where the name came from

The question has never been settled. The name has been credited to Dalton, Massachusetts, to an early settler named Patrick Dalton, and to Patrick J. Dalton, an official of the Burlington Railroad. The village's own account says the origin is unknown.

Schools

Dalton and Gurley combined their school districts in 1978 to form Leyton Public Schools. Leyton Public High School is in Dalton.

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