Alma, Nebraska

Alma is the county seat of Harlan County, founded in the spring of 1871 when members of the "Cheyenne Colony" — settlers who had come from Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory, led by Mark Coad, N. P. Cook, and Thomas Murrin — selected the townsite. The town takes its name from Alma Cook, young daughter of settler N. P. Cook, a naming corroborated independently by two 19th-century local histories. Alma won the county seat by a vote of 37 to 5 on July 3, 1871, though the decision was contested for over a decade by rival towns Republican City and the now-vanished Melrose, until the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed Alma's status in 1884.

Growth resumed once the seat dispute settled and the railroad arrived: the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad reached Alma on January 13, 1880, followed by the Kansas City and Omaha Railroad in 1887. Alma incorporated in July 1881. The town sits near the Republican River and Harlan County Lake, formed by the Harlan County Dam (built 1946–1952), one of the region's principal recreation destinations. As of the 2020 Census, Alma's population is 1,043.

Adjacent Counties

Harlan County borders Phelps County (north), Kearney County (northeast), Franklin County (east), and Furnas County (west), with Phillips County and Norton County, Kansas, across the state line to the south.

Nearby Towns

Alma sits at the junction of US-183 and US-136 in eastern Harlan County. Republican City (2020 population 134), just west of Alma along US-136, sits near the Harlan County Dam. Orleans (2020 population 341) lies further west along the same highway and is home to the Harlan County Museum.

Points of Interest

Harlan County Lake, formed by the Harlan County Dam on the Republican River, is the area’s main recreation draw, with the Alma Municipal Golf Course and the Peckerneck horseback riding trail overlooking the lake. In town, the Parrot Theater shows first-run movies.