History
The village of Bushnell came about with the arrival of Union Pacific Railroad. The
townsite was homesteaded by Rev. Leslie and Mrs. Minnie Stevens. A post office was
established in 1886; the first building in Bushnell was a general merchandise store, built
in 1887. The first school was organized in 1887. James Newell served as the first
postmaster, the proprietor of the first merchandise store in Bushnell, and the director of
the school. He later served as one of the first county commissioners when the county
division went through. The village's first depot was a box car set off on the south side
of the tracks.
Bushnell was named for a director of the Union Pacific Railroad, Cornelius Scranton
Bushnell. In its infancy, Bushnell carried the name of Orkney, because the post office
department thought "Bushnell" sounded too much like "Rushville." It is
the last town in western Nebraska on the main line of the Union Pacific Railroad.
For some time Bushnell was little more than a watering station for trains. The first
water tower was on the south side of the railroad and water was pumped by a large wooden
wheel windmill.
In 1895, the post office changed its name from Orkney to Bushnell. In 1908, W.T. Young
Sr. bought all of the Orkney town site at a county tax sale except for one lot. In 1916 a
petition was filed with the Board of Commissioners asking that Bushnell be organized as an
incorporated village. The town's water tower was erected in 1917 and the following year
the rest of the town's water system was installed. The first Bushnell electric light plant
for home lighting came to be and in 1920 Bushnell hooked up to the Rural Electric system
of Pine Bluffs for 24 hour service.
The first bank in Bushnell was built in 1910, and several other businesses were
established at about that time, including a general store, a lumber yard and a land
office. A newspaper, the Bushnell Record, was published from 1917 until 1944.
Maude Hammond operated the Bushnell Telephone Exchange from the front room of her home
in late 1915 until March 1951 when it was sold to Panhandle Telephone Company. At that
time dial phones were installed in the Bushnell area.
The Bushnell school district consolidated with Kimball School districts in 1986, 99
years after the first school was organized in Bushnell.
Numerous businesses have come and gone. In Bushnell's history and today Bushnell boasts
a cafe, grain elevator, bank, liquor and grocery store, volunteer fire department, senior
citizen center and United Methodist Church. All of its present day residents play an
important role in the day to day operation of this peaceful village.
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