Basement Waterproofing Holdrege, NE

Holdrege was settled mostly by immigrants from Sweden in the 1880s and was named after George W. Holdrege, general manager of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad Company. He built the majority of the line’s mileage in Nebraska, which includes a part through this little settlement in Phelps County. On December 10, 1883, the very first train showed up in Holdrege, a little pioneer town populated by 200 individuals.

In 1884, a campaign was began to move the county seat from Phelps Center to Holdrege, and an election was planned for October. By that time, the town received a block of ground on which to build a courthouse. With calm reassurance of victory at the polls, Holdrege laid the cornerstone of the building meant to be the Phelps County Courthouse. At the special election, Holdrege received most of the votes but the legality of the election was challenged. So inhabitants of Holdrege went to Phelps Center, grabbed the official records and books and hid them for 2 months pending the appearance of new county officials who would take control on January 1, 1885. Holdrege succeeded in turning into the county seat and the courthouse was finished.

A big rise in the population of Holdrege in the immediate post-war years was thanks mostly to irrigation. With irrigation came both steady and increased crop production, which delivered a pipeline company, grain elevators, and also agriculture-related businesses to town. The city was declared a first-class city on May 4, 1967.