Crawl Space Repair Beatrice, NE

Gage County was among the 19 counties initially set up by the Nebraska Territorial Legislature in 1854. At the time of its establishment, there had been no settlers living inside it.

In 1857, the steamboat Hannibal, transporting 300 passengers up the Missouri River from St. Louis, Missouri to Nebraska City, Nebraska, went aground close to Kansas City, Missouri. While it was trapped, 35 of the passengers decided to form the “Nebraska Association”, under which name they would come together in seeking a townsite and establishing a settlement in the area.

After getting to Nebraska City, the Association split itself into a couple of exploratory parties, one of which went directly westward and the other southwest. The second party found the site of Beatrice, at the place where the DeRoin Trail intersected the Big Blue River; and the whole Association chose to settle there. The settlement was named after Julia Beatrice Kinney, the 17-year-old daughter of Judge John F. Kinney, a participant of the Association.

The Territorial Legislature decided on Beatrice as the county seat of Gage County in 1857. The decision was questioned by Blue Springs, but was established by the Legislature in 1859. In 1864, the Legislature dissolved the original Clay County (not the present Clay County, Nebraska), splitting its land between Gage and Lancaster Counties. The addition of this ground in the north put Beatrice close to the center of the enlarged county, fortifying its claim to the county seat. It continues to hold that position right now.