Webster County is a county in Nebraska, United States, on the Kansas border in the south-central part of the state. It had a population of 3,395 at the 2020 census and covers 575 square miles (1,490 km2) of land plus 0.1 square mile (0.26 km2) of water, centred near 40°11′N 98°30′W.
Red Cloud is the county seat, and its postal code is 68970. The county has two cities, three villages, one census-designated place and two unincorporated communities. Webster County sits in the Central time zone and carries FIPS code 31181.
Towns & Villages in Webster County
Eight named places are spread across Webster County’s farmland, plus two smaller unincorporated communities with no post office of their own. Cities and villages are incorporated municipalities; Inavale is a census-designated place (CDP) with no incorporated government; Amboy and Rosemont are unincorporated.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Cloud | City · seat | — | 68970 |
| Blue Hill | City | — | 68930 |
| Guide Rock | Village | — | 68942 |
| Bladen | Village | — | 68928 |
| Cowles | Village | — | — |
| Inavale | CDP | — | 68952 |
| Amboy | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Rosemont | Unincorp. | — | — |
Two names from older lists of Webster County places, Lester Junction and Pawnee Village, do not correspond to any currently recognized city, village or CDP in the county and are omitted here; they may be historical rail-siding or informal names that have not been carried forward by the Census Bureau.
ZIP Codes
- 68970 — Red Cloud (post office town)
- 68930 — Blue Hill (post office town)
- 68942 — Guide Rock (post office town)
- 68928 — Bladen (post office town)
- 68952 — Inavale (post office town)
Cowles, Amboy and Rosemont have no post office of their own and are served by the ZIP codes of neighboring towns.
Geography
Webster County’s terrain is low rolling hills sloping gently to the east, with the flatter tracts under center-pivot irrigation for row crops. The Republican River crosses the southern part of the county on its way east toward Kansas. The county borders Adams County to the north, Clay County to the northeast, Nuckolls County to the east, Franklin County to the west and Kearney County to the northwest, all in Nebraska; across the state line to the south lie Jewell County and Smith County, Kansas.
Demographics
Webster County’s 2020 census population of 3,395 makes it one of Nebraska’s smaller rural counties. Red Cloud and Blue Hill are the county’s two largest communities, together home to more than a third of the county’s residents. Median household income in the county runs below the Nebraska median of $74,590, typical for the state’s agricultural southern tier. At 575 square miles of land, the county’s population density works out to roughly 5.9 people per square mile.
Economy & Local Life
Agriculture drives Webster County’s economy, with corn, soybeans and cattle the dominant enterprises across the county’s irrigated and dryland farms. Center-pivot irrigation drawing on the Republican River basin supports row-crop yields well above the dryland average found on the county’s higher ground. Red Cloud is home to the Willa Cather Foundation and the National Willa Cather Center, honoring the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist who grew up in the town and set much of her fiction in the surrounding countryside; the Cather sites draw literary tourists to the county seat throughout the year. Local schools and county government round out the county seat’s employment base, as in most small Nebraska counties of this size.
History
Webster County was organized in 1871 and named for Daniel Webster, the American statesman and orator. Red Cloud, the county seat, was itself named for the Oglala Lakota leader Red Cloud. The county’s farming communities grew up along branch railroad lines built through the region in the 1870s and 1880s, several of which have since been abandoned as rail traffic declined.
Getting There
U.S. Route 136 runs east-west through Red Cloud, and Nebraska Highway 4 crosses the county north-south through Blue Hill.
- Hastings, Nebraska — 30 miles north
- Grand Island, Nebraska — 55 miles north
- Superior, Nebraska — 20 miles east
- Smith Center, Kansas — 25 miles south
The nearest commercial airport is Central Nebraska Regional Airport in Grand Island.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Webster County, Nebraska?
It is in south-central Nebraska on the Kansas border, roughly 30 miles south of Hastings.
What is the population of Webster County?
Webster County had a population of 3,395 at the 2020 census.
How big is Webster County?
The county covers 575 square miles (1,490 km2) of land.
What is the county seat of Webster County?
Red Cloud is the county seat.
How many towns are in Webster County?
Webster County has two cities, three villages and one census-designated place, plus two small unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in Webster County?
The main ZIP codes are 68970 (Red Cloud), 68930 (Blue Hill), 68942 (Guide Rock), 68928 (Bladen) and 68952 (Inavale).
What is Webster County known for?
It is the childhood home of novelist Willa Cather, whose books drew on the county’s farmland and small towns; Red Cloud preserves several Cather-related historic sites.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Nebraska.