{"id":6135,"date":"2023-07-21T12:20:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-21T12:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=6135"},"modified":"2026-08-22T12:02:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T12:02:20","slug":"red-willow-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/red-willow-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Willow County, Nebraska"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Red Willow County is a county in Nebraska, United States, on the Kansas border in the southwest part of the state along the Republican River. It had a population of 10,702 at the 2020 census and covers 718 square miles (1,860 km2) centred near 40&deg;11&prime;N 100&deg;29&prime;W.<\/p>\n<p>McCook is the county seat, and its postal code is 69001. The county has 2 incorporated cities, 3 villages, and several unincorporated communities. Red Willow County sits in the Central time zone.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Red Willow County<\/h2>\n<p>Red Willow County has eight named places on record, split between two incorporated cities and a handful of small villages and unincorporated communities along the Republican River valley. Places marked &#8220;Unincorp.&#8221; have no municipal government of their own.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>McCook<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>7,485<\/td>\n<td>69001<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Indianola<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>558<\/td>\n<td>69034<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bartley<\/td>\n<td>Village<\/td>\n<td>152<\/td>\n<td>69020<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Danbury<\/td>\n<td>Village<\/td>\n<td>85<\/td>\n<td>69026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lebanon<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>69001<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Marion<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Perry<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Red Willow<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Shippee<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>McCook is the only city of any size in the county and dwarfs every other place on the list; most of the unincorporated names above mark rural crossroads, former rail sidings, or grain-elevator stops rather than active settlements.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>69001 &mdash; McCook (also serves Lebanon and most of the surrounding countryside)<\/li>\n<li>69034 &mdash; Indianola<\/li>\n<li>69020 &mdash; Bartley<\/li>\n<li>69026 &mdash; Danbury<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Marion, Perry, Red Willow, and Shippee have no post office of their own and are served by mail routes out of McCook or Indianola.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Red Willow County lies in the Republican River valley, where rolling loess plains break into wide, flat-bottomed river terraces. The Republican River crosses the county west to east through McCook, with Red Willow Creek and Beaver Creek as its main tributaries; Medicine Creek Reservoir and Hugh Butler Lake, just north of the county line, draw much of the region&#8217;s recreational traffic. The land away from the river is dryland and irrigated farm ground, part of the High Plains wheat and corn belt.<\/p>\n<p>Red Willow County borders <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/frontier-county\/\">Frontier County<\/a> to the north, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/furnas-county\/\">Furnas County<\/a> to the east, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/hitchcock-county\/\">Hitchcock County<\/a> to the west, and <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/rawlins-county\/\">Rawlins County<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/decatur-county-kansas\/\">Decatur County<\/a> across the state line in Kansas to the south.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Red Willow County had a population of 10,702 at the 2020 census, giving it a density of about 15 people per square mile. McCook, the county seat, is by far the largest community, with Indianola a distant second. Median household income in the county runs below the Nebraska median of $74,590, typical of the state&#8217;s farming counties, where incomes track cattle and grain prices more closely than the state average.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Agriculture anchors the county&#8217;s economy &mdash; irrigated corn and soybeans on the river bottoms, dryland wheat and cattle on the tablelands above. McCook is the region&#8217;s trade and medical hub for southwest Nebraska, home to Community Hospital, a BNSF Railway line, and Mid-Plains Community College&#8217;s McCook campus. The county fairgrounds in McCook host the Red Willow County Fair each summer, and the town&#8217;s Heritage Days celebration draws visitors from across the tri-state area each June.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Red Willow County was organized in 1873 and named for Red Willow Creek, whose name is usually explained as a translation of a Dakota term referring to the red-barked dogwood shrubs along its banks. McCook, platted in 1882 along the new Burlington and Missouri River Railroad line, was named county seat and grew into the commercial center of the region. The county is best known nationally as the boyhood home of U.S. Senator George W. Norris, the &#8220;Father of the TVA&#8221; and author of the 20th Amendment, whose McCook house is preserved as a state historical site.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>U.S. Highways 6, 34, and 83 all pass through McCook, along with Nebraska Highway 89.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>North Platte, Nebraska &mdash; 80 miles north<\/li>\n<li>Kearney, Nebraska &mdash; 140 miles northeast<\/li>\n<li>Norton, Kansas &mdash; 35 miles south<\/li>\n<li>Oberlin, Kansas &mdash; 40 miles southwest<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>McCook Ben Nelson Regional Airport offers scheduled commercial air service; it is the closest airport with passenger flights for most of southwest Nebraska.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Red Willow County?<\/strong><br \/>It is in southwest Nebraska on the Kansas border, along the Republican River, about 80 miles south of North Platte.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Red Willow County?<\/strong><br \/>10,702 at the 2020 census.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Red Willow County?<\/strong><br \/>718 square miles (1,860 km2).<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Red Willow County?<\/strong><br \/>McCook, the largest city in the county.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns are in Red Willow County?<\/strong><br \/>Two incorporated cities &mdash; McCook and Indianola &mdash; plus three villages and several unincorporated communities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes are in Red Willow County?<\/strong><br \/>69001 (McCook), 69034 (Indianola), 69020 (Bartley), and 69026 (Danbury).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Who is Red Willow County&#8217;s most famous resident?<\/strong><br \/>U.S. Senator George W. Norris, a longtime McCook resident remembered for the 20th Amendment and his role in creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/nebraska\/\">Towns and villages in Nebraska<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Red Willow County is a county in Nebraska, United States, on the Kansas border in the southwest part of the state along the Republican River. It had a population of 10,702 at the 2020 census and covers 718 square miles (1,860 km2) centred near 40&deg;11&prime;N 100&deg;29&prime;W. McCook is the county seat, and its postal code [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Red Willow County, Nebraska","_seopress_titles_desc":"Red Willow County, Nebraska: population, McCook and Indianola, ZIP codes, geography, history and every town and village in the county.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-6135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-nebraska","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6135"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11638,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6135\/revisions\/11638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}