St. James, Nebraska

St. James, Nebraska
Unincorporated village
St. James

Location within the state of Nebraska

Coordinates: 42°44′07″N 97°08′36″W / 42.73528°N 97.14333°W / 42.73528; -97.14333Coordinates: 42°44′07″N 97°08′36″W / 42.73528°N 97.14333°W / 42.73528; -97.14333
Country United States
State Nebraska
County Cedar
Population (2010)
 • Total est. 12
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
Area code(s) 402

St. James, an unincorporated community in Cedar County, Nebraska, United States[1], was first settled in 1856[2] and served as the first county seat of Cedar County[2][3][4][5]. The former St. James (Old St. James) once covered ~67 acres 0.6 miles northwest of its current location. Today’s St. James includes the St. James Marketplace (formerly Saints Philip and James Parochial School), a Catholic cemetery, a bar/restaurant, and several homes (one which was the former Catholic rectory).

Old St. James

Old St. James was located at the current intersection of 569 Avenue and 891 Road in Cedar County[6][7][8]. However, its origins date back to St. James Landing at the confluence of the Missouri River and Petite Arc Creek, the French fur traders’ name for Little Bow Creek, now called the Main Bow Creek[9]. St. James Landing was named Cedar County Seat when the county was organized by the Territorial Legislature on February 12, 1857[4][5][9][10]. St. James was first platted in 1856 by Colonel C.C. Van and Moses H. Deming, formerly of Des Moines, IA[3][11][12]. It was above the Landing just south of Bow Creek. The first habitation there was a cavern named the "Arcade" dug into a hillside[4][5][13]. In the spring of 1857 Gates P. Thurston of Dayton, OH, who became Cedar County’s 1st Judge, built the first county courthouse near this site. Within a decade the original townsite moved to a location 2 miles south along Bow Creek, and Old St. James began to grow rapidly[12].

Henson Wiseman, one of the St. James area first permanent settlers, arrived there in 1857. Five Wiseman children were massacred by Native Americans near St. James July 24, 1863[14]. Other 1857 St. James area settlers were C.C. Van, James Hay, O.D. Smith, Saby Strahm, John Andres, John McCoubray, a Mr. Wadsworth, and Henry, Ernest, Gustav and Herman Ferber, and their father, Paul Ferber[5][10]. By 1860 Old St. James had a population of 50, two stores and a blacksmith shop[12][13]. Eventually it had 2 hotels, a drug store, a mill, 2 merchandise stores, a saloon, 2 banks, a lumber store, 2 hardware stores, a blacksmith shop, 2 churches and a school[12]. Private education in the St. James area started in 1861[4][12][13] and the first public school in Cedar County, called St. James School, was built in 1867 ~2 miles north-northwest of Old Saint James, near the Jones “Bow Valley” Mills[12][13][15]. School District 1 was formally organized there April 30, 1873 and closed January 2, 1953[3][4][13]. Later, District 10 also provided public and parochial education in the area[3][12]. St. James Post Office, established July 13, 1858[3][11], was initially located in the pocket of whoever was postmaster at the time[10] but soon was situated in Old St. James[3]. It was discontinued May 31, 1909 when service began from nearby Wynot[3][11][12].

An 1869 vote that moved the county seat to St. Helena[4][10][11] and a failed attempt in 1876 for rail service[12] curtailed St. James growth. Thus its population, 81 in 1880[3][11], peaked at about 100 inhabitants in 1882[4]. A 2nd attempt for rail service to Old St. James occurred in 1906 when the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railroad was asked to extend its line from nearby Newcastle. But the rail terminus was built across Bow Creek, one mile west of Old St. James, resulting in the new town of Wynot. Soon Old St. James’ businesses and 2 of its churches moved to Wynot. Remaining were the blacksmith shop, a few homes and, one mile southeast of Old St. James: SS Philip and James Catholic Church, its rectory, cemetery and school[12]. Many people from Old St. James are buried in the former St. James public cemetery, now called the Wynot Public Cemetery, located ¾ mile west-southwest of Old St. James on a hill just south of Wynot.

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System:
  2. 1 2 Fitzpatrick, Lillian L. (1960). Nebraska Place-Names. University of Nebraska Press. p. 34.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Welcome to Cedar County".
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Andreas, A. T. 1882. History of the State of Nebraska. Chicago: Western Historical Co. Available at: http://www.kancoll.org/books/andreas_ne/cedar/cedar-p1.html.
  5. 1 2 3 4 J. Mike McCoy. 1937. History of Cedar County, Nebraska. Available in Nebraska State Historical Society Library. Lincoln, NE.
  6. ↑ Pictorial Atlas Cedar County, Nebraska. 2005. Title Atlas Co., Inc., Battle Lake, MN 56515. Containing 1899 Cedar County Plat Map originally published by Northwest Publishing Co.
  7. ↑ Cedar County Historical Map. 1967. Cedar County Nebraska Centennial Committee compiled by J. Keith Cook.
  8. ↑ The Official State Atlas of Nebraska. Philadelphia: Everts & Kirk, 1885. Available in Nebraska State Historical Society Library. Lincoln, NE.
  9. 1 2 Campbell, Mrs. John. “The History of the Beginning of Cedar County, Nebraska.” Cedar County News. June 06, 1924.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Jones, L. E. “A Brief History of Cedar County, Nebraska.” Read by Mr. Jones July 4, 1876. Available at: https://stumblingintheshadowsofgiants.wordpress.com/2014/12/21/lewis-evan-jones-1825-1910-a-brief-history-of-cedar-county-nebraska-read-july-4-1876/.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Perkey, Elton A. 2003. Perkey's Nebraska Place-Names. 4th Ed. Nebraska State Historical Society. Lincoln, NE.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Saints Philip & James Catholic Church: Observing 96 Years of Catholic Faith 1904-2000. St. James, NE. Pine Hill Press. Sioux Falls, SD.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Anderson, Twila. 1982. History of Cedar County, Nebraska. 1982. Publ. Hartington Shopper. Hartington, NE. 120 p. (available at http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/county/cedar.
  14. ↑ Guy, Louise (2002). The Wiseman Massacre: The History of the Henson and Phoebe Wiseman Family. Pine Hill Press. ISBN 1-57579-245-1.
  15. ↑ Jones, Edith. "Bow Valley Mills: A Brief Visit to the Past." Cedar County News. Hartington, NE. January 29, 1975.
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