BlockBefore

Pierce County, Nebraska

20 topographic sheets cover 10 settlements here, and 5 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Research this county

From the record

5 National Register listings published here.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service

Nebraska within the United States
Pierce County within Nebraska

What the record shows

  • 94 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
  • 5 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 3 buildings and 2 structures.
  • The Geographic Names Information System records 10 populated places in this county; 10 are covered by at least one topographic sheet.

Places on the National Register

5

Every property in this county listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the year it was listed and the federal nomination document.

Photograph PropertyType ListedReference
Athletic Park Band Shellbuilding199292001573
Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad Depotbuilding200505001291
Meridian Highwaystructure200101001273
Plainview Carnegie Librarybuilding199393000056
Willow Creek Bridgestructure199292000706

Wildfire, 2004 to 2020

126 fires

Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 126 of them, burning about 943 acres. 4 started naturally and none was recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning61
Equipment and vehicle use24
Power generation/transmission/distribution11
Missing data/not specified/undetermined8
Smoking8
Natural4
Fireworks4
Railroad operations and maintenance4
Recreation and ceremony2

The five largest, by the area the report gives. None of them was recorded as arson.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
19 February 2016Debris and open burning150 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
11 October 2020Debris and open burning100 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
6 November 2012Smoking100 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
26 March 2012Debris and open burning80 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
21 November 2013Debris and open burning80 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
29 March 2010Debris and open burning70 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
20 December 2017Debris and open burning50 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
11 October 2013Debris and open burning40 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.

Storms, 1953 to 2025

60 of 279 shown

The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 279 reports for this county, causing no deaths, 2 injuries and about $4,682,250 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.

Kind of event Reports
Hail138
Thunderstorm Wind88
Tornado28
Flood11
Flash Flood7
Funnel Cloud5
Lightning2

The most serious of them, by death, then injury, then recorded damage. The accounts are quoted exactly as the forecast office filed them.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 1953Tornado (F2)not stated2 hurt, $25,000no account filed
May 1962Tornado (F3)not stated$2,500,000no account filed
April 1994Thunderstorm WindPlainview$500,000Strong thunderstorm winds did around $300,000 damage to mainly farm buildings around Plainview.
August 1993Tornado (F1)Pierce$500,000A tornado touched down and traveled across two farms. A large granary was rolled off of its foundation, four buildings were damaged, and a few trees were knocked down.
March 2019Flash FloodPierce$475,000A levee on the North Fork of the Elkhorn River broke due to heavy rains and snow melt. This allowed water to flood Pierce. Homes and businesses were flooded in Pierce.
June 1973Tornado (F2)not stated$250,000no account filed
July 1996Tornado (F0)Plainview$120,000no account filed
May 1993Thunderstorm WindPierce$50,000Strong thunderstorm winds blew over a center pivot irrigation system, ripped tin off of an outbuilding, killed a calf and blew over trees.
June 1997LightningPlainview$28,000Lightning struck a home causing damage.
April 1974Tornado (F0)not stated$25,000no account filed
May 1963Tornadonot stated$25,000no account filed
June 1960Tornado (F2)not stated$25,000no account filed
August 2009Flash FloodPierce$20,000Heavy rain producing thunderstorms caused flash flooding across some county roads from around Pierce to near Plainview. Besides washing the gravel off of a few county roads, some crops in low areas also sustained damage. Pierce had 4.13 inches from the storm with 4.18 inches reported several miles south of Plainview. The rain began falling during the late afternoon hours of the 15th and persisted a bit past midnight on the 16th.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindPierce$20,000A second wave of thunderstorm wind gusts hit pierce at 1125 pm cdt. Law enforcement personel estimated the wind gusts at between 80 and 100 mph. These strong winds uprooted or split quite a few trees in town which closed several roads and damaged a few buildings.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindPlainview$20,000One grain bin destroyed and another damaged.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindOsmond$20,000Large trees downed. One of the trees fell on a home. Barn damaged.
July 1997LightningPierce$15,000Lightning struck a tree outside a home. The electrical current caused damage to the roof and garage door of the home. Some electrical problems also resulted.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindPierce$15,000no account filed
June 2010FloodHadar$10,000Rainfall of at least 3 to 5 inches fell over much of the upper Elkhorn River basin in the week ending 7am 6/12. This caused lowland flooding along the North Fork of the Elkhorn River near and a bit north of Pierce. Farmland and a few county roads near the river were flooded. Some flooding also occurred along creeks in the Pierce area which flooded a city park in Pierce, a parking lot of a senior manor, and a few roads, all of which prompted the sandbagging of several houses. The North Fork of the Elkhorn River near Pierce crested a little over 14 feet during the late morning of 6/13, flood stage is 12 feet. The river at Pierce was above flood stage from the early morning hours of June 12th until the early evening of 6/16.
June 2000HailPlainview$10,000The hail broke a few car windows and damaged the siding of several houses in the area.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindPierce$10,000Roof blown off a trailer home along Highway 81 near the Pierce/Madison county line.
October 2017FloodPlainview$5,000The North Fork Elkhorn River rose above flood stage for 65 hours. The river crested at 13.36 feet, flood stage is 12 feet. Several county roads near the river flooded.
March 2010FloodOsmond$5,000Melting snow, possibly aggravated by ice jamming, caused minor flooding across a few county roads northeast of Osmond. The flooding mainly just washed away some gravel and flooded agricultural lowlands.
July 1996Tornado (F0)Pierce$3,000no account filed
June 1955Tornado (F0)not stated$2,500no account filed
August 1996Thunderstorm WindPlainview$2,000no account filed
June 2006Flash FloodPierce$1,000Unofficial rainfall amounts of 3 to 4 inches fell locally over sections of Pierce county during the afternoon of 6/17/06. The rain caused flash flooding across Old Highway 98 north of Pierce for several hours. Other than washing out some crops and gravel off of roads, little damage was reported in the area.
April 1985Tornado (F0)not stated$250no account filed
April 1985Tornado (F1)not stated$250no account filed
June 1953Tornado (F1)not stated$250no account filed
June 2025HailPierce-Public report of hail estimated up to 1 inch in diameter.
June 2025HailPierce-Trained spotter report of hail measured up to 1.3 inches in diameter, accompanied by 45 mph wind gusts.
June 2025HailPierce-Law enforcement report of hail up to quarter sized along with heavy rain.
August 2025HailOsmond-Public report of hail estimated at 1.25 inch in diameter.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindPierce-Personal weather station measured wind gust of 59 mph.
July 2025HailFoster-Trained spotter report of hail measured up to 1 inch in diameter.
May 2024Funnel CloudMc Lean-The office received a photo of a funnel cloud taken by the public.
May 2024Funnel CloudMc Lean-The office received a public report of a funnel cloud that had been observed for 5 minutes before dissipating.
May 2024Funnel CloudPierce-A funnel cloud was reported by the Randolph Fire Chief.
August 2024HailOsmond-Broadcast media reported a hailstone that measured 3.25 inches in diameter.
August 2024HailPierce-A trained spotter reported quarter sized hail.
July 2024HailMc Lean-The office received a public report of half dollar sized hail.
June 2024HailFoster-The office received a report from a trained sporter of hail ranging from penny to quarter sized.
July 2023HailMc Lean-Trained spotter reported 1-inch hail.
July 2023HailFoster-Public reported 1-inch hail.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindMc Lean-Trained spotter reported trees leaning against power lines near Highway 20.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindPlainview-Local newspaper reported that the roof was torn off of the Plainview Elementary School.
July 2023HailOsmond-Public reported 2-inch hail via social media.
April 2023HailOsmond-Public reported 1-inch hail via Mping.
April 2023HailFoster-Public reported 1-inch hail.
October 2022Thunderstorm WindPierce-Personal weather station measured a peak wind gust of 72 mph.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindPlainview-Emergency manager reported a couple of small sheds destroyed and power lines down. Several grain bins were collapsed from the top and sides. Also reported roof and fence damage.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindPierce-Emergency manager reported trees down a few power poles snapped.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindOsmond-Emergency manager reported roof damage to several business and houses. Also reported many trees uprooted.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindPlainview-Law enforcement reported damage to a roof of a business and power lines down.
August 2021HailHadar-Trained spotter reported quarter size hail in Hadar.
August 2021FloodPlainview Muni Arpt-Numerous roads with water over the roadway from 2 miles northeast of Plainview to the Knox/Pierce county border.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindPierce-Emergency manager reported tree damage east of Pierce.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindFoster-Personal weather station measured a peak wind gust of 58 mph.
August 2021HailOsmond-Public reported quarter sized hail falling in Osmond.

Mines and quarries

1 recorded

The Survey's mineral resources record lists 1 working inside this county. It still produces. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.

Commodity Workings
Sand and Gravel, Construction1

The least common of them first, because a county's hundredth gravel pit says nothing its first ten did not.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Pierce Pit & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every populated place in the county

10

Named settlements recorded in the Geographic Names Information System, each with the topographic sheets covering it. Villages, hamlets and abandoned places alike. Each is shown with the nearest named watercourse or landform and the survey quadrangle it falls on.

The vanished settlements of Pierce County: the places named above that are no longer on the map.

Provenance

  • Topographic sheets. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, county index, measured from the bulk metadata.
  • Fire insurance maps. Library of Congress Sanborn collection, faceted to this county.
  • Photographs. Each place queried individually against the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs search.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.