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Arlington, Nebraska

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1982. It stands in Township 7. It lies in ZIP code area 68002. The Survey maps it on the Arlington quadrangle. 1,300 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,188 feet above sea level.

Arlington within Washington County

On record in Arlington

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Arlington grew from 1,243 to 1,300 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20101,243
20201,300+57 (+5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 15 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

12 since 2013

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 12 fires within 5 miles of Arlington between 2013 and 2020, burning about 38 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined6
Debris and open burning5
Recreation and ceremony1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
1 July 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
22 June 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
18 June 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
9 May 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
6 April 2013Debris and open burning2.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
27 April 2018Debris and open burning20 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
26 April 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
20 April 2019Debris and open burning1.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Washington County

Storms near this place

39 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Arlington in 39 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 15 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 5 flood, 3 tornado. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2001Tornado (F1)Arlington1 hurt, $600,000A tornado touched down 4 1/2 miles north northeast of Arlington and moved north northeast for approximately 5 miles before lifting 1 mile east of county road 15 on county road 16. The tornado damaged 6 farmsteads including farm homes and barns and leveled 3 outbuildings west of Blair as well as downing power lines and damaging trees. One man was injured slightly when a 2 by 4 flew through a window hitting him on the chest and cutting him with flying glass.
August 1999Flash FloodArlington$4,000,000Very heavy rain, Blair received 8 inches, fell over much of Washington county from Friday afternoon into early Saturday morning 8/7/99. Street flooding was reported in Arlington, Blair and Herman, especially along Bell Creek. A 20 foot deep gorge was carved out along highway 75 north of Fort Calhoun. Highway 30 in Arlington was flooded and highway 75 south of Blair was closed until 1100 am cst 8/7/99 due to flood waters. The flooding caused around 4 million dollars in damage mainly due to flooded basements and vehicles and washed out roads and bridges.
June 1996Tornado (F1)Arlington$300,000no account filed
June 2010FloodArlington$250,000Rainfall of 3 to 5 inches fell across much of the Elkhorn River basin in the week ending June 12th. This caused extensive flooding along the Elkhorn River and many of its tributaries, which was prolonged by additional heavy rain after June 12th. Flooding along the Elkhorn in Washington county closed Highway 30 near Arlington for several days as well as many county roads in the area. Farmland near the river also sustained flood damage. Emergency management stated that there was $100,000 in damage alone to public roads in Washington and Dodge counties.
June 2010FloodArlington$75,000Heavy rain of 2 to 3 inches fell across much of the area on June 10th on top of soils that were saturated from several inches of rain that fell earlier in the week. The rain produced flooding along Bell Creek and its tributaries which began on June 10th and was aggravated and continued by additional heavy rain during the next few days. Eventually the Elkhorn River near Arlington also flooded. The flooding from Bell Creek and then high water from the Elkhorn closed Highway 30 near Arlington for an extended period with additional flooding of county roads and farm fields observed for an extended period across the county. In addition a trailer court on the east side Arlington and the fairgrounds experienced minor flooding.
May 2007Flash FloodArlington$20,000Rainfall of around 2.5 inches fell in an hour or two across the area causing flooding of several roads around and south of the Arlington area. In addition...a trap shooting club experienced flooding. Most of the flooding was along Bell Creek and its tributaries.
May 2007Flash FloodArlington$20,000A second round of heavy rain moved over Washington county during the evening and overnight hours of May 5th and 6th. Storm totals were over 4 inches across most of the county. The heavy rain caused flooding along Bell Creek again near Arlington. The flooding affected several county roads in the area and also reached the door of several houses. Otherwise the flooding affected mainly farmland, along with a trap shooting club.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindArlington$20,000Hog confinement building destroyed.
April 1999Tornado (F0)Arlington$10,000Caused tree and damage to 4 outbuildings near county roads 13 and 26 near Arlington.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindArlington-Report of snapped tree limbs of 3 inches in diameter.
April 2025HailArlington-Public report of hail estimated up to 4 in diameter.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindArlington-A 64 miles per hour wind gust was measured on a personal weather station.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindArlington-The office received a public report of a roof blown off of an outbuilding.
July 2023HailArlington-Public reported 1.75-inch hail.
December 2021Thunderstorm WindArlington-Public reported an estimated 70 mph wind gust.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindArlington-Public reported mping 3-inch tree limbs broken; power poles broken.
March 2019FloodArlington-The Washington County newspaper reported Arlington was hit hard during the flood. Flooding in Arlington began March 13 as the Bell Creek went out of its banks, flooding the village's sports complex at the intersection of First and Bell streets, parts of First and Second streets and areas south of U.S. Highway 30 and north of the village. The floodwaters closed down both directions of U.S. Highway 30. By Friday, water from the Bell Creek had receded in those areas, but on the other side of town, the Elkhorn River began to overflow, flooding the Washington County Fairgrounds and surrounding area.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindArlington-Thunderstorm winds estimated at over 60 mph caused scattered tree and farm outbuilding damage from around Arlington through the Herman area.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindArlington-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at close to 60 mph knocked down a few large tree limbs causing minor structural damage in Arlington.
May 2008FloodArlington-Heavy rain that fell across northeast Nebraska during the evening and overnight hours of May 29th and 30th caused flooding along Bell Creek around the Arlington area. A staff gage near town recorded a crest around 4 feet over flood stage during the morning hours of May 30th, due in a large part to debris that clogged an old bridge south of Highway 30. Some roads around Arlington were flooded, mainly on the east side of town.
May 2007FloodArlington-Rainfall of 3.5 to 5 inches fell over most of Washington county from Friday into Sunday morning May 6th. This produced widespread flooding of lowlands that lingered into Sunday. Most of the flooding was due to Bell Creek and Rawhide Creek backing up because of high flows in the Elkhorn River, which they both empty into. The flooding affected farmland and several county and city roads and threatened several homes.
June 2005HailArlington-Hail between golfball and tennis ball size was reported in Arlington. There were many reports of window, roof and vehicle damage in town.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindArlington-A thunderstorm wind gust estimated at around 70 mph downed two trees north of Arlington.
April 2016HailArlington-no account filed
May 2006HailArlington-no account filed
May 2006HailArlington-no account filed
May 2005HailArlington-no account filed
July 2005HailArlington-no account filed
March 2004HailArlington-no account filed
May 2003HailArlington-no account filed
May 2001HailArlington-no account filed
April 1998Funnel CloudArlington-no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindArlington-no account filed
May 1998HailArlington-no account filed
April 1998HailArlington-no account filed
June 1997Thunderstorm WindArlington-no account filed
June 1996Thunderstorm WindArlington-no account filed
June 1996HailArlington-no account filed
June 1994HailArlington-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Washington County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Fontanelle7.2 miles8
Orum7.7 miles8
Kennard8.0 miles14
Washington8.5 miles14
Telbasta9.1 miles8
Blair13.6 miles9
Admah (historical)15.2 miles8
De Soto15.9 miles15

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on ArlingtonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q428980The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 827050. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

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.

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.