Filley, Nebraska
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Filley Township. It lies in ZIP code area 68357. The Survey maps it on the Filley quadrangle. 124 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,404 feet above sea level.
On record in Filley
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
Elijah Filley Stone Barnlisted 1977
Population over time
2 figuresFilley fell from 132 to 124 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 132 | |
| 2020 | 124 | -8 (-6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 11 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1955 USGS Lincoln quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1957 USGS Lincoln quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Lincoln quadrangle1:250000
- 1970 USGS Filley quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1986 USGS Beatrice quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
In the county-history sources
906 words on this townshipHistory of Gage County, Nebraska; a Narrative of the Past, with Special Emphasis Upon the Pioneer Period of the County's History, Its Social, Commercial, Educational, Religious, and Civic Development from the Early Days to the Present Time, published 1918 names this settlement in its chapter on Filley Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
The village of Filley is a station thirteen miles out from Beatrice on the Burlington line of railroad. It is situated in the midst of a fine section of the county and since its founding has been the center of a wealthy farming community. It is located on the northwest quarter of section 28, in Filley township. It was founded by Elijah Filley, the owner of this tract of ground, in the spring of 1882 at the time of the Tecumseh-Auburn branch of the Burlington Railroad was constructed. The plat of the village was filed for record by the incorporators, Elijah and Emma Filley, April 22, 1883.
Passage source: History of Gage County, Nebraska; a Narrative of the Past, with Special Emphasis Upon the Pioneer Period of the County's History, Its Social, Commercial, Educational, Religious, and Civic Development from the Early Days to the Present Time, published 1918.
The first mercantile establishment in Filley was the general merchandise store of Lewellen & Axtell. This was followed by a hardware store belonging to Charles G. Dorsey, of Beatrice, but managed by John W. Wright, who later acquired the stock by purchase from Dorsey. Both these pioneer merchants, Lewellen and Wright, remained in business in Filley for many years and both amassed sung fortunes. Lewellen is now a prominent citizen of Thedford, Thomas county, Nebraska, and Mr. Wright died a few years ago, deeply mourned by his entire community. Dr. I. N. Pickett, now of Odell, was the first physician to locate here, though Dr. L. D. Boggs, now of Oklahoma City, who had settled on a farm in that neighborhood in 1874, had practised his profession as a physician continuously from that date and for many, years thereafter, in Filley and its vicinity. His son. Dr. Charles S. Boggs, is the present resident physician.
Passage source: History of Gage County, Nebraska; a Narrative of the Past, with Special Emphasis Upon the Pioneer Period of the County's History, Its Social, Commercial, Educational, Religious, and Civic Development from the Early Days to the Present Time, published 1918.
W. A. Waddington was the first postmaster, and later, while a resident of Filley, was elected sheriff of Gage county. At present James F. Boggs is the postmaster. Filley has free rural delivery of the mails, which gives employment to two carriers.
Passage source: History of Gage County, Nebraska; a Narrative of the Past, with Special Emphasis Upon the Pioneer Period of the County's History, Its Social, Commercial, Educational, Religious, and Civic Development from the Early Days to the Present Time, published 1918.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Filley Township - it names this place 9 more 9 times.
Fires near this place
14 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 14 fires within 5 miles of Filley between 2007 and 2017, burning about 426 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 8 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 24 July 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 2 May 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 4 April 2010 | Debris and open burning | 25 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 4 April 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 4 April 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 21 April 2009 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 26 March 2009 | Debris and open burning | 120 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
21 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Filley in 21 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 11 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, 1 funnel cloud. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Filley | $10,000 | Thunderstorm winds destroyed a barn near Filley. |
| May 2007 | Flash Flood | Filley | $5,000 | Heavy rainfall of an inch or two produced flash flooding across county roads near Highway 136 between Filley and Crab Orchard. |
| July 2024 | Funnel Cloud | Filley | - | A trained spotter called to report a funnel extending nearly half-way to the ground. Several photos were also sent via social media from this spotter and another public account, along with photos relayed from emergency management. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Filley | - | A private weather station measured a peak wind gust of 62 mph. |
| October 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Filley | - | Public reported walls blown out on a machine shed. |
| October 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Filley | - | Barn was reported blown down, as well as several trees including at least one 2 feet in diameter. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Filley | - | A spotter estimated thunderstorm winds reached around 60 mph. |
| August 2009 | Hail | Filley | - | Hail up to 2 inches in diameter caused damage to at least one vehicle in the area. |
| May 2006 | Hail | Filley | - | Hail estimated at 3/4 inch caused some crop damage near Filley. |
| July 2006 | Hail | Filley | - | Hail up to golf ball size fell south of Filley. The hail stripped some corn and soybean fields near town. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Filley | - | Tree blown down. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Filley | - | Large tree limbs downed. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Filley | - | Semi truck blown over. Silo blown down. Tree damage. Hog building destroyed. Machine shed destroyed. |
| April 2010 | Hail | Filley | - | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Hail | Filley | - | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Hail | Filley | - | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Hail | Filley | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Filley | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Filley | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Filley | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Hail | Filley | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | 3.4 miles | 10 | |
| Rockford | 4.2 miles | 11 | |
| Holmesville | 8.8 miles | 10 | |
| Beatrice | 11.3 miles | 11 | |
| Glenover | 11.8 miles | 11 | |
| Adams | 12.0 miles | 11 | |
| Blue Springs | 12.1 miles | 10 | |
| Pickrell | 12.1 miles | 10 |
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 Filley | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2583816 | The 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 829295. 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.




