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Kenesaw, Nebraska

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1894 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Kenesaw Township. It lies in ZIP code area 68956. The Survey maps it on the Kenesaw quadrangle. 919 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,051 feet above sea level.

Kenesaw within Adams County

Population over time

2 figures

Kenesaw grew from 880 to 919 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
2010880
2020919+39 (+4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 13 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.

In the county-history sources

6,063 words on this township

Past and Present of Adams County, Nebraska, published 1916 names this settlement in its chapter on Kenesaw Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Tlie Kenesaw site was located June 9, 1871, l)y S. P. Howland, now living in Juniata, Milton F. Brown, Charles Colt and J. D. Butler, Jr. The foiu- original settlers preempted the fom* quarters of section 34, town 8, range 12. ^Recalling the circumstances ]Mr. Howland said: "I sent teams to Grand Island for lumber to build the shack and it was built that month, June. The first five nights I spent upon the site of Kenesaw it rained everj- night and I slept imder an inverted wagon box. Our drinking water at first had to be hauled from Lowell, ten miles to the west, b>it a ^^-eII was boi-ed about the third day after we arrived.

Passage source: Past and Present of Adams County, Nebraska, published 1916.

It is fortunate for the annals of Kenesaw that the first actual settler in that vicinity, Dr. A. D. Williams, was a man who wielded a facile pen and also had a penchant for making accurate records. "The i-ailroad was laid out across this section and finished," wrote Doctor A^'^illiams, "in June, 1872, through to Kearney. The Kenesaw townsite was laid out a little before but the depot was not built imtil along in the fall - I believe the latter part of October or the first of November.

Passage source: Past and Present of Adams County, Nebraska, published 1916.

The following quotation from Doctor AVilliams gives a detailed account of the earliest settlers in the vicinity of Kenesaw: "INIr. Fred Einst settled on the Platte River, nearly six miles north of Kenesaw. in the spring of 1872, and he and his sons became not only the oldest but among the most substantial citizens of that section of the country. The first permanent settler anywhere near Kenesaw was A. D. "Williams on the southwest quarter of section 26, 8, 12, August 16. 1872. He came thither in a 'prairie schooner,' and he with Mrs. "Williams, Katie and George lived three weeks in the covered wagon box, setting up the cook stove outside of it. in a kitchen bounded only by tlie liorizon.

Passage source: Past and Present of Adams County, Nebraska, published 1916.

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 Kenesaw Township - it names this place 34 more 34 times.

Fires near this place

8 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 8 fires within 5 miles of Kenesaw between 2000 and 2020, burning about 32 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 burning4
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Recreation and ceremony1
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
14 May 2009Debris and open burningunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
6 April 2004Recreation and ceremony16 acresRainwater Basin Wetland Management DistrictKENESAW
9 March 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresRainwater Basin Wetland Management DistrictKENESAW
7 March 2020Debris and open burning10 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
30 March 2014Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresRainwater Basin Wetland Management DistrictKENESAW
2 November 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named
17 November 2018Debris and open burning2.0 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
18 October 2000Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Adams County

Storms near this place

50 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Kenesaw in 50 storm reports between 1994 and 2023: 31 hail, 13 thunderstorm wind, 4 flash flood, 2 tornado. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2014HailKenesaw$1,000,000Quarter size hail was accompanied by wind gusts estimated to be near 60 MPH.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindKenesaw$1,000,000Wind gusts were estimated to be at least 60 MPH.
May 1999Tornado (F2)Kenesaw$300,000no account filed
July 2002HailKenesaw$200,000no account filed
May 1999Tornado (F1)Kenesaw$150,000no account filed
May 2020Flash FloodKenesaw$100,000Radar estimates depicted an area of approximately 4 to 8 inches of rain fell in a very concentrated area across far southwestern portions of Hall County and far northwestern portions of Adams County. Numerous rural roads were covered in water and impassable for a period of time. A home just northwest of Kenesaw was flooded, and the residents had to be rescued. Due to road conditions, the rescue was not completed until daybreak on the 25th, and was done by airboat.
July 2002HailKenesaw$100,000no account filed
June 2015Thunderstorm WindKenesaw$75,000Wind gusts estimated to be near 70 MPH resulted in the derailment of seven BNSF freight train cars in extreme western Adams County (the train had a total of 72 cars). Hail up to the size of nickels was also reported in the area.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindKenesaw$60,000Damage reported included snapped power poles and power lines down as well as trees blown down onto cars.
May 2005HailKenesaw$50,000no account filed
August 1999Thunderstorm WindKenesaw$50,000no account filed
July 2008Flash FloodKenesaw$40,000Highway 281 north of Hastings was closed due to water running across the highway. Numerous county roads were washed out across northern portions of Adams county. Street flooding was also reported in the city of Hastings.
June 2008HailKenesaw$25,000Penny to golfball size hail was reported.
July 1997HailKenesaw$25,000The large hail broke the windshield of a fire truck.
June 2008Flash FloodKenesaw$20,000Water was running across several county roads over northern Adams County.
May 1998HailKenesaw$20,000no account filed
June 2000HailKenesaw$15,000no account filed
June 2009HailKenesaw$10,000no account filed
September 2006HailKenesaw$10,000no account filed
June 2008HailKenesaw$5,000no account filed
June 2008HailKenesaw$5,000no account filed
August 1999Thunderstorm WindKenesaw$5,000no account filed
June 2008HailKenesaw$2,000Nickel to quarter size hail was reported.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindKenesaw$1,000no account filed
May 2021Flash FloodKenesaw-Radar estimated that in general a corridor of 3 to 4 inches fell from northwestern Adams County into central portions of Kearney County, with isolated higher amounts. Measured totals included 4.40 inches from a CoCoRaHS observer located 2 miles northeast of Minden and 3.80 inches from the Cooperative Observer in Minden. A number of county roads were covered, including Primrose Avenue near Highway 6 southeast of Kenesaw, where at least one car left the roadway into the ditch. In Minden, the underpass was blocked off around 11 PM due to flooding, remaining that way through at least 3 AM.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindKenesaw-Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindKenesaw-Wind gusts estimated to be near 60 MPH resulted in some tree damage in the area. A 58 MPH wind gusts was measured at 1:11 AM CDT by a mesonet station located 3 miles southwest of Prosser.
August 2017Thunderstorm WindKenesaw-Wind gusts estimated to be near 60 MPH downed some tree limbs approximately 3 inches in diameter.
April 2014HailKenesaw-Nickel size hail nearly covered the ground. This report was reported via TWITTER.
April 2014HailKenesaw-This report along with a photo was received via TWITTER.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindKenesaw-Wind gusts estimated at 60 MPH.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindKenesaw-Wind gusts estimated at 60 MPH.
June 2009HailKenesaw-Penny to golf ball size hail was reported.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindKenesaw-Thunderstorm winds gusted up to 90 mph across the northern part of Adams County causing extensive power line damage. Tree and roof damage also occurred. A van was crushed by a falling tree. Three air conditioning units were blown off of a business causing a gas leak. A utility shed was blown into the side of a church, damaging the entrance and an air conditioning unit. Numerous grain bins were destroyed.
May 2023HailKenesaw-no account filed
June 2022HailKenesaw-no account filed
July 2022HailKenesaw-no account filed
August 2017HailKenesaw-no account filed
May 2016HailKenesaw-no account filed
September 2015HailKenesaw-no account filed
July 2009HailKenesaw-no account filed
July 2007Thunderstorm WindKenesaw-no account filed
March 2006HailKenesaw-no account filed
June 2006HailKenesaw-no account filed
March 2004HailKenesaw-no account filed
May 2004HailKenesaw-no account filed
June 1998HailKenesaw-no account filed
June 1998HailKenesaw-no account filed
July 1997HailKenesaw-no account filed
March 1997HailKenesaw-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Adams 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
Hayland4.8 miles14
Prosser6.3 miles14
Juniata8.3 miles13
Assumption8.9 miles13
Holstein10.8 miles12
Roseland11.6 miles12
Ingleside11.7 miles14
Countryside Parks14.5 miles14

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 KenesawAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3287854The 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 830469. 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.