Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
From the record
“The Ponca Historic District is a historic district in Ponca, Nebraska that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. It includes the commercial center of Ponca, including 38 contributing buildings.”
Wikipedia article Ponca Historic District, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 5 National Register listings published here for Dixon County · listed in 1979 · category: District.
National Register reference number.79001438- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Charles F. Putnam, one of the most respected of the pioneers, was born in Cavendish, Vt.,in 1835. Went to Massachusetts in '46, came to Ponca in '56, and made his home there or in Ponca township ever since. Roughed it in early times with the rest of the settlers. Lived in Ponca one year, then took as a homestead a place now owned by -I. G. Crowell, a mile west of Jeff. Wilbur's farm. The farm he now owns and has lived on for the past twelve years contains ISO acres, and is well located and cultivated. Mi-. Putnam was the first sheriff of the county, and has since usefully rilled several offices. He is in every respect a worthy citizen and highly esteemed throughout the county. His excellent memory of past events has greatly assisted in the preparation of this history. Mr. Putnam is married and has two sons and one daughter.
A Davis, another pioneer, came to this county January 3, 1861, and first located at Ponca. In the fall of '65 he w7as elected county treasurer, and held that office year after year by the almost unanimous consent of the citizens, until January. 1876 ten years. Much of the time, Mr. Davis, like Bisbee, carried his office in his hat, yet with such extreme carefulness, that every cent received was promptly accounted for. A few years ago he removed to Ponca township, wdiere, on an excellent farm and with a clear conscience, he passes his honorable days with his family in peace and comfort,
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 24 fires within 5 miles of Ponca Historic District
between 1999 and 2020, burning about 236 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
12
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
7
Equipment and vehicle use
3
Power generation/transmission/distribution
1
Railroad operations and maintenance
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
1 working within 5 miles of Ponca Historic District: 1 producer.
All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Ponca, the town this property stands in, in 52 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 23 thunderstorm wind, 22 hail, 5 flash flood, 2 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.
Thunderstorm winds caused widespread tree damage, including some large trees blown down. Some of the tree debris caused damage to homes. The winds also caused other damage to buildings, including a garage which was destroyed, a shed overturned, windows broken, and roof and siding damage. Power lines and poles were blown down, resulting in power outages. A woman suffered a back injury and a broken arm when hit by debris.
A persistent thunderstorm with high rainfall rates resulted in quick rainfall accumulations and flooding on some rural gravel roads and minor flooding along area creeks and streams. A persistent area of moderate rainfall after the heaviest rain had ended further exacerbated flooding issues into the evening hours. Rainfall totals across the area by the time rainfall ended overnight were in the 2 to 4 inch range.
Heavy rainfall occurred between 0200-0400 CST causing a rapid rise in smaller creeks and streams. Significant water flow with debris washed over Nebraska Highway 12 near mile marker 232.
Thunderstorm winds caused damage to 10,000 acres of crops. A few fields sustained extensive damage, but most was leaf damage with hope of some recovery. Most of the damage was to corn crops, while soybean crops withstood the strong winds with minor damage. No damage estimate could be given because it was not known how much the crops would recover.
No historic map-sheet match is published
for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs
a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.
Browse the county's mapped places while that work is
pending.
Listed places nearby
2 within 8 miles
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
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.
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