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Photograph of George Cather Farmstead
Photograph by Ammodramus, CC0 1.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

George Cather Farmstead

Built in 1885. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

From the record

“The George Cather Farmstead is a historic farm in Bladen, Nebraska. Gather and his wife Frances, whose niece was Willa Cather, a novelist and short-story writer.”

Wikipedia article George Cather Farmstead, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 36 National Register listings published here for Webster County · listed in 1982 · category: Building · built in 1885.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 10 buildingss, 8 structuress as contributing to the listing.
  • Listed as. Cather, George, Farmstead - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
  • Address. SW of Bladen, Bladen, 68928
  • When was it listed? August 1982
  • Category. building
  • Also known as. Willa Cather TR
  • District. District 3
  • When was it built? 1885
  • National Register reference number. 82004917 - 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.

Fires near this property

2 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of George Cather Farmstead between 2008 and 2017, burning about 100 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
Equipment and vehicle use1
Debris and open burning1

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
22 September 2017Equipment and vehicle use80 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named
22 April 2008Debris and open burning20 acresNebraska Forest Servicenot named

Every fire recorded in Webster County

Storms near this property

42 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bladen, the town this property stands in, in 42 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 18 thunderstorm wind, 17 hail, 3 heavy rain, 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 2014HailBladen$1,000,000Hail ranging in size from quarters to golf balls was reported.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindBladen$500,000no account filed
December 2021Tornado (EF0)Bladen$400,000This tornado touched down just inside Franklin County south of Campbell, moved through northwestern Webster County and into southern Adams County. As this tornado tracked northeast, some power poles, and irrigation pivot, and an outbuilding were damaged east of Campbell. Once it crossed into Adams County, a few more pivots were tipped and a home sustained minor damage. The maximum wind gust was estimated to be 85 MPH.
May 2004Tornado (F0)Bladen$250,000A tornado occurred in northwest Webster county. A machine shed was damaged. There was extensive tree damage near the tornado's path.
May 2018HailBladen$150,000no account filed
December 2016Thunderstorm WindBladen$100,000Multiple outbuildings were damaged with major loss of roof panels, and a pivot was overturned.
June 2024HailBladen$100,000no account filed
July 2023HailBladen$100,000no account filed
July 2024Thunderstorm WindBladen$50,000Wind gusts estimated to be near 70 MPH resulted in tree damage in Bladen, with damage also reported to a roof and flagpole. A wind gust of 67 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located one mile southwest of Bladen.
May 2012HailBladen$45,000Damage to area crops, roofs and siding was reported.
August 2016FloodBladen$40,000Generally 3-6 inches of rain fell across mainly the northern third of Webster County, resulting in extensive flooding. The rain began around 930 pm CDT on August 28th and ended at about 430 am CDT on August 29th, although the bulk of the heaviest rain occurred between 10 pm CDT on August 28th to 2 am CDT on August 29th.
August 2016Flash FloodBladen$40,000Generally 3-6 inches of rain fell across mainly the northern third of Webster County, resulting in extensive flooding. The rain began around 930 pm CDT on August 28th and ended at about 430 am CDT on August 29th, although the bulk of the heaviest rain occurred between 10 pm CDT on August 28th to 2 am CDT on August 29th.
April 2012Thunderstorm WindBladen$40,000Wind gusts estimated at 70 mph resulted in a center irrigation pivot being overturned.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindBladen$25,000Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH.
May 2012HailBladen$25,000no account filed
July 2004Thunderstorm WindBladen$25,000no account filed
May 2012Thunderstorm WindBladen$10,000Tree branches of 3 inches in diameter were blown down.
June 2008HailBladen$5,000Hail accompanied by wind gusts estimated at 70 mph.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindBladen-A wind gust of 69 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located one mile southwest of Bladen. Wind gusts were estimated to be around 60 MPH across Bladen.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindBladen-A wind gust of 71 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located two miles southwest of Bladen.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindBladen-A wind gust of 64 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located two miles east-southeast of Campbell.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindBladen-Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH.
October 2023Thunderstorm WindBladen-Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH in Bladen.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindBladen-A wind gust of 60 MPH was measured in Bladen.
June 2019HailBladen-Quarter to half dollar size hail was reported.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindBladen-A wind gust of 59 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located 1 mile east-southeast of Campbell.
April 2017HailBladen-Golf ball size hail broke a car windshield just southeast of Blue Hill.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindBladen-Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH.
July 2017Heavy RainBladen-A storm total rainfall amount of 4.82 inches was measured.
August 2016Heavy RainBladen-Storm total rainfall of 3.40 inches...all of which fell between 9:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. CDT.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindBladen-Wind gusts were estimated between 60 and 70 MPH.
August 2011Heavy RainBladen-Storm total rainfall of 3.90 inches was reported by a Nebraska Rainfall Assessment and Information Network observer.
June 2024HailBladen-no account filed
July 2024HailBladen-no account filed
April 2023HailBladen-no account filed
June 2017HailBladen-no account filed
May 2014HailBladen-no account filed
September 2010HailBladen-no account filed
June 2006Thunderstorm WindBladen-no account filed
May 2002HailBladen-no account filed
June 2001Thunderstorm WindBladen-no account filed
September 1998HailBladen-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Webster County

Map coverage status

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

5 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.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
William Cather Homestead Site2.3 miles1982
Crossroads Grave Site4.3 miles1982
St. Stephenie Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church4.7 miles1982
IOOF Hall and Opera House5.6 miles1988
Pavelka Farmstead5.6 miles1979

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 82004917 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Webster CountyAll 36 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • 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.
  • 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.