Nuckolls County Courthouse

Built in 1890 (Neoclassical architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

From the record

“The Nuckolls County Courthouse is a historic two-story building in Nelson, Nebraska, and the courthouse of Nuckolls County, Nebraska. The county court proceedings were held in two other buildings prior to its construction: in a courthouse built in 1873, and in the Nelson opera house built in 1887.”
Wikipedia article Nuckolls County Courthouse, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 8 National Register listings published here for Nuckolls County · listed in 1990 · category: District · built in 1890, Neoclassical architecture, by George E. McDonald.

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 1 building, 1 object as contributing to the listing.
Address. 150 S. Main St., Nelson, 68961
When was it listed? January 1990
Category. district
Also known as. County Courthouses of Nebraska MPS
Precinct. Nelson precinct
When was it built? 1890
Architectural style. Neoclassical architecture
Architect. George E. McDonald
National Register reference number. 89002219 - 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

13 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Nuckolls County Courthouse between 2000 and 2020, burning about 744 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	7
Equipment and vehicle use	2
Smoking	2
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	2

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
21 August 2008	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Nebraska Forest Service	not named
7 June 2013	Equipment and vehicle use	1.0 acres	Nebraska Forest Service	not named
20 May 2005	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.5 acres	Nebraska Forest Service	not named
9 April 2011	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Nebraska Forest Service	not named
19 April 2008	Debris and open burning	3.0 acres	Nebraska Forest Service	not named
8 March 2008	Debris and open burning	6.0 acres	Nebraska Forest Service	not named
18 March 2011	Debris and open burning	20 acres	Nebraska Forest Service	not named
6 February 2000	Debris and open burning	3.0 acres	Nebraska Forest Service	not named

Every fire recorded in Nuckolls County

Storms near this property

60 of 67 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Nelson, the town this property stands in, in 67 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 30 thunderstorm wind, 24 hail, 8 heavy rain, 4 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.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	$1,000,000	A line of thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts up to 80 MPH moved across the county. In Nelson, trees were reported down, including one that fell on a house and pickup, causing extensive damage to the house. At the fairgrounds, a tin roof was removed from a barn, and a couple its trusses were damaged. The roof of the arena was damaged and a camper was flipped on it side.
August 2020	Hail	Nelson	$300,000	Hail ranging in size from quarters to tennis balls was reported in and around Nelson.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	$200,000	Wind gusts estimated to be near 65 MPH resulted in tree damage in the area. A couple of grain bins and pieces of farm equipment were damaged.
August 1996	Lightning	Nelson	$100,000	no account filed
May 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	$75,000	no account filed
June 1998	Hail	Nelson	$75,000	no account filed
July 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	$75,000	no account filed
May 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	$50,000	no account filed
May 2004	Tornado (F0)	Nelson	$45,000	A tornado set down south of Deweese and hit one farmstead on its 2 mile path. A shed and grain bin were damaged. Power poles were broken in the small tornadoes path.
August 2020	Hail	Nelson	$25,000	no account filed
June 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	$25,000	no account filed
July 2006	Hail	Nelson	$15,000	no account filed
September 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	$15,000	no account filed
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	$5,000	Wind gusts estimated to be near 65 MPH resulted in a truck and livestock trailer being tipped over at the junction of Highway 136 and Highway 14.
June 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	$5,000	A tree branch with a diameter of at least 10 inches fell across the road in Nelson.
November 2016	Tornado (EF0)	Nelson	$3,000	This tornado caused very minor damage along its short path through rural areas. The maximum wind speed was estimated to be 75 MPH.
August 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	A wind gust of 68 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located near Nelson. Local law enforcement reported tree damage and several downed power lines in the area.
August 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	A wind gust of 58 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located six miles northwest of Nelson.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	Wind gusts were estimated to be near 65 MPH.
April 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	A wind gust of 67 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located one mile north of Nelson, and a wind gust of 64 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located seven miles west-southwest of Nelson.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	A wind gust of 59 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located one mile north of Nelson.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	A wind gust of 58 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located one mile north of Nelson.
July 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	A wind gust of 67 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located one mile north of Nelson.
July 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	Wind gusts estimated to be near 60 MPH resulted in area power outages.
June 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	Wind gusts were estimated to be near 70 MPH.
June 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	A 64 mph wind gust was measured by a mesonet station located 6 miles southwest of Nelson.
April 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	A 59 MPH wind gust was measured by a mesonet station located 1 mile north of Nelson.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	A 71 MPH wind gust was measured by a mesonet station located 1 mile north of Nelson at 3:41 AM CDT, with a 73 MPH wind gust measured at 3:43 AM CDT.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	A 63 MPH wind gust was measured by a mesonet station located 5 miles north of Nelson.
September 2018	Heavy Rain	Nelson	-	A multi-day rainfall total of 6.99 was reported 5 miles south-southeast of Deweese.
July 2017	Heavy Rain	Nelson	-	A storm total rainfall amount of 3.16 inches was measured.
July 2017	Heavy Rain	Nelson	-	A storm total rainfall amount of 3.83 inches was measured.
August 2016	Heavy Rain	Nelson	-	Storm total rainfall of 3.81 inches...all of which fell between 9:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. CDT.
August 2014	Hail	Nelson	-	One inch diameter hail began falling at 3:55 p.m. CDT, and by 3:58 p.m. CDT, hail diameter increased to 1.5 inches.
June 2012	Heavy Rain	Nelson	-	Rain total of 3.08 inches for the past 24 hours. Report comes from the Nebraska Rainfall Assessment and Information Network. The rain began during the late afternoon on June 14th, with the last round of rain ending during the early morning hours of June 15th.
June 2012	Heavy Rain	Nelson	-	Rain total of 3.28 of inches for the past 24 hours. The rain began during the late afternoon on June 14th, with the last round of rain ending during the early morning hours of June 15th.
May 2011	Heavy Rain	Nelson	-	Storm total rainfall of 3.98 inches was reported by a NeRAIN observer.
May 2011	Heavy Rain	Nelson	-	Storm total rainfall of 4.12 inches was reported by a NeRAIN observer.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	Wind gusts estimated at 60 mph.
May 2004	Tornado (F0)	Nelson	-	A tornado was reported by spotters just northwest of Nelson and moving southeast at the time.
May 2004	Tornado (F0)	Nelson	-	A tornado was reported just east of Nelson along the Elk Creek.
July 2023	Hail	Nelson	-	no account filed
April 2022	Hail	Nelson	-	no account filed
June 2022	Hail	Nelson	-	no account filed
August 2021	Hail	Nelson	-	no account filed
June 2019	Hail	Nelson	-	no account filed
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	no account filed
September 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	no account filed
June 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	no account filed
August 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	no account filed
June 2010	Hail	Nelson	-	no account filed
April 2009	Hail	Nelson	-	no account filed
May 2008	Hail	Nelson	-	no account filed
July 2008	Hail	Nelson	-	no account filed
August 2007	Hail	Nelson	-	no account filed
April 2005	Hail	Nelson	-	no account filed
July 2005	Hail	Nelson	-	no account filed
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Nelson	-	no account filed
June 2004	Hail	Nelson	-	no account filed
May 2003	Hail	Nelson	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Nuckolls 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

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.

Photograph	Property	Distance	Listed
	Nelson Cemetery Walk	0.4 miles	2002
	Nelson Cemetery Walk	0.5 miles	2002

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 89002219 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Nuckolls County	All 8 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.