BlockFrom the record
One of 8 National Register listings published here for Nuckolls County · listed in 1994 · category: District.
Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
Superior Downtown Historic District
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
The listing
- Address. Roughly, along Central and Commercial Aves. from 3rd to 5th Sts. and 3rd, 4th and 5th from Central to Commercial, Superior, 68978
- When was it listed? January 1994
- Category. district
- City. Superior city
- National Register reference number. 93001405 - 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
32 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 32 fires within 5 miles of Superior Downtown Historic District between 2007 and 2020, burning about 430 acres in total. 2 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 | 13 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 September 2009 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 22 September 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 6 August 2012 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 27 August 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 4 July 2017 | Fireworks | 3.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 28 July 2012 | Natural | 3.5 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 5 May 2007 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
| 20 April 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nebraska Forest Service | not named |
Mines and quarries near this property
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Superior Downtown Historic District: 3 producers. 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.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ideal Cement Plant | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Ideal Limestone Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Ideal Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer |
Storms near this property
60 of 70 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Superior, the town this property stands in, in 70 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 42 hail, 22 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 2 heavy rain. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | $5,000,000 | A swath of wind with gusts estimated to be as high as 90 MPH swept through the southeastern portion of Nuckolls County. Peak measured gusts included the following: 73 MPH, measured by a mesonet station located one mile west-northwest of Ruskin; 67 MPH, measured by a mesonet station located in Ruskin; 66 MPH, measured by a mesonet station located two miles north-northwest of Superior. Widespread damage was reported along and near this path, including the Superior and Ruskin areas. An estimate of 200 trees were damaged in Superior, causing the park to be closed for a period of time for clean-up. Several roofs sustained damage in Superior, with at least two downtown businesses suffering extensive roof damage, causing damage to the interior of the businesses as well. Several downtown businesses sustained broken windows. In Ruskin in addition to tree and roof damage, the wooden pole which held the community's siren was snapped and blown onto a nearby business. There was widespread crop damage in the area. The local public power company estimated that over 200 poles and 10 miles of line had been damaged or destroyed across the area, much of which occurred across Nuckolls County, and that mutual aid had to be called into assist with restoration efforts. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | $3,000,000 | Wind gusts were estimated to around 75 MPH. Tree limbs of 6 to 10 inches in diameter were downed, and several streets closed due to trees across them. Power was out for much of the town for several hours. A couple vehicles were damaged by falling tree limbs. A 40 foot section of a roof was blown off of the local lumberyard and an awning was damaged at another business. At least 9 irrigation pivots were damaged south of town. Most of the damage focused between 8th Street and the Republican River. |
| June 2017 | Hail | Superior | $1,000,000 | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | $500,000 | A line of thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts up to 80 MPH moved across the county. Damage reported in Superior included windows being blown out and transformers downed. |
| July 1996 | Lightning | Superior | $80,000 | no account filed |
| May 2019 | Tornado (EF0) | Superior | $75,000 | A brief tornado touched down in the center of Superior and severely damaged a detached garage. Shingle and gutter damage was also noted at the adjacent house. Fence and tree damage was common in the neighborhood. This tornado had an estimated maximum wind speed of 81 MPH. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | $75,000 | Six inch diameter limbs down in the city park. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | $75,000 | no account filed |
| April 2016 | Hail | Superior | $50,000 | Several reports of ping pong ball to golf ball size hail from Superior to 3 miles east of town, including social media photos. |
| August 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | $50,000 | Wind gusts over a 30 minute period were estimated to be between 60 and 70 MPH. |
| September 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | $50,000 | Wind gusts estimated at 65 mph caused roof damage to a two story apartment building in the downtown area. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | $50,000 | Wind gusts were estimated at 70 MPH in Superior, with 6 inch tree limbs and small outbuildings damaged 3.5 miles east of town. |
| April 2001 | Tornado (F0) | Superior | $50,000 | Another brief tornado reported by the Nuckolls County Sheriff's Department. |
| April 2016 | Hail | Superior | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Superior | $25,000 | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | $25,000 | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Hail | Superior | $25,000 | no account filed |
| September 2001 | Hail | Superior | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Superior | $20,000 | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Hail | Superior | $15,000 | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | $10,000 | no account filed |
| September 2006 | Hail | Superior | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Superior | $5,000 | Hail accompanied by winds estimated at 60 mph. |
| April 2008 | Hail | Superior | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | $1,000 | A wind gust of 61 MPH was recorded by a mesonet station located 2 miles north of Superior. Minor tree damage was reported in Superior with this wind. |
| May 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | $500 | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | - | A wind gust of 59 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located two miles north of Superior. |
| April 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | - | A wind gust of 59 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located two miles north-northwest of Superior. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | - | Wind gusts estimated to be near 65 MPH were reported in and just north of Superior. |
| December 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | - | A wind gust of 69 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located two miles northwest of Superior. |
| June 2019 | Hail | Superior | - | Quarter to golf ball size hail was reported. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | - | Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | - | A wind gust of 67 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located at the Superior Airport. |
| June 2017 | Hail | Superior | - | Hail occurred along with 50 mph wind gusts. |
| May 2015 | Heavy Rain | Superior | - | A 24 hour storm total rainfall amount of 7.13 inches was reported. In 123 years of records dating back to 1893, this was the highest 24 hour rainfall on record. |
| August 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | - | Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH. |
| June 2012 | Heavy Rain | Superior | - | Rain total of 3.07 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 2010 | Tornado (EF2) | Superior | - | The most significant damage was confined to the city limits of Superior. There was widespread tree damage, along with a warehouse building and several small buildings being destroyed and a number of snapped power poles. On the southeast edge of town, railroad cars were overturned. |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | - | Supercell thunderstorms formed over south central Nebraska. Golf ball- size hail around Chapman caused around $1 million in crop damage. A tornado destroyed a cattle shed, a machine shed and a grain bin north of Giltner. A tornado touched down south of Stockham and continued southeast to Sutton. At Sutton, this storm was overtaken by a line of fast moving thunderstorms moving south across central Nebraska. Winds of 60 to 80 mph were reported with this line of storms, but at Sutton winds may have exceeded 100 mph. Nearly 400 of the communities 600 homes suffered structural damage and 20 businesses were damaged. Damage estimates in Sutton were around $3.5 million. Crop damage plus damage to the immediate rural area around Sutton was up to $23 million. A wind gust of 92 mph was measured at Gothenburg. A television repeater was blown over at Lexington. A tractor-semitrailer was blown onto its side near Overton. A mobile home was damaged near Amherst. A state trooper's vehicle was blown off of the road near York and a camper trailer was destroyed northwest of Minden. Several outbuildings were damaged in Aurora. Near Stockham, a tractor-semitrailer was blown over, three grain bins were damaged and siding was blown off of a house. Grain bins and power lines were blown down near Grafton, vehicles were blown off of the road at Fairmont, and the roof of a school was damaged at Exeter. At Superior, where winds of 60 to 80 mph were said to last for up to 20 minutes, windows were blown out of one business and the roof was taken off of another building. |
| April 2023 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| August 2020 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| March 2019 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| June 2019 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| August 2019 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| May 2017 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| April 2015 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| August 2011 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| April 2009 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Superior | - | no account filed |
| April 2005 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Superior | - | no account filed |
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 milesOther 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Superior City Hall and Auditorium | 0.2 miles | 2012 |
 | Wallace Warren and Lillian Genevieve Bradshaw Kendall House | 0.3 miles | 1993 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 93001405 in Record Group 79. |
| 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.
- 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.