Formed November 4, 1884 (72nd county)
Garfield County (1,815), Burwell (1,091)
The brown brick Modern courthouse built in 1963 building seems standard in the state. The structure is on 8th Avenue between H and I streets. Nebraska State Highway 96 is three blocks south of the courthouse. Garfield County was organized on November 4, 1884 from Wheeler County as the 72nd county. Thomas, Benjamin, and Clayton provided the designs. There was an 1890 wooden courthouse earlier. Willow Spring was the county seat until 1890 when Burwell assumed the position. The county is named for United States President James A. Garfield. The county seat is presumably named for a settler.
Garfield County government consists of a sheriff, an attorney, a treasurer and a clerk (executive). It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.) Two District Court Judges and Three County Court Judges serve Garfield, Blaine, Boyd, Brown, Cherry, Custer, Greeley, Holt, Howard, Keya Paha, Loup, Rock, Sherman, Valley and Wheeler counties (judicial.) The county is in the central part of the state. Grand Island, Nebraska is south and Omaha, Nebraska is east of the county. The county center is 32.5 miles Northeast of Burwell. The county is surrounded clockwise by Holt, Wheeler, Valley, and Loup counties.
The area of the county is 570 square miles. It is 60 out of 93 in the state. It ranks 77 out of 93 in population in the state. It has a density of 3.2 persons per square mile making it 73 out of 93 in the state. Garfield County has 60.1% of its population in its incorporated areas. There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county. The county is a rectangle. Burwell is located in the southwest corner of the county. Burwell is the county seat and the largest city since it is the only incorporated city. It is 60.1% of the county population.
Burwell
