Formed February 27, 1873 (60th county)
Hitchcock County (2,616), Trenton (514), Culbertson (533)
A brown brick Modern courthouse was erected in 1969. It sits at D, East Court, E, and West Court streets. Nebraska State Highway 25 passes two blocks to the west of the courthouse. Leo A. Daly provided the building designs. Veteran memorials are on the grounds. There was a 1916 courthouse previously in Trenton. Culberson was the county seat until 1893 when Trenton took over. The county is on the southwest border with Kansas. The county was founded on February 27, 1873 from Native American Territory as the 60th county. It is named for United States Senator Phineas Warren Hitchcock. Trenton is named for Trenton, New Jersey. There was also a 1906 version earlier.
Hitchcock County government consists of a sheriff, an attorney, a treasurer and a clerk (executive). It has 7 Commissioners (legislative.) Three District Court Judges and Five County Court Judges serve Hitchcock, Arthur, Chase, Dawson, Dundy, Frontier, Furnas, Gosper, Hayes, Hooker, Keith, Lincoln, Logan, McPherson, Perkins, Red Willow and Thomas counties (judicial.) Grand Island, Nebraska is northeast and Scottsbluff, Nebraska is northwest of the county. The county center is 4.5 miles West-Northwest of Trenton. The county is surrounded clockwise by Hayes, Frontier, and Red Willow counties and Kansas and Dundy County.
The area of the county is 710 square miles. It is 40 out of 93 in the state. It ranks 70 out of 93 in population in the state. It has a density of 3.7 persons per square mile making it 68 out of 93 in the state. Hitchcock County has 62.5% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 6 crosses the county east to northwest from Red Willow County to Hayes County. United States Highway 34 is joined with United States Highway 6 from Red Willow County, splits and goes west into Dundy County. The county is a rectangle. Trenton is located near the center of the county. Culbertson is in the northeast quarter of the county. Trenton is the county seat and Culbertson is the largest city. Trenton is 19.7% of the county population while Culbertson is 20.4% of the county population.
Culbertson
Stratton
Trenton
Palisade
