Merrick

Formed January 1, 1858 (31^st county)

Merrick County (7,659), Central City (3,033)

A 1919 Classical Revival tan brick courthouse serves Merrick County.  The courthouse is on a square surrounded by 18^th Street, 16^th Avenue, 17^th Street, and 15^th Avenue.  The building has an addition on one side.  The facility is two blocks south of United States Highway 30 passing through the town.  William F. Gernandt is the designer.  An 1871 courthouse preceded the current one.  The county was formed on January 1, 1858 from parts of Polk County and Native American Territory as the 31^st county.  Elvira was the first county seat until 1869 when Central City became the seat.  The county is named for local politician, Henry DePuy’s wife, Elvira Merrick.  Central City is a geographical description of its location in the state. 

Merrick County government consists of a sheriff and 7 Supervisors.  Four District Court Judges and Four County Court Judges serve Merrick, Boone, Butler, Colfax, Hamilton, Nance, Platte, Polk, Saunders, Seward and York counties.  The county is in east central Nebraska.  Grand Island, Nebraska is directly southwest and Lincoln, Nebraska is southeast of the county.  The Platte River forms its southeast border.  The county center is 6 miles North of Central City.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Nance, Platte, Polk, Hamilton, Hall, and Howard counties. 

The area of the county is 485 square miles.  It is 77 out of 93 in the state.  It ranks 38 out of 93 in population in the state.  It has a density of 15.8 persons per square mile making it 27 out of 93 in the state.  Merrick County has 57.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 30 crosses the county northeast to southwest from Platte County to Hall County.  The county is a triangle with a knob added to the northeast and a line sticking up from the northwest.  Central City is south and west of center in the county but near the southeast border.  Central City is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 39.6% of the county population.  This county is in the Grand Island Micropolitan Statistical Area.