Formed March 31, 1887 (80th county)
Perkins County (2,861), Grant (1,200)
A tan brick Classical Revival courthouse, located at Lincoln, 2nd, Garfield, and 3rd streets, was built in 1926. Nebraska State Highway 61 passes one block to the east. J. F. Reynolds is the designer of the facility. There was an 1889 version earlier in Grant, the only county seat. Perkins County was organized on March 31, 1887 from Keith County as the 80th county. It is named for railroad officer, Charles E. Perkins. The county seat is named for United States President Ulysses S. Grant. He is also the source name for Grant County.
Perkins County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners. Three District Court Judges and Five County Court Judges serve Perkins, Arthur, Chase, Dawson, Dundy, Frontier, Furnas, Gosper, Hayes, Hitchcock, Hooker, Keith, Lincoln, Logan, McPherson, Red Willow and Thomas counties. The county is in the southwest part of the state on the border with Colorado. Scottsbluff, Nebraska is northwest and Grand Island, Nebraska is east of the county. The county is 5.3 miles East of Grant nearer Madrid. The county is surrounded clockwise by Keith, Lincoln, Hayes, and Chase counties and Colorado and Deuel County.
The area of the county is 883 square miles. It is 22 out of 93 in the state. It ranks 69 out of 93 in population in the state. It has a density of 3.2 persons per square mile making it 71 out of 93 in the state. Perkins County has 59.4% of its population in its incorporated areas. There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county. The county is a flat rectangle. Grant is located in the western half of the county. Grant is the county seat and the largest city. It is 41.9% of the county population.
Elsie
Grant
Madrid
Venango
