Saline

Formed January 1, 1855 (17^th county)

Saline County (14,291), Wilber (1,945), Crete (7,116)

The 1928 masonry Classical Revival courthouse is on Court, 2^nd, High, and 3^rd streets.  Nebraska State Highway 41 is 3^rd Street.  Marcus L. Evans provided the designs.  The building was being enlarged in 2017.  Veteran memorials are on the grounds.  A basic 1878 courthouse was the earlier version. Local stories say a group of Wilber citizens took county records from Crete to establish the courthouse in Wilber.  The county was founded on January 1, 1855 from Native American Territory as the 17^th county.  Swan City (1867), Pleasant Hill (1871), and Wilber (1877) have all served as the county seat.  Saline County is named for its salt deposits.  The county seat is named for settler Charles Daniel Wilber. 

Saline County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Commissioners.  Three District Court Judges serve Saline, Clay, Fillmore, Gage, Jefferson, Johnson, Nemaha, Nuckolls, Pawnee, Richardson, and Thayer counties and Three County Court Judges serve Saline, Gage, Jefferson, Johnson, Nemaha, Pawnee, and Thayer counties.  The county is in the southeast part of the state.  Lincoln, Nebraska is directly northeast and Grand Island, Nebraska is northwest of the county.  The county is 11.8 miles Northwest of Wilber nearer Dorchester.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Seward, Lancaster, Gage, Jefferson, Thayer, Fillmore, and York counties. 

The area of the county is 575 square miles.  It is 49 out of 93 in the state.  It ranks 20 out of 93 in population in the state.  It has a density of 24.9 persons per square mile making it 19 out of 93 in the state.  Saline County has 81.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 6 enters the county from the north, Seward County, and exits to the west, Fillmore County.  Saline County is a rectangle.  Wilber is near the southeast border of the county.  Crete is located in the northeast corner of the county.  Wilber is the county seat and Crete is the largest city.  Wilber is 13.6% of the county population while Crete is 49.8% of the county population.  The county is pronounced SA-LEEN.  The county seat is pronounced WIL-BUR.  The largest city is pronounced KREET.