Scotts Bluff History

Scotts Bluff County received its name from its rich history. A fur trapper by the name of Hiram Scott gained a certain immortality by dying, alone and deserted by his companions, at the base of a magnificent formation of bluffs along the North Platte River in 1828. The formation became known among western travelers as “Scotts Bluff” (now Scotts Bluff National Monument), and would later provide a name for both the county (Scotts Bluff) and the City of Scottsbluff. Scotts Bluff County was originally a part of a larger Cheyenne County, which included much of the Nebraska Panhandle. But as homesteaders began to stream into western Nebraska in the late 1880s following several severe winters that decimated the open range cattle industry, they wanted a county seat closer than distant Sidney. In 1888, an election resulted in the creation of Scotts Bluff, Kimball, Banner, and Deuel Counties and a greatly reduced Cheyenne County. Gering, one of the first towns in the Panhandle and a leader in the movement for partition, became the county seat of Scotts Bluff County.

Today Scotts Bluff County has grown to a population of approximately 37,000. Scotts Bluff County offices are located in Gering, at 1825 10th Street.