The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Otis was established in 1882 as a construction campsite for workers building the Burlington & Missouri River rail line from Lincoln Nebraska to Denver, Colorado. According to tradition, the community was named after W. O. Otis, a pioneer settler. The post office opened in 1886 and the town was platted in 1887.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Start Otis’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Otis’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Otis
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By decade
Otis, decade by decade
Before
2000
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your albumNational Register of Historic Places
Nothing in Otis is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Otis has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Lett Hotel in Yuma, 12.6 miles away.
Otis and the nearest listed places
Dashed line = Otis. Tap a dot.
How a place gets listed
1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Lett Hotel’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Otis?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Otis’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old placeNational Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons