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History · Exeter

Exeter’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Exeter. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
4recent photos

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

In 1870, Dr. Horace Greeley Smith and his wife filed a homestead claim at the site of present-day Exeter. In an earlier scouting trip, Smith had determined that the site would lie near the line of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad as it extended itself westward.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Be one of the first

Start Exeter’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Exeter’s history is told.

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Famous people from Exeter

See all 2 →
Jeff ZelenyJeff ZelenyWriting & ArtsRichard A. DierRichard A. DierPolitics & Law
By decade

Exeter, decade by decade

Before
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 album
Today4 photos
Exeter, Nebraska downtown 3CommonsExeter, Nebraska downtown 32011Exeter, Nebraska downtown 2CommonsExeter, Nebraska downtown 22011Exeter, Nebraska downtown 1CommonsExeter, Nebraska downtown 12011NEMap-doton-ExeterCommonsNEMap-doton-Exeter2005
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Exeter is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Exeter has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph Exchange Building in Fairmount in Fairmont, 7.2 miles away.

Exeter and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Exeter. Tap a dot.
Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph Exchange Building in FairmountFairmont Creamery Company BuildingFairmont Army AirfieldWarren's Opera HouseRichard R. Kiddle HouseCesko-narodni sin-Milligan Auditorium

Closest to Exeter

Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph Exchange Building in FairmountFairmont · Spanish Revival7.2miFairmont Creamery Company BuildingFairmont · Building7.2miFairmont Army AirfieldMadison · Aircraft Hangars7.7miWarren's Opera HouseFriend · Building8.5miRichard R. Kiddle HouseFriend · Built 18868.7mi

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. Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph Exchange Building in Fairmount’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Exeter?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Exeter’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated📜 Liberty📜 Cordova📜 Madison

From Wikimedia Commons (4). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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