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History · Lewis

Lewis’s history is
mostly unwritten

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

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Lewis Township is one of sixteen townships in Clay County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 125 at the 2020 census. A 2021 estimate placed the township's population at 125.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 150 to 121 (-19%). Half of its homes were built before 1955.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lewis yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Lewis’s collection

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

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

Famous people close to Lewis

See all 23 →
Samuel Roy McKelvieSamuel Roy McKelvieFairfield · 11 miIda A. BengtsonIda A. BengtsonHarvard · 7 miMLMadeleine LeiningerSutton · 5 miPaul ReverePaul RevereHarvard · 7 miRobert SpencerRobert SpencerHarvard · 7 miAMAbby MillerClay Center · 5 mi
By decade

Lewis, 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
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Lewis is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Lewis has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Clay Center Library and Gymnasium in Clay Center, 4.7 miles away.

Lewis and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Lewis. Tap a dot.
Clay Center Library and GymnasiumClay County CourthouseHarvard Carnegie LibraryIsaac Newton Clark HouseDeering BridgeFairfield Carnegie Library

Closest to Lewis

Clay Center Library and GymnasiumClay Center · Building4.7miClay County CourthouseClay Center · Building4.7miHarvard Carnegie LibraryHarvard · Building6.9miIsaac Newton Clark HouseSutton · Building7.1miDeering BridgeGrafton · Structure10mi

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. Clay Center Library and Gymnasium’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Lewis?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Lewis’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
📜 Saronville📜 Clay Center📜 Sutton📜 Marshall
We left the porch light on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Lewis, NEClay CountyView boundary

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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