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History · Magnet

Magnet’s history is
mostly unwritten

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

0old images & papers
9recent photos

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

Magnet was platted in 1893 when the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway was extended to that point. Magnet was so named by its founder B. E. Smith, who hoped to attract settlers to the region "as the magnet attracts iron".

Town motto and disastersRailroadJail House

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Be one of the first

Start Magnet’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Magnet’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 Magnet

See all 23 →
James CoburnJames CoburnLaurel · 19 miBen SasseBen SassePlainview · 18 miCharles ThoneCharles ThoneHartington · 15 miMark CalcavecchiaMark CalcavecchiaLaurel · 19 miJHJoseph G. HanefeldtCreighton · 21 miWilliam Joseph DendingerWilliam Joseph DendingerColeridge · 14 mi
By decade

Magnet, 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
Today9 photos
Magnet, Nebraska post officeCommonsMagnet, Nebraska post office2010Magnet, Nebraska old gas stationCommonsMagnet, Nebraska old gas station2010Magnet, Nebraska grain elevatorsCommonsMagnet, Nebraska grain elevators2010Magnet, Nebraska from SCommonsMagnet, Nebraska from S2010Magnet, Nebraska fire departmentCommonsMagnet, Nebraska fire department2010Magnet, Nebraska Main from Park 1CommonsMagnet, Nebraska Main from Park 12010Magnet, Nebraska Main Street 2CommonsMagnet, Nebraska Main Street 22010Magnet, Nebraska Main Street 1CommonsMagnet, Nebraska Main Street 12010NEMap-doton-MagnetCommonsNEMap-doton-Magnet2005
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Magnet is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Magnet has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Hartington Carnegie Library in Hartington, 15.4 miles away.

Magnet and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Magnet. Tap a dot.
Hartington Carnegie LibraryCedar County CourthouseCity Hall and AuditoriumHartington HotelHartington Downtown Historic DistrictAthletic Park Band Shell

Closest to Magnet

Hartington Carnegie LibraryHartington · Building15.4miCedar County CourthouseHartington · District15.4miCity Hall and AuditoriumHartington · Building15.4miHartington HotelHartington · Building15.5miHartington Downtown Historic DistrictHartington · District15.5mi

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. Hartington Carnegie Library’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Magnet?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Magnet’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
📜 Lincoln📜 Wausa📜 McLean📜 Randolph

From Wikimedia Commons (9). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

The door’s open

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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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