Map of Exeter village, Nebraska

Exeter is a village in Fillmore County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 516 at the 2020 census.

Exeter village overview:
Name:	Exeter village
LSAD Code:	47
LSAD Description:	village (suffix)
State:	Nebraska
County:	Fillmore County
Elevation:	1,611 ft (491 m)
Total Area:	0.63 sq mi (1.64 km²)
Land Area:	0.63 sq mi (1.64 km²)
Water Area:	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km²)
Total Population:	516
Population Density:	820/sq mi (310/km²)
ZIP code:	68351
Area code:	402
FIPS code:	3116340
GNISfeature ID:	0829188
Website:	www.ci.exeter.ne.us/general.htm

Online Interactive Map

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Exeter online map. Source: Basemap layers from Google Map, Open Street Map (OSM), Arcgisonline, Wmflabs. Boundary Data from Database of Global Administrative Areas.

Exeter location map. Where is Exeter village?

Exeter location on the U.S. Map. Where is Exeter village. — Exeter location on the U.S. Map.

Exeter location on the Nebraska map. Where is Exeter village. — Location of Exeter in Nebraska.

History

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.

In the fall of 1871, the Burlington and Missouri was completed through Fillmore County. To promote settlement along its line, the railroad established towns at intervals. Towns were named alphabetically as the railroad ran westward from Lincoln. In eastern Fillmore County, a town was established on land donated by Smith and by James Dolan. One of the families that had settled in the area had come from Exeter, New Hampshire, and it was proposed that the town be given that name. It was adopted, as being in keeping with the alphabetical sequence: Crete, Dorchester, Exeter, Fairmont, Grafton, Harvard, Inland, Juniata, Kenesaw, and Lowell.

The railroad advertised the availability of free government land in Nebraska, bringing settlers from the eastern United States, and Czech, German, English, Irish, and Scandinavian immigrants. The town’s growth was initially slow, but hastened in the late 1870s. In 1878, two large grain elevators were built and a number of businesses opened; the town’s first newspaper, the Enterprise, was established in that year. In 1879, the town was incorporated; by that time, it had sixteen businesses.