History

Antelope and tall grass governed the serene Nebraska plains during the late 1870s. The area, which is now known as the Franklin precinct in Fillmore County, had only one tree in sight. It stands about three and one-half miles from the current town of Ohiowa. Through the years it has persevered and has earned the title "Lone Tree."

As settlers arrived from Ohio, Iowa and Missouri, dwellings were built to shield against unpredictable prairie storms. Most of these homes were made of sod or were dug out of the prairie. Settlers hauled building materials in from nearby Tobias. Some of the homes had wooden floors, but most had only the ground. Their furniture was usually very simple.

A dispute arose when deciding what the town should be named. A group of settlers who came from Ohio wished to named the town Ohio while those from Iowa preferred the name Iowa. The dispute was settled by compromise: Ohiowa. This name was suggested by Mrs. Austin Adams.

In 1870 a country post office, which was the first one in this section of the country, was established at the E.B. Clemon's home.

The preliminary survey of the Burlington Railroad which ran through Ohiowa was made during the months of April and May 1886. Eventually the site selected for the town included a portion of the farms of William Sieckmann, J.H. Luke, E.D. Babcock and R.L. Clemons.

On February 19, 1887, Ohiowa, having the required number of residents, was incorporated as a village. The location of Ohiowa as given in the Revised Ordinances on February 18, 1911, is as follows: "The east of the SW quarter, the west of the SE quarter, the SW quarter of the NE quarter and the SE quarter of the NW quarter of Section 8 in township 5 north of range 1 west of the 6th P.M. in Fillmore County, Nebraska."

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