Seneca, a small town on the western edge of Thomas County Nebraska, has anything but a small fascinating history to go along with it. Before Seneca was even thought of, a little town about one mile west of Seneca was established, Rutland. The man who owned the land around the sighting had a town site surveyed. He was charging so much that people could not afford sites. When railroad contractors came and established the site for Seneca, Rutland was no more.

A name was given to the town by either the contractor that was from Seneca, Kansas or by the Seneca Indians. The primary reason for Seneca was that it would be a division point for the CB&Q (Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy) Railroad that had a 100-mile limit on steam locomotives and their crew.

 

On January 23, 1888, a post office was established giving Seneca official life. Seneca survived as a small town until about 1920 when the population grew to 476. At its peak, some say Seneca had 800 people living there. Seneca’s prime was during World War I. Seneca thrived over 85 years--from 1888 until it dimenished to almost non-existance in 1973. Seneca no longer was a crew changing point for the railroad and the cafe and hotels were forced to close soon after.

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