Springfield, NE

Springfield is a Sarpy County city just southwest of Papillion, with 1,501 residents in the 2020 census. A Civil War veteran platted the town in 1873 in anticipation of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The old rail corridor remains in the MoPac Trail, which runs south from Springfield toward the Platte River. Main Street and the fairgrounds keep the original town center tied to Sarpy County's rural edge. The trail follows an old rail line, so the town's recreation route also carries its founding story.

The Sarpy County Fair returns each summer to the Springfield fairgrounds at 100 Main Street, bringing livestock, 4-H exhibits, tractor pulls, rodeo, carnival rides, and live entertainment. The fairgrounds host other events through the year, while a farmers market and the Springfield Old-Fashioned Soda Fountain add smaller Main Street stops. Springfield is a compact Sarpy County place where a planned railroad town, an agricultural fair, and a trail toward the Platte still sit alongside the larger county map.