Stanton, NE

Stanton carries two jobs at once: it is the Stanton County seat and a city of 1,520 residents at the 2020 census. The town was platted in 1870 and named for Edwin Stanton, Abraham Lincoln's secretary of war. Nebraska Highway 24 runs through the rolling-hill community twelve miles southeast of Norfolk, giving the courthouse town a direct line to the larger regional center. County offices, the extension service, sheriff, and city hall keep the civic map concentrated in town.

Stanton's everyday map is made of a few well-used community places. The city runs a municipal pool built in 1975-76, East and West City Parks hold courts, playgrounds, and picnic shelters, and the library and Downtown Business Coalition sit within the same town network. Two miles north, Maskenthine Lake adds a state recreation area with an arboretum, beach, trails, and fishing. The Stanton Historical Society and county fair keep the county's past and agricultural calendar visible. For a county seat this size, the civic and recreation pieces remain part of one compact town network.