Keith County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

. As of the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

, the population was 8,368. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

is Ogallala. In the Nebraska license plate system, Keith County is represented by the prefix 68 (it had the sixty-eighth-largest number of vehicles registered in the county when the license plate system was established in 1922).

History

Keith County was formed in 1873. Sources differ on the Keith after whom it was named: either M. C. Keith of North Platte, whose grandson

Keith Neville Morell Keith Neville (February 25, 1884 – December 4, 1959) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Nebraska. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 18th Governor of Nebraska. Neville was born in North Platte, Nebrask ...

became Nebraska's 18th governor in 1917; or John Keith, also of North Platte.

Geography

The terrain of Keith County consists of low rolling hills. The level areas are used for agriculture, mainly in the lower part of the county. The

North Platte River The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long, counting its many curves.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 21, 2011 In a ...

flows eastward into the northwest end of the county, feeding Lake McConaughy, then exiting the county's east line near its midpoint. The South Platte River flows eastward into the southwest end of the county, and crosses the lower central part of the county before exiting to the east, headed for its junction with the North Platte River well to the east of Keith County. The county has an area of , of which is land and (4.3%) is water. Most of Nebraska's 93 counties (the eastern 2/3) observe Central Time; the western counties observe

Mountain Time The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when standard time ( UTC−07:00) is in effect, and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time ( UTC−06:00). The cloc ...

. Keith County is the easternmost of the Nebraska counties to observe Mountain Time.

Major highways

Interstate 80 * US 26

U.S. Highway 26 U.S. Route 26 (US 26) is an east–west United States highway that runs from Seaside, Oregon to Ogallala, Nebraska. When the U.S. highway system was first defined, it was limited to Nebraska and Wyoming; by the 1950s, it continued into Idaho a ...

U.S. Highway 30 * N-61

Nebraska Highway 61 Nebraska Highway 61 is a highway in western Nebraska. It is a north–south highway with a length of . The southern terminus of Nebraska Highway 61 is at the Kansas border south of Benkelman, where the highway continues south as K-161. The ...

Nebraska Highway 92 Nebraska Highway 92 is a highway that enters the state from Nebraska's western border at the Wyoming state line west of Lyman, Nebraska, to the state's eastern border on the South Omaha Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Missouri River in Omaha, ...

Adjacent counties

* Arthur County – north * McPherson County – northeast (boundary of Central Time) * Lincoln County – east (boundary of Central Time) * Perkins County – south * Deuel County – west * Garden County – northwest

Protected areas

* Clear Creek State Waterfowl Management Area (partial) * Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 8,875 people, 3,707 households, and 2,535 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 8 people per square mile (3/km²). There were 5,178 housing units at an average density of 5 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.75%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 0.08%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.71% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 1.49% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 0.80% from two or more races. 4.23% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

or Latino of any race. There were 3,707 households, out of which 30.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.60% were married couples living together, 7.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.60% were non-families. 27.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.89. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.30% under the age of 18, 5.70% from 18 to 24, 25.30% from 25 to 44, 25.40% from 45 to 64, and 18.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 96.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.80 males. The median income for a household in the county was $32,325, and the median income for a family was $39,118. Males had a median income of $26,523 versus $19,024 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $17,421. About 6.60% of families and 9.30% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 13.10% of those under age 18 and 8.20% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

City

* Ogallala (county seat)

Villages

* Brule * Paxton

Census-designated places

* Belmar * Keystone * Lemoyne * Martin * Roscoe * Sarben

Unincorporated communities

* Nevens * Ruthton

Former communities

* Alkali *

Bertha Bertha is a female Germanic name, from Old High German ''berhta'' meaning "bright one". It was usually a short form of Anglo Saxon names ''Beorhtgifu'' meaning "bright gift" or ''Beorhtwynn'' meaning "bright joy". The name occurs as a theonym, s ...

* Conditville * Eckeryvill * Korty * Megeath''Megeath, Brule NE'' Google Maps (accessed 23 January 2019)
/ref> *

Oren Oren ( he, אורן) is a masculine given name, meaning 'pine' or 'ash' in Hebrew. In the Book of Chronicles, Oren is one of the sons of Jerahmeel, the first-born of Hezron, along with Ram, Bunah, Ozem and Ahijah. Oren, as a given name or surna ...

* Pickard * Plano