Paxton, Nebraska
Encyclopedia
Paxton is a village in Keith County
Keith County, Nebraska
-History:Keith County was formed in 1873. It was named after Morrill C. Keith, the grandfather of Governor Keith Neville.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 8,875 people, 3,707 households, and 2,535 families residing in the county. The population density was 8 people per square mile...

, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 614 at the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...

.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the village has a total area of 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 614 people, 237 households, and 169 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 1,118.4 people per square mile (431.0/km²). There were 248 housing units at an average density of 451.7 per square mile (174.1/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 97.72% White, 0.49% African American, 0.49% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 0.33% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 0.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.63% of the population.

There were 237 households out of which 38.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.0% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.3% were non-families. 24.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the village the population was spread out with 29.5% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 97.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.4 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $28,523, and the median income for a family was $34,063. Males had a median income of $25,833 versus $17,500 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the village was $12,988. About 9.2% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.6% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

History

The town of Paxton was founded by Pax Loche, an immigrant Scotsman who arrived in the area to farm a homestead
Homesteading
Broadly defined, homesteading is a lifestyle of simple self-sufficiency.-Current practice:The term may apply to anyone who follows the back-to-the-land movement by adopting a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle. While land is no longer freely available in most areas of the world, homesteading...

. Paxton was first known as Alkali Flats. It was later changed to Paxton for William A. Paxton
William A. Paxton
William A. Paxton was an American pioneer businessman and politician in Omaha, Nebraska. His life as a rancher and cattleman early in his life, as well as early work with the Union Pacific Railroad was highly regarded among his contemporaries; his success as a businessman later in his life led him...

.

The Paxton area was settled in the later part of the 19th century by homesteaders of predominantly northern European extraction. Each homestead would consist of 1/4 section of land on which would be a home, barn and other needed buildings. Water was either taken from the North Platte River
North Platte River
The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long counting its many curves, It travels about distance. Its course lies in the U.S...

 or the aquifer, which allowed the production of corn, winter wheat and other assorted vegetable crops in addition to raising livestock for consumption and sale. Each homestead would consist of a married couple and their children, giving a population density of about 40 to 60 people per square mile.

With the beginning of mechanized farming the large farm families left for the cities as one person could farm several sections by themselves or with minimal help. Most of the original farm homes were demolished to make room for more arable land and to lower tax rates once the land was "unimproved". With the drying out of the Ogallala Aquifer
Ogallala Aquifer
The Ogallala Aquifer, also known as the High Plains Aquifer, is a vast yet shallow underground water table aquifer located beneath the Great Plains in the United States...

 much of the land is being returned to prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...

and dry cattle ranching, further reducing the population in the surrounding area.
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