Bancroft is a village in Cuming County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 496 as of the 2020 census.
John Neihardt, who later became Nebraska's poet laureate, lived in Bancroft for twenty years and wrote many of his works there. His study is preserved at the John G. Neihardt State Historic Site in the village.
History
Succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples lived in the area for thousands of years before European encounter. By the mid-eighteenth century, the Omaha tribe lived on the west side of the Missouri River throughout this area.
The settlement was originally known as Unashta Zinga, meaning "little stopping place" in a Native American language. The site that became Bancroft was homesteaded in the mid-1870s by Ford Bella Barber and Deborah (Watson) Barber, who came from Maine to settle in Nebraska. In 1880, when the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway began planning a line through the area, the Barbers deeded of land to the railway for the platting of a town. At that time, the approximately 25 residents were of mostly German, Irish, and Scandinavian descent; some were immigrants.
Climate
Demographics
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 495 people, 210 households, and 137 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 232 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 92.9% White, 1.8% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 2.4% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.4% of the population.
There were 210 households, of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples living together, 6.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 34.8% were non-families. 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.99.
The median age in the village was 40.9 years. 26.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 20.9% were from 25 to 44; 27.8% were from 45 to 64; and 18.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 48.1% male and 51.9% female.
2000 census
As of the census
The Bancroft Public Library has a collection of 8,170 volumes.
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