McCook, Nebraska

McCook is a city in and the county seat of Red Willow County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 7,446 at the 2020 census.

History

McCook was platted in 1882 when the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad was extended to that point. It was named in honor of Alexander McDowell McCook, a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

On May 17, 2019, a large EF2 tornado tore through parts of McCook, Nebraska. It destroyed a farmhouse, tearing off the roof and completely demolishing the garage. The storm formed around 4:30 p.m. Central Time and quickly developed into a large, wedge tornado. There were no fatalities or severe injuries. The storm was called the Perry EF2, originally forming in Perry, Nebraska.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, McCook had a population of 7,446. The city had 1,733 families, and the population density was 1,363.7 per square mile (526.6/km). The median age was 40.3 years. 23.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 94.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 91.7 males age 18 and over.

99.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 3,258 households in McCook, of which 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 44.8% were married-couple households, 19.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 35.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 3,324 households, of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.8% were married couples living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 39.2% were non-families. 33.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.89.

Climate

McCook's climate is formally classified as hot-summer humid continental. Due to the very hot and humid summers typical of the Midwest and the January daily mean averaging around it has a little bit of influence of the subtropical climates to the south, although except during periods of chinook warming winter nights are much too severe for subtropical plants to thrive. Winters are generally cold and dry and summers hot and humid. Precipitation is concentrated in spring and summer, accumulating to an annual normal of , the majority of which occurs from May through August.

Culture

The Harvey P. Sutton House at 602 Norris Avenue was designed by influential architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1905–1907 and built 1907–1908. The classic Prairie-style house is listed in the National Register of Historic Places; it is the only Wright house known to have been built in Nebraska. The house is used as a private residence, and is not open to the public.

McCook Army Airfield, active from 1943 through 1945, was located nine miles northwest of McCook.

McCook hosted a professional baseball team, the McCook Braves, who played in the Nebraska State League from 1956 to 1959. In their final season in 1959, the club featured future Baseball Hall of Famer Phil Niekro and won the NSL championship; both the Braves and the league folded at season's end. Another pitcher on the team, Pat Jordan, later became a writer for the Sporting News, and wrote an autobiography dealing with his career with the Braves, A False Spring.

McCook is home to the first two-year junior college in Nebraska. McCook Junior College was founded in September 1926 on the second floor of the YMCA building on Main Street. The name was eventually changed to McCook Community College and was governed over the Mid-Plains Area. The McCook Economic Development Corporation works “To facilitate the formation, retention, attraction, and expansion of businesses in McCook and the surrounding area.”

McCook restaurant, Sehnert's Bakery & Bieroc Cafe, is a James Beard America’s Classic Award Winner. They are the only restaurant to win this award in the whole state of Nebraska.

Events

Heritage Days is an annual event held the last full weekend in September. This event has been happening since 1971. It is the town’s largest celebration. This event includes the Heritage Day Parade, a road race, entertainment from the high schoolers, and vendors on the street. Red Willow County Fair is a five day fair held in July. This is the fair for the whole county. It includes games, rides, concerts, tractor rides, a rodeo, and food from local families and businesses. Crazy Days is an annual weekend event to celebrate the local businesses. It includes crazy days sales in the stores, costume contests, and a car show. On the Friday night of this weekend, the people of this small town bring out their old and fancy cars and cruise up and down the main street in town, West B St. and Norris Ave.

Parks and recreation

McCook is home to Heritage Hills Golf Course. The 18-hole par-72 championship golf course was designed by Bradford Benz, ASGCA, and Richard M. Phelps, ASGCA, and opened in 1981. The links style course plays over 7,100 yards from the back tees. Heritage Hills was included in Golf Digest's Best 75 Golf Course's in 1984 and Golf Digest's Top 100 Toughest Public Course's in 1986. Heritage Hills underwent a major renovation for upgrades and modernization in 2013.

Government

McCook has a council-manager style government. Five council members are elected at large; the five elect one of their number as mayor, and a second as vice president. As of 2015, council members are Mayor Mike Gonzales, Vice-President Janet Hepp, Jerry Calvin, Bruce McDowell, and Gene Weedin.

The city government operates through eight departments and offices: Administration, Building and Zoning, Fire, Library, Police, Public Works, Senior Center, and Utilities. Advisory boards and commissions, both those required by law and those created for specific purposes, are appointed by the council; as of 2015, there were fourteen such boards and commissions.

On August 19, 2025, Nebraska governor Jim Pillen and U.S. secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem announced that an immigration detention center called Cornhusker Clink would be established in McCook. The facility is planned to include 280 beds and will be located in the Work Ethic Camp, a minimum-security prison labor camp in McCook. Development came after other immigration detention centers, like Alligator Alcatraz, were opened by the Trump Administration. The announcement immediately drew criticism from many Nebraska lawmakers and the Nebraska ACLU.

Transportation

thumb|alt=Two-story half-timbered house; statue of Norris seated on park bench in front|The [[George W. Norris House|George Norris House in McCook is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.]]

Highway

McCook sits on 3 important US Highway routes. The north-south road is U.S. Route 83 which travels north 14.5 miles from the Kansas border to South Dakota via North Platte (where it meets Interstate 80 and Valentine. US6 and US34 are cosigned through McCook travelling east-west. U.S. Route 34 serves as a connection to Colorado and Denver to the West and is a key in state link to Lincoln via a number of other mid-sized Nebraska cities such as Holdrege, Hastings, Grand Island, and Seward. U.S. Route 6 traveling west splits from US34 15 miles out of town and heads Northwest to Colorado. Traveling east it splits from US34 at Hastings and is an alternate route for I-80 to Omaha and Lincoln.

Rail

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service through McCook, operating its California Zephyr daily in both directions between Chicago and Emeryville (Oakland), California, with stops in Omaha, Lincoln, and Hastings. The service stops at McCook station.

Air

Commuter airline Denver Air Connection is currently serving the McCook Regional Airport with daily nonstop round trip commercial flights to Denver, Colorado.

Media

Newspapers

The McCook Daily Gazette is the city's newspaper, published five days a week. In 1929, the newspaper became one of the first in the world to be delivered regularly by air: for several months its airplane, named the Newsboy, flew a daily route, dropping bundles of newspapers to carriers in outlying towns.

Radio

{|class="wikitable"

!align="center" colspan="7"|AM radio stations

!Frequency!!Call sign!!Name!!Format!!Owner!!Target city/market!!City of license

|1300 AM||KBRL||The Big Talker||News/Talk||Armada Media||McCook||McCook

|1360 AM||KNGN||||Christian||Kansas Nebraska Good News Broadcasting||McCook||McCook

{|class="wikitable"

!align="center" colspan="7"|FM radio stations

!Frequency!!Call sign!!Name!!Format!!Owner!!Target city/market!!City of license

|93.9 FM||KSWN-FM||The Zone||Contemporary Hits||Legacy Communications||McCook||McCook

|95.3 FM||KGCR||||Christian||The Praise Network, Inc||McCook||McCook|-

|96.1 FM||KICX-FM||||Hot AC||Armada Media||McCook||McCook

|102.1 FM||KZMC||True Country 102.1||Classic Country||Legacy Communications||McCook||McCook

|101.1 FM||KFNF||Today's Best Country||Country||Armada Media||McCook||Oberlin

|103.9||KQHK||The Hawk||Classic Rock||Armada Media||McCook||McCook

|105.3 FM||KIOD||Coyote 105||Country||Legacy Communication||McCook||McCook

Notable people

Three governors of Nebraska made their homes in McCook: Ralph G. Brooks, Frank Morrison, and Ben Nelson, who represented Nebraska in the U.S. Senate for two terms, from 2000 to 2012. Frank B. Morrison Jr., Montana Supreme Court justice and son of Frank Morrison, was born in McCook.

Former professional football player Jeff Kinney is a 1968 graduate of McCook High School.

TV evangelist Bob Larson was raised in McCook.

John R. McCarl, the first Comptroller General of the United States, was raised in McCook. He is also buried there.

George W. Norris, who held seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate from 1903 to 1943, was a resident of McCook. Norris was the driving force behind the conversion of Nebraska's legislature to a unicameral system; in the Senate, he was a leading figure behind the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority. His house in McCook is operated as a museum by the Nebraska State Historical Society, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Originally named Main, the principal north–south thoroughfare through central McCook was renamed Norris Avenue in his honor.

References

External links

City of McCook
McCook Daily Gazette, Newspaper