The Irish Colonization of Greeley & O'Connor, Nebraska

In 1879, Bishop O'Connor of Omaha, Nebraska, Bishop Ireland of St. Paul, Minnesota, and Bishop Spalding of Peoria, Illinois, together with other clergy and laymen, founded the Irish Catholic Colonization Society. The purpose of the organization was to raise money by selling shares of stock, in order to buy land and assist Irish immigrants to settle in rural areas opening up in the West. It was envisioned that the land would be sold on easy terms to encourage settlement. The funds raised by the efforts of the bishops eventually amounted to about $80,000, enough to fund two colonies. One of the colonies was located in Greeley County, Nebraska and the other near Adair, Minnesota.

In late 1879, The Irish Catholic Colonization paid the Burlington & Missouri Railroad $34,812 for 25,303.55 acres of land in Greeley County. The colony was now open for settlement. It was divided into 160 acre and 80 acre farms, which were sold to about 200 families. The land was graded as to value, with prices ranging from $1.25 to $5.50 per acre. In 1880, a church and rectory were built. These buildings set the stage for a Catholic colony to begin.

In selecting candidates for the colonization effort, the bishops ruled that a prospective colonizer must have in his possession at least $300 to enable him to exist until the first year's crops could be harvested. By 1882, most of the colony's lands had been settled. The first years of the colonization were bountiful and the reports that went out to prospective settlers were very enthusiastic. Irish Catholic immigrants, who had heard the impressive stories of the settlement, came to Nebraska. Most people were of considerable financial means, that settled in the colony, and the overwhelming devotion to their church and faith.

By 1891, all of the stock had been redeemed, and The Irish Catholic Colonization Society ceased to exist. This colonization became the Irish Catholic town of O'Connor, Nebraska.

The town of Greeley Center, Nebraska, located a few miles northwest of O'Connor, began in 1885. Thomas Fox conceived the idea that a town in the center of Greeley County might attract one or more of the several railroads that were eyeing the yet unopened territory to the North and West. In 1887, with the assurance that the railroad was passing through Greeley Center, many of the business firms at O'Connor accepted the offer of free business and residential lots and moved up the valley to Greeley Center. By 1888, the town included the Burlington Northern railroad and its depot, three banks, three weekly newspapers, two large elevators, three lumberyards, a brickyard, three ag implement businesses, four general stores, three hotels, and an opera house with 300 seats.

Anticipating that Greeley Center would be named the county seat, the Burlington Northern Railroad deeded the citizens a block of land on which they built their first two-story courthouse and jail for $5,000.00. Greeley Center was named the county seat in 1890. The current courthouse was built in 1913. Later, the town of Greeley Center became known simply as "Greeley", Nebraska.