Fremont is a city in and the
county seat of Dodge
County
, Nebraska
, United States
, near Omaha
in the
eastern part of the state. The population was 25,174 at the
2000 census.
The Fremont
neighborhood of Seattle
, Washington
is named after the hometown of two of its founders,
L. H. Griffith and E. Blewettcity.
History
From the 1830s to the 1860s, the area saw a great deal of traffic
due to the
Mormon Trail, which passed
along the north bank of the
Platte
River. It was a major overland route for
settlers, the military and hunters.
Fremont was founded in 1856, and was named after the American
explorer, politician and military official General
John C. Frémont. A colorful article about the
early history Fremont can be found in
this article.
Due to its geographically central location, the
First Transcontinental
Telegraph line (1861),
railroad
(1866) and highway (1913) passed through or very near Fremont.
You can
still drive on some of the original brick portions of the "Old Lincoln Highway" located east of
Fremont, on the way to Omaha.
On January 10, 1976, in downtown Fremont, the Pathfinder Hotel
exploded due to a
natural gas leak in
the basement. At the time the hotel was being used as apartments,
mostly occupied by senior citizens. It also was a meeting place for
philanthropic and business organizations, and had a drug store on
the northwest corner. This
explosion
shattered windows around the city and the ensuing fire killed 23
people and destroyed most of the city block which the hotel sat on.
Photo from 1908
Recreation
Fremont has 21 city owned parks with a combined area of over .
Located in the northwest corner of Fremont near the "Washington
Heights" neighborhood is the Fremont Golf Club (FGC). The FGC was
completed in 1930 and features of golf from the longest tees for a
par of 71.
In 2007 construction of the "Splash Station" water park was
completed. The park cost an estimated $5.1 million and features an
interactive train slide, combination lap pool and wave pool, body
slide and speed slide. Maximum water depth is 6'. Soon after the
water park was built, an attempt at sabotage was made when foreign
objects were placed in the water pumps. It is believed this was
done by angry citizens in an attempt to protest the use of taxpayer
money to construct the park.
Geography and climate
Fremont is
located in the northeastern portion of Nebraska, at , along the
Platte River, Fremont is approximately
northwest of the largest city in the area, Omaha, and northeast of the state capitol, Lincoln
.
According to the
United
States Census Bureau, the city has a total land area of 9.0
p square miles (20.5 km²). Fremont is quite flat, lying
in the river plain between the Platte and Elkhorn rivers, at an
elevation of approximately 366 meters (1,203 ft) above sea
level.
Fremont has its own hospital, the Fremont Area Medical Center.
Being the county seat, it is also the location of the county
courthouse.
| Monthly
Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures |
|
Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| Rec
High °F |
69 |
79 |
89 |
97 |
99 |
105 |
114 |
110 |
104 |
96 |
83 |
72 |
| Norm
High °F |
31.7 |
37.9 |
50.4 |
63.2 |
73.7 |
83.7 |
87.4 |
85.2 |
77.3 |
65.2 |
47.8 |
34.8 |
| Norm
Low °F |
11.6 |
18 |
28.1 |
39.6 |
50.7 |
60.6 |
65.9 |
63.8 |
53.3 |
41.1 |
28.1 |
16.4 |
| Rec
Low °F |
-23 |
-21 |
-16 |
5 |
27 |
38 |
44 |
43 |
25 |
13 |
-9 |
-23 |
| Precip
(in) |
0.77 |
0.8 |
2.13 |
2.94 |
4.44 |
3.95 |
3.86 |
3.21 |
3.17 |
2.21 |
1.82 |
0.92 |
|
Snowfall (in) |
7.5 |
7 |
6.3 |
1.1 |
.1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.3 |
2.6 |
5.7 |
|
Source: USTravelWeather.com [18810] |
Arts, culture and attractions
The Louis E. May Historical
Museum is housed
in a
Victorian house built by
Fremont's first mayor, Theron Nye, in 1874. There is also a
log cabin on the site, which is an example
of the type of house the settlers who moved to Nebraska as part of
the
Homestead Act would have lived
in.
Some of Fremont's roots in the
railroad can
be experienced by taking a ride on the Fremont & Elkhorn Valley
Railroad (FEVR), or taking a special weekend trip on the historical
Fremont Dinner Train and at the Nebraska Railroad Museum.
Historic
downtown Fremont is known for its
large number of antique stores, and a collection of historical
buildings. Several local buildings are on the
national register of
historic places. The Love-Larson Opera House on Broad Street, built
in 1888, was later used as apartments and a grocery store, but was
restored by a non-profit group in the 1970s and now is listed on
the National Register of Historic Places.
Each summer, in July, Fremont spends a long weekend celebrating
John C. Fremont Days, which is a celebration of
Fremont's history through a
parade,
Chautauqua,
rodeo, classic
car show and local vendors selling their hand-made crafts. It draws
attendees from around the area for both historical and social
reasons.
The local
AM radio station, KHUB
1340, and KFMT-FM 105.5, is where many of the residents get their
news and entertainment. KFMT-FM is currently a Classic Rock
format.
For recreation, the Fremont Lakes State Recreation Area (also known
as "the State Lakes") attracts boaters, skiers, fishermen and
beachgoers from the area to the group of 20 man-made tree-lined
lakes which cover nearly 700 acres (2.8 km²), along the
Platte River. Two regional
Boy Scout camps,
Camp Cedars and Camp Eagle, are located near Fremont, along the
Platte River.
Fremont forms part of the
Nebraska Statewide Arboretum
collection.
Education
Fremont is the home of the undergraduate
liberal arts college,
Midland Lutheran College, which
houses the Musbach Art Center, among other attractions. The
Metropolitan Community College system has a
community college campus in Fremont as
well.
There is one public
high school,
Fremont Senior
High (part of the Fremont Public School System), one private
K-12 school, Archbishop Bergan Catholic School (currently K, 1-3,
middle/high school), and one private elementary/middle school,
Trinity Lutheran School.
The Masonic Home for Children is located in Fremont.
Industry and business
Fremont has its roots in
agriculture and
is still an
agribusiness community with
the typical skyline of
grain silos and elevators, but is also home to
several industries. The nationally-known meat packing company
Hormel (the maker of
SPAM) is the largest employer in town;
the city also is home to Jayhawk boxes, Magnus Metals. Other large
employers include the Fremont Area
Medical
Center and the local
newspaper, the
Fremont Tribune. The three major industrial sectors in Fremont are
food processing, metal fabrication, and teleservices.
Demographics
Fremont is
the county seat of Dodge County, Nebraska, and is
likewise the financial and social center of the area.
Facilitated by the completion of the US
Highway 275 and Highway 30 bypass
around Fremont, from Omaha, eastern
Fremont is growing rapidly as a bedroom community for Omaha (see links to
air photos below).
As of the
census of 2000, there were 25,174
people, 10,171 households, and 6,672 families residing in the city,
which makes it the 6
th largest city in Nebraska. The
population density was 3,393.3
people per square mile (1,309.9/km²). There were 10,576 housing
units at an average density of 1,425.6/sq mi (550.3/km²). The
racial makeup of the city was 95.28%
White, 0.57%
African American, 0.31%
Native American, 0.61%
Asian, 0.11%
Pacific Islander, 2.29% from
other races, and 0.82%
from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 4.31% of the
population.
There were 10,171 households out of which 30.7% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 53.0% were
married couples living together, 9.4% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 34.4% were non-families.
29.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.0% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.2% under the age
of 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to
64, and 17.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was
37 years. For every 100 females there were 90.8 males. For every
100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,700, and the
median income for a family was $45,259. Males had a median income
of $31,865 versus $21,035 for females. The
per capita income for the city was
$18,006. About 5.1% of families and 8.8% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 10.1%
of those under age 18 and 7.2% of those age 65 or over.
Transportation
Notable residents
- Harold Eugene Edgerton
(1903–1990) was a professor of electrical engineering at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and credited with
transforming the stroboscope from an obscure laboratory instrument
to being associated with the field of photography.
- Marg Helgenberger, actress,
best known as Catherine Willows on
CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation
- Zach Wiegert, American football
player, Nebraska (1991–1994), St. Louis Rams (1995–1998),
Jacksonville Jaguars (1999–2002), Houston Texans (2003-2006),
Outland Trophy Winner 1994.
References
External links