DeWitty

Overview

Kinkaid homesteaders on the North Loup

DeWitty was not a town with a main street. It was a spread of homesteads along the North Loup River in the Sandhills of Cherry County, drawn by the 1904 Kinkaid Act, which offered 640 acres of free land in this dry grass country. Leroy Gields filed the first claim in 1902, and his sister Matilda Robinson followed in 1904. More Black families came in 1906 and 1907, from Custer County, from Omaha and from Canada, where some had fled slavery before the Civil War. The state historical marker calls it the largest and longest-lasting African American settlement in rural Nebraska.

The settlers built three school districts, a church in an old sod building, a store, a barber shop and a baseball team, the North Loup Sluggers. Miles DeWitty, a local businessman, opened a post office in his store in 1912, and the settlement took his name; it was later known as Audacious. On the Fourth of July, people from DeWitty and nearby Brownlee met for a rodeo, a ball game and a picnic, according to the marker; Wikipedia describes a picnic each August to which Brownlee was invited. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln puts the peak at 150 people in 1915.

Like their white neighbors, the homesteaders found 640 acres too small for ranching and poor for farming. Drought and the farm depression of the 1920s sank families into mortgages, and many lost their land to bankers. The last Black resident sold out in 1936, and the last parcel held by descendants was sold in 1993. A building foundation is all that stands. In April 2016 descendants, the State Historical Society and the Cherry County Historical Society dedicated a marker (its plate says erected 2015) on US 83 at the North Loup River; in September 2026 it was photographed at the county museum in Valentine.

Timeline

Thirty years of homesteads

1. 1902–1904Leroy Gields files the first claim in 1902, and his sister Matilda Robinson follows in 1904 (University of Nebraska–Lincoln). Wikipedia instead names Clem Deaver as the first Black homesteader to file a Kinkaid claim in Cherry County.
2. 1904The Kinkaid Act offers 640-acre homesteads in the Sandhills of western Nebraska.
3. 1906–1907Black settlers arrive along the North Loup River, some of them former slaves who had fled to Canada and their descendants. Wikipedia dates the founding to 1907.
4. 1907Charles Meehan, an Irishman, and Hester Meehan, a Black woman, settle here; their marriage defies Nebraska's law against interracial marriage.
5. 1908–1909Settlers organize three school districts. For at least one year Black and white children share a classroom.
6. 1910The census records 82 Black residents. An AME missionary from Lincoln starts a church, which meets in an old sod building as St. James AME Church.
7. 1912Miles DeWitty opens a combined post office and general store.
8. 1914–1915Occupied Black homesteads peak in 1914 (marker); the University of Nebraska–Lincoln gives a peak of 150 people in 1915.
9. 1920Wikipedia counts 185 Black settlers holding 40,000 acres around DeWitty. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln, without a year, says 58 Black homesteaders proved up claims totaling about 30,000 acres.
10. 1920sDrought, crop failures and the farm depression push families to mortgage and lose their claims. Many leave.
11. 1936The last Black resident sells out and leaves.
12. 1993The last parcel still owned by descendants of DeWitty settlers is sold.
13. Apr 11, 2016A state historical marker is dedicated on US 83. About 200 people attend, 18 of them descendants from six states.
14. Sep 17, 2026Photos in the Historical Marker Database show the marker leaning against a wall at the Cherry County Historical Museum in Valentine.

Site map

Along the North Loup River

The marker's text places the settlement along the North Loup River west of its original roadside spot, which is the point mapped here, on US 83 1,000 feet south of Brownlee Road. Wikipedia instead puts DeWitty about 10 miles north and west of Brownlee. The homesteads covered thousands of acres, so both can be true of different claims. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln wrote in October 2024 that a building foundation is all that remains; it doesn't say where. Wikipedia mentions a cemetery with almost twenty burials, without a location. We haven't confirmed either on the ground.

The 1951 USGS sheet in the historic maps below shows US 83 crossing the North Loup here, with School No. 37 just north of the river, the Richardson Ranch beside the highway and the W. Reiser Ranch to the east. It doesn't name DeWitty, which had faded by then.

• Building foundation (reported 2024)
• Cemetery (Wikipedia; location not given)
• Historical marker, now in Valentine

Historic maps

DeWitty on USGS maps, 1951

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

19511:62,500

Map & directions

Getting there

Valentine is the nearest city, about 51 minutes north on US 83. The routes below end at the North Loup River bridge on US 83, where the marker stood until it was moved; they were computed from OpenStreetMap and haven't been driven by us. The marker itself was photographed in September 2026 at the Cherry County Historical Museum, 249 South Main Street (US 83) in Valentine, leaning against the wall by the entrance. We haven't confirmed the museum's hours.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

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Visitor reports

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Nearby

Other sites near DeWitty

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Nebraska index.

• Norway21.8 mi SW · Thomas
• Thatcher36.2 mi N · Cherry
• Crookston45.6 mi N · Cherry
• Sparks47.6 mi N · Cherry
• Whitman53.3 mi W · Grant
• Carns62.0 mi NE · Rock
• Dale64.0 mi SE · Custer
• Burton64.7 mi NE · Keya Paha

Sources

Sources and credits

1. Wikipedia, "DeWitty, Nebraska", retrieved October 2026: the Audacious name, 1907 founding, location relative to Brownlee, the Kinkaid Act, Clem Deaver's claim, the 1910 church, the 1920 settler count, the cemetery, the 1936 sale, the April 11, 2016 dedication and its attendance, and coordinates.
2. University of Nebraska–Lincoln, "The Black Homesteaders of DeWitty", Richard K. Edwards, October 23, 2024: the first claims of 1902 and 1904, where settlers came from, the Meehans, the 1908–09 school districts, St. James AME Church, Miles DeWitty's 1912 post office and store, the peak of 150 in 1915, the 1920s decline, and a building foundation and marker as all that remains.
3. Historical Marker Database, "DeWitty", read in the browser October 20, 2026: the marker's full text (1906–07 arrivals, institutions, the North Loup Sluggers, the 1910 census, the 1914 peak in homesteads, 1936 and 1993), the 2015 erection by the State Historical Society, the Cherry County Historical Society and descendants, its original site on US 83 1,000 feet south of Brownlee Road, and photos dated September 17, 2026, showing it at the Cherry County Historical Museum, 249 South Main Street, Valentine.
4. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Not field-checked.

Photo and map credits

• Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Brownlee 1951, 1:62,500.