Editing Alexandria, Nebraska (section)

==History==
In the 1840s and 1850s, the [[Oregon Trail]] passed through present-day Thayer County, following the [[Little Blue River (Kansas/Nebraska)|Little Blue River]] through southeastern Nebraska before crossing into the valley of the [[Platte River]].  Settlers arrived along the trail in the late 1850s.<ref name=survey>Fimple, Kathleen.  {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20061116012844/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/reports/thayer_county.pdf "Nebraska Historic Buildings Survey: Reconnaissance Survey Final Report of Thayer County, Nebraska".]}}  {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110307215553/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/index.shtml Nebraska State Historical Society.]}}  Retrieved January 10, 2013.</ref>  The first permanent white residents of the county arrived in 1858, settling about two and a half miles (about four kilometers) south of present-day Alexandria, on the divide between the Little Blue and Big Sandy Creek.  In 1859, Isaac Alexander arrived from Kansas with a portable gristmill; he settled on Big Sandy Creek, where he built a log cabin and stockade.<ref name=andreas1>"Early History" in [https://web.archive.org/web/20030510175643/http://www.kancoll.org/books/andreas_ne/thayer/thayer-p1.html "Thayer County, Part 1".]  [https://web.archive.org/web/20021029043208/http://www.kancoll.org/books/andreas_ne/hon_tabl.html ''Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska''.]  1882.  Retrieved January 10, 2013.</ref><ref name=casde>Priefert, Virginia.  [http://www.casde.unl.edu/history/counties/thayer/alexandria/index.php "Alexandria--Thayer County".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100720220140/http://casde.unl.edu/history/counties/thayer/alexandria/index.php |date=July 20, 2010 }}  [http://www.casde.unl.edu/history/index.php Nebraska... Our Towns.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123132824/http://www.casde.unl.edu/history/index.php |date=November 23, 2011 }}  Retrieved January 10, 2013.</ref>

In 1872, the St. Joseph and Denver Railroad (later the [[St. Joseph and Grand Island Railway|St. Joseph and Grand Island]]) was extended into Thayer County.  The railroad passed through the Alexander family's property.  At the railroad's behest, the Nebraska Land and Town Company platted towns along its route, naming them in alphabetical order; the easternmost of these was Alexandria, followed by [[Belvidere, Nebraska|Belvidere]], [[Carleton, Nebraska|Carleton]], and [[Davenport, Nebraska|Davenport]].<ref name=survey/>  The town was named after Isaac Alexander's son, S. J. Alexander, who had been involved in negotiating the railroad's route through Thayer County, and who later served as Nebraska's Secretary of State.<ref name=casde/><ref name=andreas5>"Alexandria" in [https://web.archive.org/web/20030510180421/http://www.kancoll.org/books/andreas_ne/thayer/thayer-p5.html "Thayer County, Part 1".] [https://web.archive.org/web/20021029043208/http://www.kancoll.org/books/andreas_ne/hon_tabl.html ''Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska''.]  1882.  Retrieved January 11, 2013.</ref><ref name=names>Fitzpatrick, Lilian Linder.  [http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=englishunsllc "Nebraska Place-Names".]  [http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/englishunsllc/ ''University of Nebraska Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism''.]  January 1, 1925.  Retrieved 2013-01-11.</ref>

Alexandria grew rapidly; its early growth was augmented by residents and businesses moving from the town of Meridian, established as the county seat of Jones County (now [[Jefferson County, Nebraska|Jefferson County]]) but bypassed by the railroad and eventually abandoned.<ref name=casde/>  The town supported a flour mill on Big Sandy Creek; a newspaper, the ''Alexandrian'', was established in 1879; and by 1882, there were four churches.<ref name=andreas5/>

The town was beset by three severe storms in the decade following its establishment.  In 1875, a tornado levelled a school building that had just been completed at a cost of $6,000.  A second storm, in 1877, did only minor damage; a third, in 1881, produced several fatalities and widespread property damage.<ref name=casde/><ref name=andreas5/>