Editing Washington County, Nebraska (section)

==History==
Washington County is in eastern Nebraska on the [[Missouri River]]. It was explored by Europeans as early as 1739 by [[Pierre Antoine and Paul Mallet]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The Nebraska Blue Book and Historical Register|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MptPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA13|year=1920|publisher=Legislative Reference Bureau|page=13}}</ref> who were on a trapping expedition to [[Canada]]. In 1804, [[Lewis and Clark]] reported the establishment of the new [[United States government]] to a council of Indian chiefs near the present site of Fort Calhoun. As a result of this council, [[Fort Atkinson (Nebraska)|Fort Atkinson]] was established in 1819 and served as a key midwestern outpost until 1827.

The first permanent settlement in Washington County was in 1854. In that same year, the county was organized as one of the eight original counties proclaimed by acting [[Governor of Nebraska|Governor]] [[Thomas B. Cuming]];<ref>{{cite book|last=Johnson|first=Harrison|title=Johnson's History of Nebraska|url=https://archive.org/details/johnsonshistoryo00john|year=1880|publisher=H. Gibson|page=[https://archive.org/details/johnsonshistoryo00john/page/42 42]}}</ref> it was reorganized in 1855.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=englishunsllc|title=Nebraska Place-Names|last=Fitzpatrick|first=Lilian Linder|publisher=University of Nebraska Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism|location=Lincoln|date=1925|page=142|access-date=December 19, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kancoll.org/books/andreas_ne/washington/washington-p1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030507032629/http://kancoll.org/books/andreas_ne/washington/washington-p1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 7, 2003|title=Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska|last=Andreas|first=A. T.|date=1882|website=The Kansas Collection|access-date=December 19, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nacone.org/webpages/counties/countywebs/washington.html|title=Washington County|publisher=Nebraska Association of County Officials|access-date=December 19, 2014}}</ref> The county seat has been in three different towns: Fort Calhoun, DeSoto, and Blair, its present site since 1869.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Buss|first1=William Henry|last2=Osterman|first2=Thomas T.|title=History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and Their People|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofdodgewa01buss|year=1921|publisher=American Historical Society|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofdodgewa01buss/page/323 323]}}</ref>

The [[Fort Calhoun Nuclear Generating Station]] south of Blair, which was [[North America]]'s smallest commercial nuclear reactor by rated capacity, was closed in October 2016 to begin [[Nuclear decommissioning|decommissioning]].<ref>[http://www.omaha.com%2Fmoney%2Ffort-calhoun-decommissioning-is-underway-first-step-million-fuel-rod%2Farticle_bda79fde-21bb-5ed8-b8d6-619fccc290c3.html&usg=AOvVaw0MjX6kTwXWkFsI_2eYUA2- ''Fort Calhoun decommissioning is underway'']</ref> An associated system of [[civil defense siren|warning sirens]] was located in the southeastern part of the county for emergency notification in the event of a problem at the station.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20181110200108/http://www.region5-6.org/new/newsletter_08.pdf Region 5/6 Newsletter]</ref>

An [[Atlas missile]] launch site (Site B), formerly associated with [[Offutt Air Force Base]] and deactivated in the 1960s, lies east of Arlington.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cpeo.org/lists/military/2008/msg00508.html|title=[CPEO-MEF] FUDS: Atlas missile site, Arlington, NE|website=www.cpeo.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.atlasmissilesilo.com/549thSMS_SiteB.htm|title=Atlas Missile Site B}}</ref>