Editing Fairbury, Nebraska (section)

==Sites of interest==
[[File:Jenkins Dry Goods Store, established 1879..jpg|thumb|The Jenkins Dry Goods store, c. 1879. The store was built in 1875 and described by the ''Fairbury Gazette'' as the "finest edifice in town".<ref name=gazette1875/> It was one of the first permanent brick structures in Fairbury, and remains the least altered surviving example of Fairbury's first generation of buildings.]]

The former Rock Island depot is now operated as the Rock Island Railroad Depot Museum, dedicated to the railroad's history.<ref name=depotmuseum/> The Fairbury City Museum, located in a former elementary school building, includes both indoor and outdoor displays pertaining to Fairbury's history.<ref name=museum/>

A ten-block area of downtown Fairbury, including the courthouse square, is listed in the [[National Register of Historic Places]] as the Fairbury Commercial Historic District. Many of the buildings in the district have been little altered, and retain their original form and ornamentation almost intact. Three buildings remain from the first generation of Fairbury's downtown buildings, including the original Jefferson County courthouse and a false-front frame building; other architectural styles represented include [[Italianate architecture|Italianate]], [[Queen Anne style architecture in the United States|Queen Anne]], a variety of revival styles, and 20th-century commercial architectural styles.<ref name=nomform/>

[[Rock Creek Station|Rock Creek Station State Historical Park]], located southeast of Fairbury, was a station on the [[Oregon Trail|Oregon-California Trail]], and later served as a [[Pony Express]] station. Well-preserved wagon ruts from wagons on the trail are still visible at the park. In 1861, [[Wild Bill Hickok|James Butler Hickok]], who had not yet adopted the sobriquet "Wild Bill", was involved in a gunfight at Rock Creek Station, in which Hickok killed local rancher [[McCanles Gang|David McCanles]]. This was the first known killing in Hickok's career as a gunslinger.<ref name=hickok1/><ref name=hickok2/><ref name=hickok3/>