Editing Wausa, Nebraska (section)

==History==
In 1882 Theodore T. Thorson was the first resident.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.casde.unl.edu/history/counties/knox/wausa/ | title=Thorson, Knox County | publisher=University of Nebraska | work=Center for Advanced Land Management Information Technologies | access-date=August 18, 2014}}</ref> He named the town Thorson, Nebraska. He also became its first postmaster, and resided in the town's post office. He was returning from a five-month journey over the West Coast, Montana and Wyoming, in search of a good location for stock raising.

Mr. Thorson returned to Minnesota and in the following spring married and returned to Nebraska with his bride. He leased {{convert|200|acre|km2}} of land, built a sod house, and started a sheep ranch consisting of 115 sheep. Families immigrating from Sweden began to arrive and Thorson was appointed land agent. At this time, Creighton, Nebraska had the nearest railroad station. A pony express was started by a man with the name Campbell. He made three trips a week from their town to Creighton.

By 1885, 12 new families had moved to the settlement and it was decided that they would change the name to "Vasa" in honor of the Swedish king [[Gustav I of Sweden|Gustav Wasa]]. The railroad came through Vasa on November 27, 1890. At this time, the name was changed to Wausa, a combination of the name of [[Vasa dynasty|the dynasty Vasa founded]] and the letters USA. In the fall of 1891, a community water well was created. It was {{convert|33|ft|m|abbr=on}} deep and cost $40. The first water system was installed in 1903, and a complete sewer system was constructed in 1916. The Waste Water Treatment Facility was built in 1985.