Editing Weeping Water, Nebraska

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Weeping Water, Nebraska
|settlement_type          = [[City (Nebraska)|City]]

<!-- Images -->
|image_skyline            = Weeping Water Heritage House Museum from S 1.JPG
|imagesize                = 
|image_caption            = The Heritage House Museum is part of the Weeping Water Historic District, listed in the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref>Kolberg, Persijs.  {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120606153946/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/nebraska/cass/CC19_Weeping_Water_HD.pdf "National Register of Historic Places Inventory&mdash;Nomination Form".]}}  {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110307215553/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/index.shtml Nebraska State Historical Society.]}} Retrieved April 19, 2012.</ref>
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<!-- Maps -->
|image_map                = Cass_County_Nebraska_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Weeping_Water_Highlighted.svg
|mapsize                  = 250px
|map_caption              = Location of Weeping Water, Nebraska
|image_map1               = 
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|map_caption1             =

<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type         = Country
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = State
|subdivision_name1        = [[Nebraska]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Nebraska|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Cass County, Nebraska|Cass]]
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = 
|leader_name              = 
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|leader_name1             = 
|established_title        = 
|established_date         =

<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref                = Imperial
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="TigerWebMapServer">{{cite web|title=ArcGIS REST Services Directory|url=https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=September 18, 2022}}</ref>
|area_magnitude           = 
|area_total_km2           = 2.56
|area_land_km2            = 2.56
|area_water_km2           = 0.00
|area_total_sq_mi         = 0.99
|area_land_sq_mi          = 0.99
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.00

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_est           = 
|pop_est_as_of            = 
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 1029
|population_density_km2   = 402.16
|population_density_sq_mi = 1041.50

<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [[Central Time Zone|Central (CST)]]
|utc_offset               = −6
|timezone_DST             = CDT
|utc_offset_DST           = −5
|elevation_footnotes      = <ref name=gnis/>
|elevation_ft             = 1083
|coordinates              = {{coord|40|52|09|N|96|08|25|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP Code]]
|postal_code              = 68463
|area_code                = [[Area code 402|402]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standards|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 31-52015
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 2397243<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2397243}}</ref>
|website                  = {{URL|WeepingWaterNebraska.com}}
|footnotes                = 
|pop_est_footnotes = 
}}

'''Weeping Water''' is a city in [[Cass County, Nebraska|Cass County]], [[Nebraska]], United States. The population was 1,029 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]].

==History==
The name of the stream running through Weeping Water is ''Nigahoe'' in [[Chiwere language|Oto]] and [[Omaha–Ponca language|Omaha]], meaning "rustling water," in reference to the sound of the water running over the low falls. This was mistaken by the French to be ''Nihoage'', meaning "water weeping." This error was recorded in French as ''L'Eau qui Pleure'', meaning "the water that weeps."<ref name=":2">Fitzpatrick, Lilian Linder (1925).  [https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/englishunsllc/1/ ''Nebraska Place-Names''], p. 33.  Retrieved January 12, 2018.</ref> This was later translated into English as its current name, Weeping Water. The village of Nehawka, also in Cass County, is an anglicization of ''Nigahoe'', the original name of the stream in Weeping Water.<ref name=":2" />

Weeping Water was [[plat]]ted in 1867.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.casde.unl.edu/history/counties/cass/weepingwater/ | title=Weeping Water, Cass County | publisher=University of Nebraska | work=Center for Advanced Land Management Information Technologies | access-date=August 1, 2014}}</ref> Weeping Water was incorporated as a village in 1870, and as a city in 1888.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://visitcasscounty.com/cass-county-history/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402095155/http://visitcasscounty.com/cass-county-history/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=2 April 2016 | title=Cass County History | publisher=Cass County | access-date=24 March 2018}}</ref>

=== Legend ===
Debates over the origin of the name have existed since at least the early twentieth century.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Nebraska Folklore|last=Pound|first=Louise|publisher=Bison Books|year=2006|isbn=978-0-8032-8788-4|location=Lincoln, Nebraska}}</ref> Regardless of whether the legend originates from Native American sources or was simply created to explain the mistranslation of the Native American name for the stream, the legend has become an important piece of Nebraska folklore.

According to American folklorist [[Louise Pound]], the first written reference to the legend of Weeping Water is found in the 800-line poem "The Weeping Water" by Orsamus Charles Dake, published in a book of poetry called ''Nebraska Legends and Other Poems'' in 1871.<ref name=":0" /> Dake's poem is prefaced with a disclaimer that "The Weeping Water" was one of two poems that Dake "developed."<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Nebraska Legends and Poems|last=Dake|first=O. Charles|publisher=Pott & Amery|year=1871|location=New York|pages=11–52}}</ref>

Dake's poem is also preceded by a paragraph summarizing the legend which reads:<blockquote>The [[Omaha people|Omaha]] and [[Otoe]] Indians, being at war, chanced to meet on their common hunting ground south of the [[Platte River]] in Nebraska. A fierce battle ensued, in which all the male warriors of both tribes being slain, the women and children came upon the battle-field and sat down and wept. From the fountain of their tears arose and ever flows the little stream known as the Ne-hawka or the Weeping Water.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /></blockquote>The poem includes details and dialogue that Dake likely invented, such as the main narrative thrust of the poem, a story of forbidden love between an Otoe man and the daughter of the Omaha chief.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> According to Pound, the words spoken by the characters in the poem are not so much dialogue but rather "[l]ofty speeches of the [[Homer]]ic and [[Virgil]]ian type" which Pound attributes to Dake's classical training and tenure as an English professor.<ref name=":0" /> Pound suggests that it is most likely, based on the preface and summary he provides with the poem, that Dake took inspiration from a preexisting [[Folklore|folktale]], though whether the legend was genuinely of Native American origin remains undetermined.<ref name=":0" />

==Geography==

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|0.97|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, all land.<ref name="Gazetteer files">{{cite web|title=US Gazetteer files 2010|url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=June 24, 2012}}</ref>

===Climate===
{{Weather box   <!-- Infobox begins -->
| single line = Y
| location    = Weeping Water, Nebraska (1991–2020)
<!-- Average high temperatures -->
| Jan high F  =34.0
| Feb high F  =39.2
| Mar high F  =52.2
| Apr high F  =63.8
| May high F  =73.5
| Jun high F  =82.5
| Jul high F  =85.9
| Aug high F  =83.5
| Sep high F  =77.3
| Oct high F  =64.8
| Nov high F  =50.3
| Dec high F  =38.0
<!-- Mean daily temperature -->
| Jan mean F  =23.8
| Feb mean F  =28.5
| Mar mean F  =40.4
| Apr mean F  =51.7
| May mean F  =62.4
| Jun mean F  =72.1
| Jul mean F  =76.1
| Aug mean F  =73.5
| Sep mean F  =65.8
| Oct mean F  =53.2
| Nov mean F  =39.0
| Dec mean F  =28.0
<!-- Average low temperatures -->
| Jan low F  =13.7
| Feb low F  =17.8
| Mar low F  =28.6
| Apr low F  =39.6
| May low F  =51.3
| Jun low F  =61.6
| Jul low F  =66.2
| Aug low F  =63.5
| Sep low F  =54.3
| Oct low F  =41.6
| Nov low F  =27.8
| Dec low F  =18.0
<!-- Total precipitation, this should include rain and snow. -->
| precipitation colour    =  green
| Jan precipitation inch  =0.92
| Feb precipitation inch  =1.08
| Mar precipitation inch  =1.85
| Apr precipitation inch  =3.28
| May precipitation inch  =5.25
| Jun precipitation inch  =5.27
| Jul precipitation inch  =4.06
| Aug precipitation inch  =3.35
| Sep precipitation inch  =2.95
| Oct precipitation inch  =2.77
| Nov precipitation inch  =1.46
| Dec precipitation inch  =1.36
<!-- Snowfall -->
| Jan snow inch  =10.0
| Feb snow inch  =7.8
| Mar snow inch  =3.6
| Apr snow inch  =1.5
| May snow inch  =0.0
| Jun snow inch  =0.0
| Jul snow inch  =0.0
| Aug snow inch  =0.0
| Sep snow inch  =0.0
| Oct snow inch  =1.1
| Nov snow inch  =1.4
| Dec snow inch  =7.4
<!-- Mandatory fields, source -->
| source = NOAA<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/us-climate-normals/#dataset=normals-monthly&timeframe=30&station=USC00259090 |title=NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access |publisher=NOAA |access-date=2025-04-02 }}</ref>
}}<!-- Infobox ends -->

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1880= 317
|1890= 1350
|1900= 1156
|1910= 1067
|1920= 1084
|1930= 1029
|1940= 1139
|1950= 1070
|1960= 1048
|1970= 1143
|1980= 1109
|1990= 1008
|2000= 1003
|2010= 1050
|2020= 1029
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|author=United States Census Bureau|author-link=United States Census Bureau|access-date=October 16, 2013}}</ref>
}}

===2010 census===
As of the [[2010 United States Census|census of 2010]],<ref name="wwwcensusgov">{{cite web|title=U.S. Census website|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=June 24, 2012}}</ref> there were 1,050 people, 427 households, and 274 families living in the city. The population density was {{convert|1082.5|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 466 housing units at an average density of {{convert|480.4|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The racial makeup of the city was 98.8% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.2% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.1% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.1% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.1% from [[Race (U.S. Census)|other races]], and 0.8% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanics]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latinos]] of any race were 0.7% of the population.

There were 427 households, of which 34.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.8% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.8% were non-families. 29.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.08.

The median age in the city was 38 years. 26.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.4% were from 25 to 44; 28.1% were from 45 to 64; and 13% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.0% male and 51.0% female.

===2000 census===
As of the [[2000 United States Census|census of 2000]], there were 1,003 people, 434 households, and 293 families living in the city. The population density was {{convert|1,254.8|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 465 housing units at an average density of {{convert|529.0|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the city was 99.09% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.09% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.09% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], and 0.73% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanics]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latinos]] of any race were 0.54% of the population.

There were 434 households, out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.7% were married couples living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.3% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.15.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.5% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males.

As of 2000 the median income for a household in the city was $42,692, and the median income for a family was $51,250. Males had a median income of $37,656 versus $21,354 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,674. About 5.1% of families and 7.4% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 9.7% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.

==Culture==
Weeping Water is best known for its [[limestone]] quarry. Every year, late in June, the town celebrates Limestone Day with a parade, fireworks and games.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.weepingwaternebraska.com/nl/index.php/city-of-weepingwater/visitors-welcome | title=Visitor Information | publisher=City of Weeping Water, Nebraska | access-date=December 7, 2015}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{commons category}}
{{Cass County, Nebraska}}
{{Omaha-Council Bluffs metro}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cities in Cass County, Nebraska]]
[[Category:Cities in Nebraska]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1867]]
[[Category:1867 establishments in Nebraska]]
[[Category:Nebraska folklore]]