Sarpy County, Nebraska

Sarpy County, Nebraska
Sarpy County Courthouse in Papillion
Location in the U.S. state of Nebraska
Nebraska's location in the U.S.
Founded	February 7, 1857
Named for	Peter A. Sarpy
Seat	Papillion
Largest city	Bellevue
Area
• Total	248 sq mi (642 km2)
• Land	239 sq mi (619 km2)
• Water	8.5 sq mi (22 km2), 3.4%
Population (est.)
• (2015)	175,692
• Density	665/sq mi (257/km²)
Congressional districts	1st, 2nd
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.sarpy.com

Sarpy County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2010 census, the population was 158,840, making it the third most populous county in Nebraska. Its county seat is Papillion.

Sarpy County is part of the Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

In the Nebraska license plate system, Sarpy County was represented by the prefix "59" (it had the fifty-ninth largest number of vehicles registered in the county when the license plate system was established in 1922). Many license plates issued in Sarpy County featured the stacked format of the 59 code. The county, just south of Omaha, had grown significantly in population in the decades following 1922 and therefore required five characters rather than the four allowed by a standard double-digit county code. In 2002, the state discontinued the 1922 system in Sarpy as well as Douglas and Lancaster counties.

Explored in 1805 by Lewis and Clark and settled by fur traders, adventurers, farmers, and finally entrepreneurs, Sarpy County has served as the springboard for Nebraska's settlement and expansion.

Sarpy County is named after Colonel Peter Sarpy, an early fur trader at Fontenelle's Post located in the Bellevue area in the 1840s. Sarpy died in Plattsmouth, Nebraska Territory in 1865.