Washington County, Nebraska

Washington County, Nebraska
Washington County Courthouse in Blair
Location in the U.S. state of Nebraska
Nebraska's location in the U.S.
Founded	1855
Named for	George Washington
Seat	Blair
Largest city	Blair
Area
• Total	393 sq mi (1,018 km2)
• Land	390 sq mi (1,010 km2)
• Water	3.2 sq mi (8 km2), 0.8%
Population
• (2010)	20,234
• Density	52/sq mi (20/km²)
Congressional district	1st
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.washington.ne.us

Washington County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,234. Its county seat is Blair.

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

In the Nebraska license plate system, Washington County is represented by the prefix 29 (it had the 29th-largest number of vehicles registered in the county when the license plate system was established in 1922).

Washington County is in eastern Nebraska on the Missouri River. It was explored as early as 1739 by Pierre Antoine and Paul Mallet, 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 was established in 1819 and served as a key midwestern outpost until its abandonment in 1827.

The first permanent settlement in Washington County was made in 1854. In that same year, the county was organized as one of the eight original counties proclaimed by acting Governor Thomas B. Cuming; it was later reorganized in 1855. The county seat has been in three different towns: Fort Calhoun, DeSoto, and finally at Blair, its present site since 1869.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 393 square miles (1,020 km²), of which 390 square miles (1,000 km²) is land and 3.2 square miles (8.3 km²) (0.8%) is water. It is Nebraska's fifth-smallest county by area.