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In the late 1860's Franklin County was being platted in south central Nebraska. One of the towns here was Brooklyn. It was located on the Republican River 5 miles west of a town named Franklin. The post office was established here on December 18, 1871. In 1872, Brooklyn lost the county seat election to nearby Franklin. Then name was changed to Bloomington on March 14, 1873. In 1874, there again was an election for the county seat. This time Bloomington won and would remain the owner of this title until 1920, when Franklin would take it away for good. Bloomington became a trading center for southern Nebraska. Also in 1874, the Land Office was moved from Lowell to Bloomington.
Another interesting story about This town is as follows. During the Civil War, the townspeople heard about a raid on the town that was planned by Quantrill's Raiders. Many of the townpeople and area farmers buried all of their valuables, hoping not to lose them to the raiders. They planned to dig them back up after the attack. Many of these people were killed in the raid and their treasures still remain buried in the area. In recent years, five different caches of gold coins and jewelry have been found in the area. In 1969, a treasure hunter here found 350 silver and 200 gold coins while looking for some of these treasures in the area. |
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