Kearney City, known mostly as Dobytown, is located 1 mile west of Fort Kearney on the south side of the Platte River. It was called Dobytown because of the adobe construction of many of the buildings. This was rare on the plains, construction was mainly of wood or sod.
In the 1840's, it was one of the wildest and wickedest towns in the west. It was on the Oregon Trail and was very close to the fort, so it was a 24 hour town. People were always coming and going from Dobytown. The cemetary has a quite a few men who died in gun battles. The post office was open from July 5, 1861 to June 15, 1871. It lost the county seat election to nearby Lowell on June 17, 1872. It was one of the main outfitting points west of the Missouri River.
I have seen conflicting reports of what still remains at the site. One account said that the townsite is now a farm field. Another said that a couple of saloons and a few buildings still stand. I will update the site when I go there sometime soon.
Lowell was the county seat of Kearney County from 1872 until 1876 when it was moved to Minden. Lowell also had the U.S. Land Office for the area until it too was moved to Minden in 1874. The post office here operated from February 5, 1872 to 1943.
Early on, from the mid 1800's, Lowell was a booming cattle shipping center on the Burlington and Missouri Railroad. By the 1880's, the population was around 5,000. It was the ending point for many cattle drives and was just as tough as Dodge City.
Lowell is located about 7 to 10 miles south of Gibbon. A few of the old buildings still today.
Newark is located 10 miles north of Minden on Highway 10 and one mile west. It is just a little east of Fort Kearney. It is about 5 miles directly west of Lowell.
Back in the mid 1800's, Newark was a booming frontier town located on the Oregon Trail. Times were good until the railroad bypassed the town. Soon after, most peoiple abandoned the town. Today, thre are a few old buildings standing in a grove of cottonwood trees (apparently on the north side of the old highway).