The New International Encyclopædia/Kearney

KEARNEY, kär'nī. A city and the county-seat of Buffalo County, Neb., 196 miles west by south of Omaha; on the Union Pacific, the Burlington and Missouri River, and the Kearney and Black Hills railroads (Map: Nebraska, E 3). A water channel or canal 13 miles long, and used incidentally for irrigation, furnishes 4500 horsepower for the manufactures of the city. The industrial establishments include large cotton, flour, and oat-meal mills, grain-elevators, brick-works, cigar-factories, foundry and machine-shops, and other works. The city has also extensive grain, stock, ice, alfalfa, and stock-feeding interests. Celery is extensively raised. Kearney has the State Industrial School for Boys, a military academy, normal institute, public library of 5000 volumes, and a fine high school, city hall, court-house, and opera-house. There are also two public parks, a bridge a mile long across the Platte River, and Lake Kearney, a beautiful sheet of water covering 40 acres. Settled in 1871. Kearney was incorporated as a village in the following year. The government is administered, under a charter of 1901, by a mayor elected every two years, and a council, one-half of the members of which are elected by wards and the other half at large. Population, in 1890, 8074; in 1900, 5634.