McCook, Nebraska

McCook was platted in 1882 when the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad was extended to that point.[6][7] It was named in honor of Alexander McDowell McCook, a Brigadier General in the Union Army during the American Civil War.[8]

McCook is located at 40°12′19″N 100°37′34″W (40.205228, −100.626174).[9] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.39 square miles (13.96 km²), all land.[10]

McCook's climate is formally classified as hot-summer humid continental.[11] Due to the very hot and humid summers typical of the Midwest and the January daily mean averaging around −3 °C (27 °F)[12] it has a little bit of influence of the subtropical climates to the south, although winter nights are way too severe for subtropical plants to thrive. Winters are generally cold and dry and summers hot and humid. Precipitation is concentrated in spring and summer, accumulating to an annual normal of 22.53 in (572 mm), the majority of which occurs from May through August.[13] Snowfall is generally light, with a normal of 28.8 in (73 cm) per season, and generally occurs from November through April.[13]

Record temperatures range from −30 °F (−34 °C) on January 12, 1912, up to 115 °F (46 °C) on June 26, 2012;[13] the record cold maximum is −4 °F (−20 °C) on December 22, 1990 and December 22–23, 1989, while, conversely the record warm minimum is 88 °F (31 °C) on August 1, 1935.[13] More typically, however, there is an average of 5.4 days annually with a maximum at or above 100 °F (37.8 °C), 45 days annually with a maximum at or above 90 °F (32.2 °C), 28 days annually where the maximum stays at or below freezing, and 8.6 days annually with a minimum at or below 0 °F (−17.8 °C).[14]

The Harvey P. Sutton House at 602 Norris Avenue was designed by influential architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1905–1907 and built 1907–1908. The classic Prairie-style house is listed in the National Register of Historic Places; it is the only Wright house known to have been built in Nebraska.[17] The house is used as a private residence, and is not open to the public.[18]

McCook hosts the Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival each summer.[19]

McCook Army Airfield, active from 1943 through 1945, was located nine miles northwest of McCook.

McCook hosted a professional baseball team, the McCook Braves, who played in the Nebraska State League from 1956 to 1959. In their final season in 1959, the club featured future Baseball Hall of Famer Phil Niekro and won the NSL championship; both the Braves and the league folded at season's end. Another pitcher on the team, Pat Jordan, later became a writer for the Sporting News, and wrote an autobiography dealing with his career with the Braves, A False Spring.[20]

McCook is home to the first two-year junior college in Nebraska. McCook Junior College was founded in September 1926 on the second floor of the YMCA building on Main Street. The name was eventually changed to McCook Community College and was governed over the Mid-Plains Area.[21]

McCook is home to Heritage Hills Golf Course. The 18-hole par-72 championship golf course was designed by Bradford Benz, ASGCA, and Richard M. Phelps, ASGCA, and opened in 1981. The links style course plays over 7,100 yards from the back tees. Heritage Hills was included in Golf Digest's Best 75 Golf Course's in 1984 and Golf Digest's Top 100 Toughest Public Course's in 1986. Heritage Hills underwent a major renovation for upgrades and modernization in 2013.[22]

McCook has a council-manager style government. Five council members are elected at large; the five elect one of their number as mayor, and a second as vice president. As of 2015, council members are Mayor Mike Gonzales, Vice-President Janet Hepp, Jerry Calvin, Bruce McDowell, and Gene Weedin.[23]

The city government operates through eight departments and offices: Administration, Building and Zoning, Fire, Library, Police, Public Works, Senior Center, and Utilities.[24] Advisory boards and commissions, both those required by law and those created for specific purposes, are appointed by the council; as of 2015, there were fourteen such boards and commissions.[25]

George W. Norris, who held seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate from 1903 to 1943, was a resident of McCook. Norris was the driving force behind the conversion of Nebraska's legislature to a unicameral system; in the Senate, he was a leading figure behind the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority. His house in McCook is operated as a museum by the Nebraska State Historical Society, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Originally named Main, the principal north–south thoroughfare through central McCook was renamed Norris Avenue in his honor.

Three governors of Nebraska made their homes in McCook: Ralph G. Brooks, Frank Morrison, and Ben Nelson, who represented Nebraska in the U.S. Senate for two terms, from 2000 to 2012. Frank B. Morrison Jr., Montana Supreme Court justice and son of Frank Morrison, was born in McCook.

John R. McCarl, the first Comptroller General of the United States, was raised in McCook. He is also buried there.[26]

Former professional football player Jeff Kinney is a 1968 graduate of McCook High School.

TV evangelist Bob Larson was raised in McCook.

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Red Willow County, Nebraska

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for McCook, Nebraska.

• City of McCook
• Visit McCook, Tourist Site
• McCook Daily Gazette, Newspaper