WayfarrowCornell
Ghost town · Hitchcock County, Nebraska
Cornell is a ghost town in Hitchcock County, Nebraska. It is the only former community in Hitchcock County recorded on the federal names register, out of 89 across Nebraska.
The U.S. Geological Survey lists Cornell as a historical populated place on the Culbertson SW topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 40.0239° N, 100.9377° W.
Key facts
| USGS quadrangle | Culbertson SW |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 2,834 ft |
| Nearest living town | Trenton, NE |
| Distance to it | 11.2 miles |
| GNIS feature ID | 1841312 |
| Coordinates | 40.02389, -100.93766 |
Then and now
Drag the slider: the old USGS map on the left, the same ground from the air today on the right. Both cover the same 1.9-mile square centred on the recorded location.
Left: Culbertson SW quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1962, 1:24,000), U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection. Right: The same ground today: NAIP aerial imagery, USDA Farm Service Agency, National Agriculture Imagery Program (via USGS). Both public domain.
What's there now
Cornell is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Trenton, NE (population 468), about 11.2 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 2,834 feet above sea level. The aerial view above shows what covers the ground today. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.
Nearby places
- Burntwoodghost town · Rawlins County · 19.5 mi
- Beardsleyghost town · Rawlins County · 21.1 mi
- Achillesghost town · Rawlins County · 22.2 mi
- Beavertonghost town · Rawlins County · 23.7 mi
- Celiaghost town · Rawlins County · 26 mi
- Chardonghost town · Rawlins County · 26.3 mi
- Lundghost town · Decatur County · 30.1 mi
- Mirageghost town · Rawlins County · 31.8 mi
- Copelandghost town · Thomas County · 37.9 mi
- Mysticghost town · Sheridan County · 46 mi
- USGS Geographic Names Information System (Domestic Names) — GNIS Domestic Names, feature record (public-domain)
- U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line and ACS — Census Gazetteer + ACS 5-year population (public-domain)
Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-06.