Grand Island, Nebraska, United States

🇺🇸 Grand Island is a city in and the county seat of Hall County, Nebraska, United States. Grand Island is the principal city of the Grand Island metropolitan area, which consists of Hall, Merrick, Howard and Hamilton counties.

Grand Island has been given the All-America City Award four times (1955, 1967, 1981, and 1982) by the National Civic League.

Grand Island is home to the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center, which is the sole agency responsible for training law enforcement officers throughout the state, as well as the home of the Southern Power District serving southern Nebraska.

History In 1857, 35 German settlers left Davenport, Iowa, and headed west to Nebraska to start a new settlement on an island known by French traders as La Grande Isle, which was formed by the Wood River and the Platte River. The settlers reached their destination on July 4, 1857, and by September had built housing using local timber. They set up farms but initially had no market to sell their goods until a market opened at Fort Kearny. When the Pike's Peak Gold Rush began, Grand Island was the last place travelers could obtain supplies before they crossed the plains.

Surveyors from the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) laid out a town called Grand Island Station and many settlers living on Grand Island moved to the new town, located slightly inland from the island. In 1868 the railroad reached the area, bringing increased trade and business. Grand Island became the end of the east division of the railroad and UP built service facilities for their locomotives in the town as well as an elegant hotel for passengers providing a boost for the local economy. The cost of the railroad coming into town was the denudement of most of the hardwood trees on the island for use as ties for the railroad. By 1870, 1,057 people lived in the town and in 1872 the town was incorporated as Grand Island.

In about 1890, sugar beets were introduced as a crop in Nebraska. The first sugar beet processing factory in the United States was built in the south-west part of Grand Island.

*1980 tornadoes * On June 3, 1980, Grand Island was hit by a massive supercell storm. Through the course of the evening, the city was ravaged by seven tornadoes, the worst of which was rated F4 on the Fujita Scale. The hardest hit area of town was the South Locust business district. There were five deaths as a result of the tornadoes.

Tornado Hill is a local landmark created as a direct result of the tornadoes. Debris that could not be recycled was burned near Fonner Park and what remained was buried within Ryder Park, on the west end of town. The base of the hill was a hole 6–8 feet deep and nearly 200 feet across, and the hill is 40 feet high. It is used for sledding in this otherwise flat area.

A book, Night of the Twisters, by Ivy Ruckman, and movie were based on this event.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 28.55 square miles (73.94 km²), of which 28.41 square miles (73.58 km²) is land and 0.14 square miles (0.36 km²) is water.

Demographics The 2020 United States census counted 53,131 people, 19,601 households, and 12,983 families in Grand Island. The population density was 1,765.7 per square mile (681.9/km²). There were 20,758 housing units at an average density of 689.9 per square mile (266.4/km²). The racial makeup was 65.82% (34,970) white, 3.53% (1,876) black or African-American, 1.62% (859) Native American, 1.31% (695) Asian, 0.07% (35) Pacific Islander, 17.33% (9,205) from other races, and 10.33% (5,491) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race was 32.0% (16,585) of the population.

Of the 19,601 households, 35.4% had children under the age of 18; 46.5% were married couples living together; 25.2% had a female householder with no husband present. 27.5% of households consisted of individuals and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.6 and the average family size was 3.1.

27.2% of the population was under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.0 years. For every 100 females, the population had 103.4 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older, there were 100.8 males.

The 2016-2020 5-year American Community Survey estimates show that the median household income was $56,513 (with a margin of error of +/- $3,441) and the median family income $66,755 (+/- $4,142). Males had a median income of $37,579 (+/- $2,047) versus $29,532 (+/- $1,595) for females. The median income for those above 16 years old was $33,197 (+/- $1,293). Approximately, 9.3% of families and 11.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.6% of those under the age of 18 and 10.2% of those ages 65 or over.

Environmental issues Construction of a primary water detention cell for flood control by the Central Platte River Natural Resources District, the city of Grand Island, Hall County, and Merrick County has been delayed by the slow cleanup of burning grounds with buried and unexploded gravel mines on the grounds of the former Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant.

In 1981, a plume of contaminated groundwater was discovered beneath the plant area, which occupies 20 square miles west of Grand Island. The plume extended north-east of the plant for about five miles and migrated towards Grand Island. RDX was discovered at 371 parts per billion (ppb) and TNT at 445 ppb on the plant site and just over 100 ppb off-site. The safe drinking water standard for RDX and TNT is only 2 ppb.

Cornhusker had produced bombs and explosives during World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam War, and had been put on standby status in October 1973. During munitions production, wastewater contaminated with explosives, and explosives-contaminated mops, buckets, and other equipment were buried in 56 earthen surface impoundments. Dried solids were periodically scraped from the impoundments and taken to the burning grounds for incineration and burial. After the discovery of contaminated groundwater in 1981, the Army extended Grand Island city water lines to rural subdivisions (that as of 2014 are part of the Capital Heights and Le Heights areas) in 1985 because wells may have exposed residents to the contaminated water. In 1987, the Army burned about 40,000 tons of explosives-contaminated soil. In 1993, city water lines in the north-west and north-central Grand Island were extended. In 1998, a pump-and-treat facility that continues to operate was built to cycle contaminated water through an explosives residue-removal system and discharge it as clean water into Silver Creek. The Army injected "hot spots" of contamination with a molasses-based substance containing bacteria present under the T&E Cattle Company feedlot to more quickly degrade RDX and TNT, which was intended to lower contamination levels.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the sites of bomb production lines (the so-called load line structures), were cleared and burned. As of 2014, TNT is still present at 30 ppb, and 7 ppb for RDX in the hot spot under load line 1.

As of 2014, the most heavily contaminated areas at Cornhusker are the burning grounds with buried and unexploded gravel mines. Their excavation proceeds very slowly, sifting one cubic yard at a time, because of the explosives' shock sensitivity. Excavation is expected to finish by January 2015, followed by environmental testing, estimated to take 24 to 36 months.

State Fair In 2010 Grand Island became the home of the Nebraska State Fair.

Transport Interstate 80 is located four miles south of the city. U.S. Route 281 is the main north–south route in the city, running through the city's west edge south to Hastings, and north to O'Neill. U.S. Route 30 runs east–west through the centre of Grand Island.

Central Nebraska Regional Airport is located in Grand Island. On September 4, 2008, Allegiant Air began nonstop service from Grand Island to Las Vegas, Nevada. In June 2011, American Eagle Airlines began providing service to Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, twice daily.

Intercity buses operated by Burlington Trailways and Express Arrow serve Grand Island.

The city's transit system is entirely demand-responsive, with rides requiring reservation 24 hours in advance. As of 2023, Grand Island is the largest city in Nebraska without fixed-route public transit. Fixed route service was studied, but not recommended, in the GO Grand Island Transit 2023 Transit Development Plan.

Grand Island also sports a total of fifteen traffic circles, many of which are within close proximity to each other. This system allows for particularly efficient through-traffic while sacrificing speed and barring transportation to some locations by certain, longer vehicles. Of these fifteen recorded roundabouts, fourteen are designated "official", while one is reportedly an "unofficial" insertion into the Grand Island's public transportation network.

Media: Radio • KRGI (AM) 1430 • LA GRAN D 93.3 • KRGI-FM 96.5 • KRGY FM 97.3 • KKJK FM 103.1 • KSYZ-FM 107.7

Hospitals As of 2017, Grand Island was served by CHI Health St. Francis hospital, with 159 beds. The city is also served by Grand Island Regional Medical Center, which opened in 2021.

Education *School districts * • Grand Island Public Schools • Grand Island Northwest Public Schools; *High schools * • Central Catholic High School • Grand Island Senior High School • Heartland Lutheran High School • Northwest High School

Colleges • Central Community College • University of Nebraska at Kearney.