Shea, Nebraska
{{Short description|Ghost town in Nebraska, United States}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
Shea was a small village in Jefferson County, Nebraska,{{cite gnis|1882752|Shea (historical)|May 8, 2021}} located about four miles west of the town of Diller.
History
Shea began as a railroad siding and grain elevator that was informally called Fitzgerald's Siding. In 1901, the Burlington Railroad inaugurated its St. Louis to Denver route, necessitating the laying of 800 feet of new track at the site.{{Cite news|date=April 26, 1901|title=Diller Record}} The name Fitzgerald's Siding was deemed too long, so as a convenience to the railroad the name was changed to Shea, honoring the pioneer John Shea, who had settled in the area.{{Cite news|date=January 24, 1902|title=Diller Record}}{{Cite book|last=Dawson|first=Charles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=baPpeKK3Z5UC|title=Pioneer Tales of the Oregon Trail and of Jefferson County|publisher=Crane & Company|year=1912|location=Topeka|pages=258|language=en|via=Google Books}}
In 1905, the landowner Otto Willems constructed a brick building at Shea and partnered with son-in-law August Kunter to establish a general mercantile business for the surrounding farmers.{{Cite news|date=March 3, 1905|title=Diller Record}}{{Cite news|date=June 9, 1905|title=Diller Record}} Willems & Kunter was Shea's first business establishment.
Otto Willems' widow, Anna, hired civil engineer W. W. Watson in 1907 to plat a town site, resulting in four square blocks with 13 lots to be used for business, the rest for residential.{{Cite news|date=October 25, 1907|title=Diller Record}} Streets included Main Street, Lawrence Street, West Street, and Railway Street.
At various times during its heyday in the 1910s and 1920s, Shea had a mercantile business, a barber shop, a grocery store, a post office, a blacksmith shop, a grain elevator, stockyards, a community hall, and a railroad depot with occasional passenger service.{{Cite news|date=April 10, 1925|title=Diller Record}}{{Cite news|date=April 3, 1941|title=Diller Record}} Shea's population most likely never exceeded 50 residents.
Shea did not make it through the Great Depression. By 1941, the once-thriving little village had reverted to just a grain elevator with a residence or two.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{Jefferson County, Nebraska}}
{{coord|40.1147|-97.0017|type:city_region:US-NE|display=title}}
Category:Villages in Jefferson County, Nebraska