Grand Island, Nebraska

The city of Grand Island serves as the county seat of Hall County in Nebraska, United States, and is located inside that county. The population was counted at 53,131 at the census that was conducted in 2020.

The Grand Island metropolitan region includes the counties of Hall, Merrick, Howard, and Hamilton. The city of Grand Island serves as the primary city in the Grand Island metropolitan area. There are now 83,472 people living in the Grand Island metropolitan area, according to the most recent census.

The National Civic League has recognised Grand Island as an All-America City on four separate occasions (1955, 1967, 1981, and 1982 respectively).

Grand Island is the location of both the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center, which is the single entity in the state responsible for training law enforcement personnel, as well as the Southern Power District, which serves the southern part of Nebraska and is located in Grand Island.

In the year 1857, thirty-five German immigrants left Davenport, Iowa, and journeyed west to Nebraska. Their goal was to establish a new community on an island in Nebraska called La Grande Isle by French merchants. This island was created by the confluence of the Wood River and the Platte River. On July 4, 1857, the colonists arrived at their final location, and by September of that same year, they had constructed dwellings out of the native wood. They settled there and established farms, but at first they did not have access to a market to sell their produce. That changed when a market was established at Fort Kearny. When the gold rush for Pike's Peak started, Grand Island was the final spot before crossing the plains where travellers could buy supplies.