Saltillo ( /sælˈtɪloʊ/ sal-TIL-oh) was an unincorporated community in Lancaster County, Nebraska, United States. [1]
The settlement of Saltillo was formerly located along the Salt Creek where the corners of Grant, Centerville, Yankee Hill, and Saltillo townships meet. [2] Originally a community was planned at the site to be named Olathe. [2] In 1862, John Cadman built a road ranch called Saltillo Station in the area to provide lodgings for travelers along the Oregon Trail between Nebraska City and Fort Kearny. [2] [3] A post office was established at Saltillo in 1862, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1906. [4] The community was likely named after the city of Saltillo, Mexico. [5] [6] The name is derived from the Spanish word salto, meaning leap, the diminutive suffix renders the meaning of the name "little leap." [5]
Saltillo remained a small community for its entire existence, never exceeding a population of 50 people. [2] The village economy relied heavily on wagon train traffic from the Oregon Trail, which became obsolete in 1865 with the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. [2] Two railroads passed through Saltillo, the Atchison and Nebraska Railroad in 1872 and the a branch line of the Union Pacific called the Omaha and Republican Valley Railroad in 1883. [2] [7] The Atchison and Nebraska Railroad was later sold to Chicago, Burlington & Quincy in 1908. [8]
Plat maps produced in 1903 show the village with three streets and the path of Salt Creek flowing through roughly half of the lots. [9] Frequent flooding, a lack of travelers and thus income, as well as the continuous growth of nearby Lincoln all sent the population of Saltillo into decline. [2] By the 1950s, the last visible remnant of Saltillo was the grain elevator which was torn down in 1953. [2]
40°42′00″N 96°40′57″W / 40.70000°N 96.68250°W