About Hallam

Hallam was platted in 1892 when the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was extended to that point. The land was sold by Frederick Schneider, who was asked to name the village. However, Schneider’s proposals were already names of towns in Nebraska, so the first landowner in the village, Jacob Schadd, was given the honor of naming the settlement. Schadd suggested Hallau, after his hometown in Switzerland. However, due to a transcription error at the post office, the name was recorded as Hallam rather than Hallau, similar to the error which altered Norfork, Nebraska, to Norfolk, Nebraska.

Mrs. Maggie Classen owned several lots in Hallam, unusual for a woman in the 1890s, upon which were built the telephone office and a doctor’s office. By the early 1900s, Hallam featured a bank, a hardware store, a dry goods store, a shoe shop, a druggist, a livery barn, and a doctor.

In 1962, the second nuclear power plant in the United States was completed in Hallam. However, the plant only produced nuclear power for approximately one year before being converted to coal power.

We invite you to learn more about our history!

In 2004 an F4 tornado devastated Hallam. Click here to read about it >>