Fort Atkinson (Nebraska)

Fort Atkinson State Historical Park
Powder magazine at Fort Atkinson
Location in Nebraska Show map of Nebraska Fort Atkinson (Nebraska) (the United States) Show map of the United States
Location	Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, United States
Coordinates	41°27′18″N 96°00′51″W / 41.45500°N 96.01417°W / 41.45500; -96.01417[1]
Area	154.36 acres (62.47 ha)[2]
Elevation	1,073 ft (327 m)[1]
Designation	Nebraska state historical park
Established	1963
Visitors	40280 (in 2017)[3]
Administrator	Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
Website	Fort Atkinson State Historical Park
Fort Atkinson
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Detail of (reconstructed) west rampart barracks
Built	1819
NRHP reference No.	66000454
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966
Designated NHL	July 4, 1961

Fort Atkinson was the first United States Army post to be established west of the Missouri River in the unorganized region of the Louisiana Purchase of the United States. Located just east of present-day Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, the fort was erected in 1819 and abandoned in 1827. The site is now known as Fort Atkinson State Historical Park and is a National Historic Landmark. A replica fort was constructed by the state at the site during the 1980s–1990s.^[4]

The post, which included soldiers, traders, trappers, and other frontier people, has been credited by the Nebraska State Legislature as the first town in Nebraska. Founded almost 30 years before the creation of the Nebraska Territory, Fort Atkinson had more than 1,000 residents. It included a brickyard, lime kiln, stone quarry, grist mill, saw mill, and cooper shop.^[5]