Kearney was named after Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny.
The original settlement in the area was called Dobytown, situated 2miles southeast of present-day Kearney, Dobytown was later moved and renamed after the nearby Fort Kearny.
The city has a total area of 13.00 square miles, of which 12.77 square miles is land and 0.23 square miles is water.
The city was founded in 1871 at the junction of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad.
Kearney is the principal city of the Kearney, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Buffalo and Kearney counties.
The city operates Kearney Regional Airport, located east of the city.
Kearney is home to the University of Nebraska.
Kearney was Established/Incorporated in 1873 and Incorporated as First Class City in 1901.
The estimated population of Kearney is 33,959, as of 2021.
Kearney was used as a filming scene for Dexter, season 6, episode 7, in large part because the show’s co-executive producer, Tim Schlattmann, is a 1981 Kearney High School graduate.
