Sweetwater is an unincorporated community in Beaver Township, Buffalo County, Nebraska, United States. It lies along Nebraska Highway 2, halfway between Ravenna and Hazard. It is a part of the Kearney, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area. Sweetwater is located on Mud Creek, a tributary of the South Loup River.
Geography Sweetwater is located at (41.0444553, -99.0075863). Its Census code is 48165, census class: U6.U6 is defined in FIPS 55-3 as “An unincorporated place located wholly or substantially outside the boundaries of an incorporated place or census designated place (CDP) and designated as a populated place by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).”
History The community was named for a spring noted by pioneers for its clean drinking water. There was a railway station there.Houser, Mona J. (2003) "Towns and Post Offices, Past and Present - Buffalo County, Nebraska" Buffalo County NE, GenWeb Project The Sweetwater post office was established in 1874, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1961.
Appearance in Fiction The fictional community of Sweet Water in Willa Cather's novel, A Lost Lady may be inspired by Sweetwater, Nebraska. Like Sweetwater, the fictional town is a railway stop between Omaha and Denver. Sweetwater is also the setting for the TV show The Young Riders.
Notes
Further reading Perkey, Elton A. (1995) Perkey's Nebraska Place-Names (rev. ed.) Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln, Nebraska, p20,
External links Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) from the USGS, search for "Sweetwater, Nebraska"