How McCook, Nebraska Got Its Name (One of the Fighting McCooks)

McCook, Nebraska, is named for Alexander McDowell McCook, a Union general from the family known as the Fighting McCooks. As far as anyone knows, he never visited the town.

Where the name comes from

A 1925 study of Nebraska place names says the town “was named for Alexander McDowell McCook, major general in the Civil War.” It explains why the family was famous: McCook “came from an unusual family of which eight brothers and the father all served as officers in the Federal army during the Civil War.” Encyclopaedia Britannica also says the town is named for him.

A railroad town

The study says the Lincoln Land Company laid out McCook in June 1882. The U.S. Geological Survey’s record also gives 1882 for the platting, then 1883 for incorporation as a village and 1886 as a city.

The study says the town “was originally known as Fairview.” Britannica puts it a little differently: McCook was founded near an existing community called Fairview. The new town was a separate site, so Fairview is better thought of as its neighbor than its old name.

Who picked it

The local paper, the McCook Gazette, says there has been “some controversy” over how the town got its name. Its account is that McCook was a good friend of Alexander Campbell, the first superintendent of the Burlington’s Republican River division, and that Campbell suggested the name. (The paper calls the earlier place Fairfield; the 1925 study and Britannica say Fairview.) The paper adds that there’s no evidence the general ever visited McCook. That’s a local account, not an official record, so we list Campbell as the likely namer, not a sure one.

Sources & further reading

• Lilian Linder Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names (University of Nebraska, 1925). A public-domain study of the state’s place names, county by county. The namesake, the eight brothers and their father, the June 1882 layout and Fairview.
• Encyclopaedia Britannica, “McCook.” Named for the general; founded near the existing community of Fairview.
• McCook Gazette, “The story of the fighting McCooks.” Alexander Campbell’s friendship with the general and his suggestion of the name.
• GNIS feature 831117 (U.S. Geological Survey). The federal record for McCook. Platted 1882; incorporated as a village in 1883 and as a city in 1886.