Community+of+Shelton

Community of Shelton __Description of Shelton__ Shelton Public School is a K-12 school district located in Shelton, Nebraska in Western Buffalo County. According to the __Shelton Centennial Book__, Shelton was originally settled in 1858 by Joseph Johnston, a Mormon farmer and entrepreneur who built a store and blacksmith shop to service the many travelers on the Overland Trail on their way to the California gold fields. Mr. Johnston also founded one of the first newspapers in the area titled //The Huntsman’s Echo.// In 1860 he established the first post office and named the growing settlement Wood River Center. The name was changed to Shelton in 1872, due to another nearby town already claiming the name Wood River. The early years of Shelton were dominated with trail traffic, buffalo, agriculture and the coming of the railroad. The first public school was built in 1869 and the community continued to grow. The Union Pacific Railroad and Lincoln Highway (now US 30) both played a role in Shelton’s continued success and to this day both bring many visitors and tons of cargo through the town. Even today, there are on average 72 trains running through Shelton on the Union Pacific tracks each twenty-four hour period. Starting in the late 1950’s the interstate system brought more road traffic near Shelton but it was built two miles to the South and therefore by-passes the city proper. Shelton was the home of PlatteValleyAcademy, a Seventh-Day Adventist boarding school, from 1917-2007. This brought visitors and students from several states to the grounds of the school one mile east of town. Shelton’s location near the Platte River brings many visitors each year to witness the migration of Sandhill Cranes. It is also a waterfowl hunting destination for many each fall and winter. Shelton remains largely tied to agriculture with corn, wheat, soybeans and livestock produced in the area. It is conveniently located between Grand Island and Kearney and therefore has become a home to many who work in theses two larger cities. The lure of jobs in these nearby communities has added to the diversity of the town and increased the prosperity of the community. For example, according to the United States Census Bureau, the median income for a household has increased from $37,583 in the year 2000 to an estimated $63,128 in 2015. Similarly the average home price increased from $58,800 in 2000 to $98,652 in 2015, according to the website www.city-data.com (see appendix A.) The population of Shelton is currently estimated at 1163 according to the United States Census Bureau. Of that population, 82.0% consider themselves white, 16.67% consider themselves Hispanic or Latino, 0.8% consider themselves African-American, 0.3% consider themselves Native American, and 0.3% consider themselves of two or more races (see appendix B.)