Merna Nebraska Map

About Merna, Nebraska

Merna is a locality in Custer County, Nebraska, United States. It is a small community with a population of 343. The population density is 247.1 people per km². Merna is located at 41.4839°N, 99.7601°W. It observes the Central Time (America/Chicago) timezone. Merna is an incorporated locality. ZIP code: 68856.

Merna anchors itself to the vast, open expanse of the Nebraska prairie where the horizon serves as the primary gauge of the day. It lies 48.6 miles north of Lexington, NE (from Lexington, NE: bearing 359°T), and is situated 8.4 miles northwest of Broken Bow. The land surrounding Merna unfolds in a series of subtle swells and dips, a landscape defined by the quiet persistence of tallgrass and the sudden, solitary rise of East Table to the west. Two miles from the center, the North Branch Mud Creek carves a narrow, winding path through the soil, offering a ribbon of moisture that sustains the local ecology. Beyond the immediate fields, the Berggren-Young Wildlife Management Area provides a sanctuary for native species, its quiet grasses mirroring the stillness of the distant Dale Valley. As dusk settles, the quality of light here stretches thin and golden, turning the sprawling plains into a sea of shadow and amber that seems to swallow the very idea of distance.

Agricultural cycles dictate the pulse of Merna, where the rhythm of life is measured by the seasonal shifting of crops and the demands of cattle country. Generations have cultivated this earth, drawing a modest, industrious economy from the deep, dark soil that defines the region’s history and its future. The local character is shaped by a profound sense of self-reliance, a byproduct of living where the wind remains the most constant neighbor. While the Sargent Reservoir lies nine miles away, providing a rare gathering point for recreation, the daily life of Merna stays tethered to the slow, deliberate work of the farmstead. Here, the hum of machinery and the distant lowing of livestock are the only interruptions to a silence so absolute it feels like a physical weight, grounding those who live here to the fundamental reality of the land.

About This Merna Map Page

This page provides an embedded street and satellite map of Merna, Nebraska. Coordinates: 41.483894, -99.760118. Live weather conditions are sourced directly from the National Weather Service. Real-time local and world news feeds keep the page current.

Detailed location data for Merna includes the ZIP code (68856), telephone area code (308), county seat of Custer County (Broken Bow), and school district assignment (Anselmo-Merna Public Schools).

Location data is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and cross-verified against 2020 US Census records by coordinate proximity. Population figures are sourced from the 2020 US Census.