Willow Island Nebraska Map

About Willow Island, Nebraska

Willow Island is a locality in Dawson County, Nebraska, United States. It is a small community with a population of 25. The population density is 3.4 people per km². Willow Island is located at 40.8886°N, 100.0715°W. It observes the Central Time (America/Chicago) timezone. ZIP code: 69171.

Willow Island occupies a stretch of Nebraska terrain defined by the persistent, unhurried presence of Buffalo Creek as it carves a path through the flat, expansive prairie. It lies 18.8 miles west-northwest of Lexington, NE (from Lexington, NE: bearing 293°T), and is situated 4.8 miles west-northwest of Cozad. The horizon functions as the primary fact of life here, a stark line where the pale sky meets the dry, sun-bleached grasses that shiver in the constant wind. To the north, the elevation shifts with the distant suggestion of Union Ridge, though the immediate landscape remains committed to the level, wide-open geometry of the plains. A mile away, the Willow Island Wildlife Management Area offers a dense, tangled sanctuary for local fauna, providing a contrast to the otherwise cultivated fields that stretch toward Hiles Canyon. Even the light here possesses a specific, heavy quality at dusk, turning the dust of the fields into a fine, suspended gold that softens the edges of the grain elevators and fence lines.

Willow Island maintains an economy deeply rooted in the soil, sustained by the agricultural cycles that dictate the pace of the seasons and the quiet commerce of the regional trade. The history of the place is written in the endurance of the homesteaders who recognized that the fertility of the river basin could yield a livelihood despite the harshness of the climate. Residents often look toward West Cozad Lake when they seek a reprieve from the relentless labor of the harvest, finding a brief stillness in the water that reflects the wide, Nebraska sky. The social life of Willow Island revolves around these shared rhythms, where the community continues to operate with a steady, pragmatic focus. There is no urgency in the way the days pass, only the methodical repetition of work and the deep, quiet satisfaction of those who have anchored themselves to this particular patch of earth.

About This Willow Island Map Page

This page provides an embedded street and satellite map of Willow Island, Nebraska. Coordinates: 40.888618, -100.071513. 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 Willow Island includes the ZIP code (69171), telephone area code (308), county seat of Dawson County (Lexington), and school district assignment (Gothenburg 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.