GRAND ISLAND, Neb., county-seat of Hall County near the Platte River, on the Bur lington & M., the Union P., the Saint J. & G. I. railroads, about 97 miles west of Lincoln and 144 miles southwest of Omaha. The first permanent settlement was made in 1862, and it was incorporated in 1872. It is situated in a fertile agricultural region. The chief manufac tures are beet sugar, flour, canned fruits and vegetables, machinery, brooms, mattresses, fenc ing materials and chemicals. The United States census of manufactures for 1914 showed within the city limits 49 industrial establishments of factory grade, employing 608 persons; 460 be ing wage-earners receiving annually a total of $342,000 in wages. The capital invested ag gregated $1,750,000, and the year's output was valued at $2,101,00b; of this, $685,000 was the value added by manufacture. Large railroad
shops for . the Union Pacific Railroad are lo cated here. There is an extensive trade in live stock and grain. The city is one of the largest horse and mule markets in the world, the sales annually amounting to about 40,000 head. Grand Island contains a number of wholesale establishments and is the distributing centre for a large section of the northwest of Nebraska. The State Soldiers' and Sailors' Home and Saint Francis' Hospital are located here. It is the seat of Grand Island College, opened in 1892 under the auspices of the Baptist Church, and it has a large free library. The. present city charter, of 1901, provides for the election of a mayor every two years and a city council, in whom is vested the government. The city owns the waterworks and light plant. Pop. 11,505.