Sutton in Clay County, Nebraska — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)

The German Russians Come to Sutton

Photographed by Mark Hilton, July 11, 2024

1. The German Russians Come to Sutton Marker

Inscription. Twenty-two German families from the Russian villages of Worms and Rohrbach arrived in Sutton in September 1873, the first of many German Russians to settle in Nebraska. The immigrants were descendants of ethnic Germans who began colonizing the Volga River and Black Sea regions of Russia beginning in the 1760s at the invitation of Catherine the Great. She promised the Germans land, freedom of religion, exemption from military service, and political autonomy. When Czar Alexander II revoked these privileges in 1871 many Germans living in Russia began emigrating to the United States.

The Burlington Railroad built an immigrant house near the Sutton depot to shelter the new arrivals until they could build homes and acquire land, much of which they purchased from the railroad. Throughout the 1870s Sutton remained a destination for German Russians coming to Nebraska. Those who settled here were excellent farmers with a strong work ethic and firmly held religious beliefs. Although German Russian colonies sprang up in other Nebraska communities and throughout the Great Plains, Sutton remains a center of German Russian history

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and culture.

Erected 2015 by Nebraska State Historical Society, Sutton Chapter American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, In Memory of James R. Griess. (Marker Number 512.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Immigration • Settlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Nebraska State Historical Society series list. A significant historical month for this entry is September 1873.

Location. 40° 36.629′ N, 97° 51.506′ W. Marker is in Sutton, Nebraska, in Clay County. It can be reached from East Ash Street east of North Saunders Avenue, on the right when traveling east. Located within Sutton City Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 206 E Ash St, Sutton NE 68979, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Smoky Hills

and in Eastern Nebraska. It is also in the American Midwest,

in the Corn Belt,

and on the prairies.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Louisiana Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At

The German Russians Come to Sutton Marker within the park. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, July 11, 2024

2. The German Russians Come to Sutton Marker within the park.

least 5 other markers are within 13 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Sutton (within shouting distance of this marker); The Soldier's Monument (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Clay Center (approx. 12 miles away); Henderson, Nebraska, Centennial (approx. 12 miles away); Henderson Mennonite Centennial (approx. 12½ miles away).

More about this marker. Enter and park in the City Park from Ash Street.

Also see . . . Article - The German Russians Come To Sutton. (Submitted on July 14, 2024, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.)

Credits. This page was last revised on July 14, 2024. It was originally submitted on July 14, 2024, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 384 times since then and 59 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 14, 2024, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.