By D.M.Livingston|Published Nov 29, 2025

A Look Inside the Other Waterbury Nobody Talks About

When you hear “Waterbury,” you think of the Brass City, the Clock Tower, the Green, or Holy Land overlooking the skyline. But believe it or not, there is another Waterbury in America — and this one sits deep in the rural farmlands of Dixon County, Nebraska.

Welcome to Waterbury, Nebraska, population 72. Yes, seventy-two.

It’s one of the smallest incorporated places in the entire Midwest, but behind its quiet streets lies a story that stretches back more than 130 years.

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A Village Born on the Railroad

Waterbury, Nebraska was established in 1890, when the railroad extended its line through northern Nebraska. As was common in that era, new settlements grew wherever trains stopped — and Waterbury was one of them.

Its name, surprisingly, wasn’t inspired by Waterbury, CT. Local history says the village got its name from a natural spring, a water source used for the railroad’s steam engines. From that water stop came the name Waterbury — “the place by the water.”

A whole town built around a railroad pump.

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A Tiny Community With Big Heart

Today, Waterbury is just 0.14 square miles — a handful of streets, surrounded by farmland and open sky.

Its people?
Mostly long-time residents. Mostly older. The median age is 46.5, and many families have roots there stretching back generations.

Waterbury peaked at around 95 residents in the early 2000s. Since then, like many rural villages across America, it has slowly declined as younger residents leave for larger towns and cities. Jobs are limited, services are few, and the farm economy shapes everyday life.

Still — what it lacks in population, it makes up in community familiarity. In a village this small, everyone knows everyone. Birthdays, funerals, holidays, storms — there’s no anonymity in Waterbury, Nebraska. That’s a strength and a challenge at the same time.

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A Snapshot of Life There

Just to picture it:

• A town with no traffic lights.
• A place where neighbors check on each other because they have to — there are no crowds to disappear into.
• A village where the night sky still turns pitch dark, and you can see the full Milky Way without city glare.
• A place where the sound of a passing train still feels significant — because that’s how the town began.

It is a slice of rural America almost frozen in time.

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Why It’s Interesting to Us in Waterbury, CT

Most Americans have never heard of Waterbury, Nebraska.
Most Nebraskans haven’t either.

But for us in Connecticut’s only Waterbury, this little village tells a bigger story:

• It reminds us that place names don’t define identity — people do.
• It highlights the contrast between a small railroad village and a once-industrial city of 113,000.
• And it shows how two places, separated by 1,400 miles, can share a name but live completely different lives.

One Waterbury became a regional powerhouse.
The other became a quiet railroad remnant.

Both are American stories worth telling.

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The One and Only Waterbury… Really

While several tiny communities share the name “Waterbury,” there is only one true city that carries the weight, history, culture, and identity: Waterbury, Connecticut.

But the Nebraska version?
It’s a reminder that names travel, stories mix, and America is full of unexpected cousins.

Sometimes you have to go all the way to a village of 72 people in the middle of the prairie to realize just how unique our own Waterbury really is.