French trappers and traders were the first French people in this area along the Missouri River, and permanent French settlers began arriving during the 1850s. Early settlers included Julien Bahuaud and the Laurent Bernard, Jean Bize, and Jean Lavigne families. Eventually about 40 French families settled here along with settlers of other ethnicities. A post office was established in 1880 at the Thomas Tobin house, about a mile south of what is now downtown Julian. In 1887 the Nebraska Southern Railway, later the Missouri Pacific, built a line connecting Auburn to Nebraska City, and a new town was platted along this route on November 7, 1887, taking the name Julian after its most prominent settler. It was later said that railroad officials chose the name Julian because they could not pronounce Bahuaud. Julien Bahuaud was murdered in 1899, and the crime remained unsolved until the killer confessed 14 years later. The post office was relocated, and Julian was incorporated on June 15, 1896. It became the largest primarily French immigrant community in southeast Nebraska, reaching a population of 206 in 1900.