A U.S. War Department blockhouse was built on this site in 1855 to protect a white colony from Indians. Burt County’s first settlement was at Folsom Park in Tekamah in 1854, and Tekamah was founded on Oct. 7, 1854, with its first church organized in 1856 and its first school held in 1857. Decatur had an Indian trading post in 1854, was incorporated in 1856, organized its first church in 1856, and had its first school in 1861; the county’s first church at Decatur dates to 1856, and its first school was at Silvercreek in 1856 on section 36. Oakland was founded in 1863, with its first church organized in 1869 and its first school in 1867; Lyons was founded in 1866, with its first church organized in 1868 and its first school in 1868; Craig was founded in 1867, with its first church organized in 1876 and its first school in 1870. The Burt County Pioneer and Old Settler's Association was founded on Aug. 6, 1903. A crowning achievement of the pioneers was a gold medal award for best agricultural display at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893.