Swedish immigrants began homesteading Mirage Township, Kearney County, in 1873. By 1876 these families had formed the Swedish Lutheran Church, Bethany Lutheran, the first church in Kearney County. Settlement increased with the coming of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad in 1883, and tradition says Axtell was named after the engineer of the first train to pass through the village. Axtell was incorporated on December 14, 1885. Cooperative effort led to three important institutions: a mutual insurance company founded on April 19, 1885, to cover losses from fire, hail, wind, and theft; Bethphage Mission, established on February 19, 1913, with community support after Pastor K. G. William Dahl urged people to “remember them that are in bonds”; and Nebraska's first reorganized school district, R-1, ratified in a special election on May 6, 1952, by residents of Axtell and thirteen surrounding school districts. In the early 1900s Axtell was known as Windmill Town because of its many windmills. Axtell gained international renown in 1964 and 1968 through Gary Anderson's Olympic medals in rifle marksmanship.