Town file
McCook, Nebraska
McCook, Nebraska (Red Willow County, Nebraska) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 266, "Threesomes In The Heartland" (10 March 2022). McCook, Nebraska, is a small town of about 7,500 people in Red Willow County in the south-west of the state.
- Town
- McCook
- County
- Red Willow County
- State
- Nebraska
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 266
- Approximate location
- 40.205, -100.622
Episode 266 / 10 March 2022 / 168 min / full
Threesomes In The Heartland
"We're gonna go to McCook, Nebraska; it's in Red Willow County, in southwestern Nebraska." about 0:05:05
The case: Murder of Edwin and Wilma Hoyt (September 1973). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2022
- Population
- 7,500
- Median age
- 36.6
- Median household income
- $40,372
- Median home value
- $124,900
- Two-bedroom rent
- about $620 a month
- Cost of living
- 77.9 out of 100
- Religious
- 77.1%
- Property crime
- ▲ about 20% above
- Violent crime
- ▼ under half
History, in brief
- McCook was platted in 1882 when the railroad extended to this point. about 0:08:03
- The town was named in honour of Alexander McDowell McCook, a brigadier general in the Union Army during the Civil War. about 0:08:47
- Its early slogan was 'the magic city'. about 0:06:23
- The slogan was later changed to 'the okay city'. about 0:06:38
- In the 1960s the slogan became 'it's all here'. about 0:06:58
- In the 1970s it was 'McCook the American Experience' and then 'Nebraska's hotspot'. about 0:07:09
- The current slogan asks anyone with ideas for town slogans to call Mayor Johnson. about 0:07:21
- Red Willow County was formed in 1873. about 0:10:08
- The county is named for Red Willow Creek, a mistranslation of a Dakota Indian name that actually meant Red Dogwood Creek. about 0:10:12
The reviews read out
4 stars
"Very cozy small town and great for families; happy to have been raised there; the only problems are the lack of diversity that comes with every small town, but bigger cities do not have the same sense of community."about 0:11:04
2 stars
"The most boring town in all of America; nothing to do but Walmart and a movie theater that gets new films three weeks late; not many good food places, Fuller's is okay but has a lot of druggies; the rest is McDonald's, Subway and Arby's, and Runza is disgusting with flies inside."about 0:11:52
1 star
"The people are backwards, racist, abusive and generally uneducated; a Confederate flag at Walmart, barking dogs left outside all winter, lifted trucks with the mufflers removed, rude police, and people having to delete college credentials to get menial jobs."about 0:13:16
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Sutherland, Nebraska71 miles
- Oakley, Kansas76 miles
- Guide Rock, Nebraska121 miles
- Ord, Nebraska131 miles
- Great Bend, Kansas160 miles
- Clarks, Nebraska162 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.