The Town:

The area was first settled in 1868 by Crandell Hopkins. Within the next ten years, nearly 200 settlers lived in the area. In 1879 a depot was put on the Antelope side of the Madison/Antelope county line. Charles Burnham put up the first building, a store, and was appointed postmaster of Burnett. The town was rapidly growing in size and population, and with that came a growing number of problems. In 1892, the two sides of Burnett were united, bringing better law enforcment and local goverment to town. The town's name was also changed to Tilden. Tilden became the town's postal name in 1892, however local residents continued to call it Burnett untill 1902, when Judge Boyd ordered the name changed on municipal records. In 1919 the population of Tilden had reached 1,000 residents, a figure that has remained steady ever since.

The Celebration:

The first Prairie Days Celebration was held in 2004, although the wheels started to turn way back in late 2000. Georgia Wyatt and Dixie Kucera applied for a grant in order to host the "Listening to the Prairie-Farming in Nature's Image" exhibit. Joined by Virgina Werkmeister, they became the first Prairie Committee. Meeting of the committee began in November 2003. The members were well aware that they were in for a challenge as Tilden had been struggling to hold a viable annual celebration. Due to the lack of a Chamber of Commerce, the committee took it upon themselves to declare a citywide celebration during the showing of the exhibit.

A Norfolk radio station, US92, offered to provide a band and promote Prairie Days, and the American Legion Club coordinated the Friday night event. Nashville recording artist Angie Broberg, a Tilden native, agreed to hold a concert on Sunday night. Prairie Days was now a three day celebration.
Thanks to many donations, sponsers, volunteers, advertising, and a grant from the Nebraska Division of Travel and Tourism, that first year was a success. The Friday night kickoff, a street dance featuring Full Choke, brought in nearly 700 people. In it's first year the popular event, the Cow Chip Throw, managed to bring in eighteen individual contestants and six four-person teams. The Cream Can Veggie/Hamburger Supper fed 450 people Saturday night. The last day of the celebration had a promising start as over 350 people attended the Pancake feed. Although not initially planned, a parade coordinated by a local resident was held. She managed to attract 51 entries to entertain an estimated 900+ crowd. Tilden's first Prairie Days Celebration was capped off by a concert Sunday night by Angie Broberg, which was attended by 500 people.
Going way beyond expectations, the first Prairie Days set up the groundwork on which was build a successful annual celebration. Prairie Days has continued to grow every year, with new events and activites being added every year. Along with that come bigger crowds from farther away.

 

The town was named Burnett after the railroad superintendent.

 

 

 

The name was changed to Tilden when it was decided that Burnett was too similar to Bennett, which was several years older.

 

 

 

Tilden comes from Presidential hopeful Samual J. Tilden, who lost to Rutherford B. Hayes in the election of 1876.

 

 

 

The first Prairie Days parade was organized by Maggie Rutjens, wife of Tilden mayor, Steve Rutjens.