Anoka, Nebraska was organized as a town in 1903. The railroad bought the land from Jack Wyman and Anton Ziska. The railroad company took the land they needed for their track and railroad station, then the Pioneer Town Site Company was formed and all the remaining lots were sold at auction. The town was given the name of "Anoka," a Dakota Indian word meaning "on both sides." The Town Site Company named it after Anoka, Minnesota, which is located on both sides of the Run River. Anoka, Nebraska is located on the Ponca Creek. The first building in town was The White House Saloon, which was built by T. E. Keeffe. He had to go to Jackson, Nebraska to purchase the lumber for it and hauled the lumber to Anoka himself by team and wagon. He and his family lived in this building until they had enough money to build a house. Other early businesses in town included two grain elevators, one built by Nye Schnieder and the other by Nelson Updike. The hotel was owned and
operated by Mr. Bill Stockwell and the Livery Stable owned and operated by the Richardson Brothers. McMeen and Mannen owned the General Store.
The Eiseley Hardware Store was the first hardware business in Anoka . "The Anoka Herald" was the weekly newspaper and H.W. Parchen was its publisher.
The Lumber Yard was owned by William Krotter and managed by Bert Green. Scofield's was the first Drug Store, Clinton Reed operated the Barber Shop,
and the first bank was the Anoka National Bank, with William D. Forbes as President, James Forbes, Vice President, and W. W. Roberts as Cashier.
Altogether, by 1905 Anoka had thirty-one operating businesses. Among the first Postmasters in Anoka were Dr. Parchen, Fred Danker, Joe Sindler, Joel Bergstrom and Mabel Keeler. Rural mail carriers included
Charlie Sinclair, who was Anoka's first, and also Art Hornback and Ray Stockwell. Among the early pioneer settlers of Anoka were:
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