Holdrege is a city in Phelps County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 5,495 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Phelps County. The Nebraska Prairie Museum is located in Holdrege.

Holdrege was normal in 1883 subsequently the railroad was outstretched to that point. It was named for George W. Holdrege, a railroad official. Holdrege was designated county chair in 1884.

Holdrege was contracted primarily by immigrants from Sweden in the 1880s and was named after George W. Holdrege, general executive of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad Company. He build up most of the line’s mileage in Nebraska, including a section through this small settlement in Phelps County. On December 10, 1883, the first train arrived in Holdrege, a Tiny pioneer town inhabited by 200 people.

In 1884, a stir uphill opinion was started to shape the county chair from Phelps Center to Holdrege, and an election was scheduled for October. By that time, the town had acquired a block of ground upon which to erect a courthouse. With assuage assurance of victory at the polls, Holdrege laid the cornerstone of the building designed to be the Phelps County Courthouse. At the special election, Holdrege acknowledged a majority of the votes but the legality of the election was questioned. So citizens of Holdrege went to Phelps Center, picked up the official records and books and hid them for two months pending the initiation of other county officials who would take over upon January 1, 1885. Holdrege succeeded in becoming the county chair and the courthouse was completed.