Biohazard Cleanup Near Downtown Melbeta Melbeta, NE

Melbeta is an incorporated village in Scotts Bluff County in Nebraska's Panhandle, and it is part of the Scottsbluff, Nebraska micropolitan statistical area.

Melbeta was established in 1911 when the railroad was extended to that point in the North Platte Valley.

The village's name comes from German and translates as "sweet beet" or "sugar beet," a nod to the crop that built the valley's economy.

According to University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension, Melbeta was one of the North Platte Valley sites where beet dumps were established beside the railroad so sugar beets could be shipped to factories at Scottsbluff or Minatare for processing.

The 2020 census counted 108 residents in Melbeta, down slightly from 112 at the 2010 census.

At the 2010 census the village had 46 households, and more than a third of residents were under the age of 18.

Melbeta's population peaked at 151 in the 1980 census and has stayed near or just above 100 in recent decades.

The village covers less than a tenth of a square mile of land, all of it land with no water area, at an elevation of about 3,829 feet.

Melbeta observes Mountain Time, like the rest of the Nebraska Panhandle, rather than the Central Time used in most of the state.