Before Kearney was named Kearney, it was called Dobytown and it was located 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of the present-day Kearney. Later the city was moved and renamed after the nearby Fort Kearny (with an extra “e” added, but pronounced the same), a United States Army outpost along the Oregon Trail in the middle 19th century.
The current location of the city is on the North side of the Platte River and steadily grew as a result of the influence of the railroad.