Alma is a city in Harlan County, Nebraska, United States.

[4] Alma was founded in the spring of 1871 by a group of Union Pacific railroad laborers originally from Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Alma's status as county seat was challenged by residents of Orleans, but an 1884 Nebraska Supreme Court decision affirmed Alma's status as seat of Harlan County.

[5][6] On January 13, 1880, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad reached Alma, providing a significant boost for local commerce and industry.

The Army Corps of Engineers started construction of the Harlan County Dam on August 1, 1946, and completed work in November 1952.

The lake thus created, Harlan County Reservoir, became one of Alma's top recreation destinations.

During World War II, Alma hosted a small number of captured German prisoners of war who were interned at Camp Atlanta in neighboring Phelps County and who were employed for farm work and other tasks in Harlan County.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.85 square miles (2.20 km2), all land.

[7] Alma is located at the junction of U.S. routes 136 and 183, at the northwest end of the Harlan County Reservoir.