 During this time of peak growth, three banks were built, in addition to a hardware store, a roller mill, two newspapers, three lumberyards, a cracker factory, a cigar factory, a new brick school, nine churches, and a college.The college was Nebraska Central College, which opened in 1885 as a Methodist college and the first high school were built.The first newspaper in Central City was "The Merrick County News," which published its first addition on March 21, 1872.