In the fall of 1871, the Burlington and Missouri was completed through Fillmore County. To promote settlement along its line, the railroad established towns at intervals. Towns were named alphabetically as the railroad ran westward from Lincoln. In eastern Fillmore County, a town was established on land donated by Smith and by James Dolan. One of the families that had settled in the area had come from Exeter, New Hampshire, and it was proposed that the town be given that name. It was adopted, as being in keeping with the alphabetical sequence: Crete, Dorchester, Exeter, Fairmont, Grafton, Harvard, Inland, Juniata, Kenesaw, and Lowell.