Nebraska
The precise date of settlement of the area known as Nebraska is undetermined but archeological evidence indicates that the first pioneers were prehistoric Indians who hunted big game over 10,000 years ago. Those early hunters were followed by tribes of Indians who raised crops of corn, other vegetables, and sun-flowers. At the dawn of recorded Plains history (1750-1800) the tribes living in the area included the farming tribes of eastern Nebraska- Otoe, Omaha, Ponca, and Pawnee. These groups lived in permanent earth-lodge villages where they cultivated crops. It was still necessary, however, for these tribes to engage in buffalo hunts for a large portion of their food supply. Western Nebraska was under the control of the horse-riding, buffalo-hunting, semi-nomadic groups of the Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Potawatome. These groups lived in skin teepees which could be dismantled and carried with them as they pursued the buffalo. About 40,000 Indians lived in Nebraska when the first white man came.
Fur trading played an important role in Nebraska's preterritorial history. French traders and trappers were the first known white visitors. They traveled through Nebraska from 1700 to 1760. In 1804 the Lewis and Clark expedition mapped the eastern boundary of Nebraska. In 1806, Lt. Zebulon M. Pike visited the south central Nebraska as part of a government program to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. In 1820 a nearby camp became a permanent army post called Fort Atkinson. Bellevue, founded in 1823, was the first permanent settlement.
As the United States expanded to the west, the Platte Valley trails of Nebraska became the major highways. Gold seekers, Mormons and migrants on their way to California and Oregon were among the thousands of pioneers using the overland trails between 1840 and 1860. Fort Kearny was established along the route to protect these travelers. Nebraska City and other towns on the Missouri River became shipping centers and supplied both the military outposts and the new settlers.
In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by Congress, organizing the Nebraska Territory. This act opened lands west of the Missouri, previously reserved for the Indians, to settlement. The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed settlers to claim 160 acres of land free in eastern Nebraska and statehood was granted on March 1, 1867, in a proclamation signed by President Andrew Johnson.
The railroads contributed greatly to the early development of the site. The Union Pacific was completed across Nebraska in 1867, and the lines of the Burlington system crisscrossed most of the state by the mid- 1880s. Many early railroads received land grants from the state and federal governments to offset the cost of construction.
Nebraska showed continued growth until the farm depressions of the 1890s. By 1900 most of the prime land in the state was settled, and larger claims were needed for profitable farming and ranching. The farm depressions of the 1920s and 1930s again arrested the economic growth of the state. Since World War II, however, Nebraska's development has been generally upward.
Fur trading played an important role in Nebraska's preterritorial history. French traders and trappers were the first known white visitors. They traveled through Nebraska from 1700 to 1760. In 1804 the Lewis and Clark expedition mapped the eastern boundary of Nebraska. In 1806, Lt. Zebulon M. Pike visited the south central Nebraska as part of a government program to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. In 1820 a nearby camp became a permanent army post called Fort Atkinson. Bellevue, founded in 1823, was the first permanent settlement.
As the United States expanded to the west, the Platte Valley trails of Nebraska became the major highways. Gold seekers, Mormons and migrants on their way to California and Oregon were among the thousands of pioneers using the overland trails between 1840 and 1860. Fort Kearny was established along the route to protect these travelers. Nebraska City and other towns on the Missouri River became shipping centers and supplied both the military outposts and the new settlers.
In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by Congress, organizing the Nebraska Territory. This act opened lands west of the Missouri, previously reserved for the Indians, to settlement. The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed settlers to claim 160 acres of land free in eastern Nebraska and statehood was granted on March 1, 1867, in a proclamation signed by President Andrew Johnson.
The railroads contributed greatly to the early development of the site. The Union Pacific was completed across Nebraska in 1867, and the lines of the Burlington system crisscrossed most of the state by the mid- 1880s. Many early railroads received land grants from the state and federal governments to offset the cost of construction.
Nebraska showed continued growth until the farm depressions of the 1890s. By 1900 most of the prime land in the state was settled, and larger claims were needed for profitable farming and ranching. The farm depressions of the 1920s and 1930s again arrested the economic growth of the state. Since World War II, however, Nebraska's development has been generally upward.
Lincoln
The history of Lincoln, Nebraska beganwith the settlement of the village of Lancaster in 1856. The county of Lancaster was founded in 1859. Prior to settlement from the westward expansion of the United States, Plains Indians, descendants of indigenous peoples who occupied the area for thousands of years lived in and hunted along Salt Creek. Settlers first came to extract salt from the wild salt flats of Salt Creek. Nebraska was granted statehood March 1, 1867. Soon afterwards a commission created by the State was appointed to locate the State Capital on State lands. The village of Lancaster was chosen for the Capital of Nebraska. The village of Lancaster became Lincoln. Lincoln was named after Abraham Lincoln. The first State Capitol was completed in 1868. Lincoln incorporated on April 1, 1869.
By 1870, railroads began to use Lincoln as a stop westward, and by 1892, Lincoln was a rail center. In the early twentieth century, Volga-German immigrants from Russia began settling in the North Bottoms neighborhood. By 1911, the Omaha-Lincoln-Denver Highway (O-L-D) established through Lincoln. By 1920 the first air field Union Airport was established northeast of Lincoln. As transportation linked Lincoln to points east, west, north and south, the cities population grew to 54,948 by 1920.
The suburban Gateway Mall was completed in 1960. The downtown core began to deteriorate as businesses moved to suburban areas. Revitalization began in 1969 after the passage of State laws for revitalization and beautification of blighted urban areas.
By 1870, railroads began to use Lincoln as a stop westward, and by 1892, Lincoln was a rail center. In the early twentieth century, Volga-German immigrants from Russia began settling in the North Bottoms neighborhood. By 1911, the Omaha-Lincoln-Denver Highway (O-L-D) established through Lincoln. By 1920 the first air field Union Airport was established northeast of Lincoln. As transportation linked Lincoln to points east, west, north and south, the cities population grew to 54,948 by 1920.
The suburban Gateway Mall was completed in 1960. The downtown core began to deteriorate as businesses moved to suburban areas. Revitalization began in 1969 after the passage of State laws for revitalization and beautification of blighted urban areas.
Governor's Residence
The original Nebraska Governor's Mansion was a Neoclassical Revival private home built in 1890 for D. E. Thompson. In 1899, the state of Nebraska purchased the property, its furnishings, and the two lots upon which it sat from Thompson for $21,385.However, beginning in the mid-twentieth century, the age and floor plan of the building made it a poor choice for the Governor's residence. Portions of the building had been condemned by the fire department and it was felt that the private family areas of the building were too large while the reception areas of the building were too small. From 1945 to 1953, the Nebraska legislature discussed various solutions to the problem of the Governor's residence including purchasing a different building and accepting the donation of Frank H. Woods' private home as the new residence. In 1953, it was decided that renovating an existing building would be more expensive than building a new structure, and in 1955 the Nebraska legislature allocated $200,000 to purchasing the lots surrounding the existing governor's mansion and constructing a new mansion. The State Building Commission selected Lincoln architect Selmer A. Solheim to design the project in January 1956. Construction was completed and the mansion was opened to the public for tours in March 1958. |
Nebraska State Museum
The University of Nebraska State Museum was founded in 1871 by Erwin Barbour, the same year the University of Nebraska was established. The museums first home was two rooms located in Nebraska Hall. The first collections were recorded to be skeletons of a horse and a cow. The museum has three floors filled with exhibits. The first floor has a theme of Biodiversity and includes The Hall of Nebraska Wildlife, Darwin: A Life of Discovery, Dr Paul and Betty Marx Science Discovery Center, and an Educators Resource Center. The first floor has exhibits about Paleontology of Nebraska. Elephant Hall, Ralph Muller Planetarium, Bizarre Beasts, Toren Gallery of Ancient Life, Mesozoic Gallery, Fossil Animals, and a Discovery Shop are found on this floor. The third floor of the museum houses a variety of exhibits including Explore Evolution, Jurassic Dinosaurs, Rocks and Minerals, Weapons Throughout time, and First People of the Plains. Cooper Gallery, which displays temporary exhibits, is also found on the third floor. |
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Sunken Gardens
Construction of the gardens began in 1930 under the direction of E.M. Blair as a project for unemployed men during the Great Depression. Theland, which had previously been a neighborhood dumpsite for refuse, was donated by the locally-prominent Frey, Faulkner, and Seacrest families. At the time of its construction, the garden featured numerous rock and stone elements, in keeping with the trend of rock gardens at the time. As such, the garden was simply known as the "Rock Garden. Rocks were used to create terraced retaining walls, waterfalls, and water fountains.The project was completed in 1931 and the gardens opened with 416 trees and shrubs planted throughout the one and a half acres of land. |
State Capitol
In response to westward migration and the call for a trans-continental railroad Franklin Pierce signed the Nebraska-Kansas Act on May 30, 1854 creating the Nebraska Territory. The village of Lancaster was chosen as the capital. The small community was renamed Lincoln and construction of the first State Capitol begun. The first State Capitol in Lincoln was constructed between 1867 and 1868. This first State Capitol soon began to crumble, the result of poor construction and inferior building stone.The second territorial Capitol was a large brick structure in the “Federal Style” of architecture. In 1881 the first wing of a second State Capitol was completed and the entire building finished in 1888. This second Capitol suffered the fate of poor construction and was settling structurally when talk began of building a third State Capitol in 1915. In 1919 the Legislature passed a bill to provide for the construction of a new Capitol. The present building, the third to be erected on this site, was the nation’s first statehouse design to radically depart from the prototypical form of the nation’s Capitol and to use an office tower. Constructed in four phases over ten years from 1922-1932, the building, with furnishings and landscaping, was completed at a cost just under the $10 million budget and was paid for when finished. The building’s exterior stone carvings represent historic events in the 3000 year evolution of democracy as a form of government. The ornamental interior features numerous marble-columned chambers with vaulted polychrome tile ceilings, marble mosaic floors and murals depicting the natural and social history of Nebraska’s Native American and Pioneer cultures. |
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Omaha
The history of Omaha, Nebraska began before the settlement of the city, with speculators from neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa staking land across the Missouri River illegally as early as the 1840s. A treaty with the Omaha Tribe allowed the creation of the Nebraska Territory, and Omaha City was founded on July 4, 1854.
Surrounded by small towns and cities that competed for business from the hinterland's farmers, the city suffered a major setback in the Panic of 1857. Despite this, Omaha quickly emerged as the largest city in Nebraska. After losing the Nebraska State Capitol to Lincoln in 1867, many business leaders rallied and created the Jobbers Canyon in downtown Omaha to outfit farmers in Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming and further west.
With the development of the Omaha Stockyards and neighboring packinghouses in the 1870s, several workers' housing areas, including Sheelytown, developed in South Omaha. Its growth happened so quickly that the town was nicknamed the "Magic City".
With reform administrations in the 1930s and 40s, the city became a meatpacking powerhouse. Several regional beer breweries developed, including Metz, Storz, and Krug companies.
Suburbanization and highway expansion led to white flight to newer housing and development of middle and upper-class areas in West Omaha from the 1950s through the 1970s. The historically ethnically diverse areas of North and South Omaha more concentrated by economics, race, and class. These workers suffered dramatic job losses during the industrial restructuring that increased rapidly in the 1960s, and poverty became more widespread.
Surrounded by small towns and cities that competed for business from the hinterland's farmers, the city suffered a major setback in the Panic of 1857. Despite this, Omaha quickly emerged as the largest city in Nebraska. After losing the Nebraska State Capitol to Lincoln in 1867, many business leaders rallied and created the Jobbers Canyon in downtown Omaha to outfit farmers in Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming and further west.
With the development of the Omaha Stockyards and neighboring packinghouses in the 1870s, several workers' housing areas, including Sheelytown, developed in South Omaha. Its growth happened so quickly that the town was nicknamed the "Magic City".
With reform administrations in the 1930s and 40s, the city became a meatpacking powerhouse. Several regional beer breweries developed, including Metz, Storz, and Krug companies.
Suburbanization and highway expansion led to white flight to newer housing and development of middle and upper-class areas in West Omaha from the 1950s through the 1970s. The historically ethnically diverse areas of North and South Omaha more concentrated by economics, race, and class. These workers suffered dramatic job losses during the industrial restructuring that increased rapidly in the 1960s, and poverty became more widespread.
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Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge
This 3,000-foot long walkway stretches across the Missouri River, giving pedestrians a spectacular view of Omaha’s skyline and an almost airborne experience. On the Nebraska side, enjoy the 3-acre Omaha Plaza with an interactive water jet fountain, River Critters Environmental Play Area and access to the National Park Service Visitors Center. The bridge is connected to more than 150 miles of nature trails – visitors love to bike and walk on Bob. |
Durham Museum
In 1971 after the establishment of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (now Amtrak), Union Pacific Railroad closed Union Station. The station was donated to the City of Omaha in 1973 and two years later the Western Heritage Museum opened. The museum closed from 1995 to 1996 for a $22 million renovation project largely funded by Charles and Margre Durham. For their contributions on the project, the Western Heritage Museum was renamed the Durham Western Heritage Museum the following year. On April 6, 2008 the Durham Western Heritage Museum became the Durham Museum. |
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First National's Spirit of Nebraska's Wilderness and Pioneer Corage Park
The gateway into Omaha’s central business district is transformed into the gateway to the West with a one-of-a-kind tribute to the people who settled this great land. Pioneer Courage is a homage to the bravery, courage, and entrepreneurial spirit that defined the generation and left an indelible impact on the American character. Visitors are meant to interact with this sculpture. The audience is encouraged to walk along with the larger-than-life pioneers and to envision what it must have been like to set off on a journey unlike any other. This sculpture park is the largest installation of bronze and stainless steel work of art in the United States and one of the two or three largest in the world. |
Gerald R. Ford Birthsite and Gardens
The house was owned by the future president's paternal grandparents, Charles Henry King, a prominent banker, and his wife, Martha Alicia Porter. After their son Leslie Lynch King married Dorothy Ayer Gardner on September 7, 1912, the young couple moved into the house with his parents, as was typical of the times. Their first son, named Leslie Lynch King, Jr. was born July 14, 1913. Due to domestic abuse, Dorothy Gardner separated from Leslie King when Leslie, Jr. was only 16 days old.After staying briefly with a sister in Illinois, Dorothy took her son with her to her parents and moved in with them in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the future president grew up. By the end of 1913 Dorothy's divorce from Leslie King was final. In 1916, Dorothy married Gerald Rudolff Ford. They renamed Leslie, Jr. after him, as Gerald Rudolff Ford, Jr.The future president was never formally adopted, however, and he did not legally change his name until 1935; he also used a more conventional spelling of his middle name (Rudolph). |
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Lauritzen Gardens
In 1982, following two years of preliminary planning, Helena Street, former Omaha World-HeraldGarden Parade columnist, hosted a meeting of five individuals to start planning a botanical garden in Omaha. A site of natural woods and rolling terraces on a bluff just west of the Missouri River was selected as the garden's location. Construction began in 1995 on the rose garden and other early gardens soon followed, including a shade hosta garden, herb garden, children's garden and spring flowering walk. Since opening, new garden areas have been added each year. Lauritzen Gardens exists as the result of a unique public-private partnership. The garden has held a long-term property management agreement with the city of Omaha since 1993. To keep this beautiful and thriving organization running, the garden is privately funded, and relies on capital campaign contributions, event sponsorships, admissions, memberships and facility rental income. Lauritzen Gardens was so named following a generous contribution from the Lauritzen family, a family that has played a significant role in Omaha's history and development. |