Featured Stories
Arbor Lodge
The stately, 52-room mansion was completed in 1903 by Joy Morton, oldest son of J. Sterling and Caroline Morton. The Mortons' first home in Nebraska, a log cabin at Bellevue, was built on their…
Chadron-Chicago Cowboy Race (1893)
America's longest horse race began here June 13, 1893. The 1,000 mile race ended June 27 in Chicago at Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. The race apparently was the idea of Chadron jokester John G.…
Tecumseh
Tecumseh, the county seat of Johnson County, was incorporated in 1856. It was first called Frances in honor of the wife of Colonel Richard M. Johnson, for whom the county is named. In 1857 the town…
Random Stories
George William Norris, 1861-1944
George W. Norris, whose home is on Norris Avenue, McCook, Nebraska, served forty years in the Congress of the United States. Born in Ohio, he worked his way through college, followed the footsteps of the pioneers westward, and settled in Nebraska. He…
Camp Clarke Bridge and Sidney Black Hills Trail
Just north of here the Camp Clarke bridge crossed the North Platte River. The bridge was built in the spring of 1876 by entrepreneur Henry T. Clarke to improve the trail from the Union Pacific Railroad at Sidney, Nebraska, to the gold mining towns in…
Butte Country
Perhaps no spot in Nebraska is so surrounded by historical and geographical landmarks as this one. Numerous landmarks of the period of the Indian Wars are visible from here. The site of a legendary battle between the Sioux and Crow Indians, Crow…
Clay Center
The town of Clay Center was laid out in the summer of 1879. An election on November 4, 1879, confirmed Clay Center as the location for the Clay County seat, following months of heated competition with rivals Sutton and Harvard. W. D. Young erected…
Nebraska City - Fort Kearny Cut-Off
Massive freighting of supplies by ox and mule trains was a direct result of the establishment of Fort Kearny and other western military posts. The Mormon War and the discovery of gold in the territories of Colorado and Montana increased this trade,…
Mitchell & Ketchum Homesteads
The most infamous Nebraska showdown between settlers and cattlemen began in 1878 on the Custer County homesteads of Luther Mitchell and Ami Ketchum, located one mile to the south. Conflict arose when Ketchum's crops were trampled by cattle belonging…
Featured Tours
Path to Statehood: 1803-1867
83 Locations ~ Curated by The Explore Nebraska History TeamLewis & Clark Expedition: 1804-1806
13 Locations ~ Curated by The Explore Nebraska History TeamWestern Trails
51 Locations ~ Curated by The Explore Nebraska History TeamNative Americans in Nebraska
37 Locations ~ Curated by The Explore Nebraska History TeamConflicts & the Military on the Plains
68 Locations ~ Curated by The Explore Nebraska History TeamExplore Nebraska History
A project by Nebraska State Historical SocietyExplore Nebraska History is a free app that shares the heritage of Nebraska at your fingertips. Learn more about the interesting stories and fascinating people highlighted by our Nebraska Historical Marker program. Travel across our beautiful state in person or via your device with curated historical tours. The stories provided in this app expand upon our historical markers with each point on an interactive GPS-enabled map that includes historical information about the location, images and media from archival collections and links to additional publications. Read more About Us