A northbound Rock Island train was derailed from this trestle on August 9, 1894, resulting in a crash, massive fire, and the deaths of eleven passengers and crew, despite the heroic action of Harry…

Thousands of oxen-drawn wagons passed here from 1860 to 1867, before completion of the Union Pacific Railroad across Nebraska. Carrying military and mining supplies, and emigrants moving west, they…

In 1874 construction began on Lincoln's first U.S. Post Office and Courthouse on a block originally intended as a market square. The building was completed by 1879 at a cost of about. $200,000. Alfred…

In 1878 public-spirited citizens, led by former governor Robert W. Furnas, organized the Nebraska State Historical Society. The legislature designated the Society a state institution in 1883 and began…

Crounse was once a small village named for Lorenzo Crounse, Nebraska Supreme Court justice (1867-73). congressman (1873-77), and governor (1893-95). The village had a school (1870-1962), post office…

The Civilian Conservation Corps was authorized by Congress in 1933 to provide jobs and vocational training for young men during the Depression. Company 2738 with 216 men was organized at Nebraska…

Lincoln Army Air field was constructed in 1942 on the former Lincoln Municipal Airport. The 2,750-acre property was leased to the army by the City of Lincoln. The base provided technical training for…

In 1869 the Nebraska legislature authorized the construction of a facility to care for mentally ill persons. The 160-acre site was located just north of the village of Yankee Hill, and southwest of…

General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces to Europe in World War I, was Professor of Military Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln between September 1891 and…

Marguerite Metzger Hall and Neil W. Hall Nine-Mile Prairie Memorial as a living tribute to our Pioneer Forebears and as a legacy for future…

This boulder is one of the largest "erratics" ever recovered in the Belmont area, and was found in excavations one-quarter mile east of this point. It was carried to this area thousands of years ago…

William Henry Ferguson, Lincoln businessman and investor, built this house in 1909-11. It is one of the best examples of the Second Renaissance Revival style in Lincoln and perhaps in Nebraska.…

Elisha M. Lewis, early Nebraska pastor and missionary, built this French Second Empire style house in about 1878. The Syford family owned the property from 1904 until the daughter, Constance willed…

From the heroics of stunt fliers at pre-World War I state fairs through the experimentation of the 1920s, Lincoln held a unique position in aviation manufacturing and pilot training. After WWI, Ray…

Lincoln can boast of a colorful parade of fliers in aviation's formative decades: Joe and Bob Westover were mechanics for Ruth Law, pre-World War I aviatrix. The Nebraska National Guard produced Capt.…

You are overlooking original prairie never broken by a plow. Nebraska looked much like this 200 years ago before the white men came: Grasses on which buffalo, elk, deer and antelope fed; ground cover…

On March 6, 1855, Lancaster County was created by act of the Territorial Legislature. Many early settlers came for land, while others were attracted by the commercial possibilities of the nearby Salt…

William Jennings Bryan was born in Salem, Illinois in 1860. He moved to Lincoln in 1887, entered into law practice and was elected to Congress in 1890. He won the first of three presidential…

From 1854 to 1867 the seat of territorial and state government was in Omaha. In 1867 the State Legislature appointed a Capital Commission to select a location for the new state capitol. Commission…