Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln is the
capital of
Nebraska and is the
county seat of
Lancaster County. It is the second-largest city in the state (after
Omaha).
Lincoln started out as the village of Lancaster, which was founded in 1856, and became the county seat of the newly-created
Lancaster County in 1859. The capital of
Nebraska Territory had been Omaha since the creation of the territory in 1854; however, most of the territory's population lived south of the
Platte River. After much of the territory south of the Platte considered annexation to
Kansas, the legislature voted to move the capital south of the river and as far west as possible. The village of Lancaster was chosen, in part due to the salt
flats and
marshes nearby.
However, Omaha interests attempted to derail the move by having Lancaster renamed after the recently-assassinated
President Abraham Lincoln. At the time, many of the people south of the river had been sympathetic towards the
Confederate cause and it was assumed that the legislature would not pass the measure if the future capital was named after Lincoln. The ploy did not work, as Lancaster was renamed Lincoln and became the state capital upon Nebraska's admission to the Union on
March 1,
1867.
Lincoln has a
mayor-council government. The mayor and a seven-member
city council are selected in
nonpartisan elections. Four members are elected from city council districts; the remaining three members are elected at-large. Lincoln's health, personnel, and planning departments are joint city/county agencies; most city and Lancaster County offices are located in the County/City Building.
Many Nebraska state agencies and offices are located in Lincoln, as are several
United States Government offices. The city lies within the
Lincoln Public Schools district; the primary law enforcement agency for the city is the
Lincoln Police Department.
Lincoln is located at (40.809868, -96.675345) . According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
195.2 km² (75.4 sq mi). 193.3 km² (74.6 sq mi) of it is land and
1.9 km² (0.7 sq mi) of it (0.98%) is water.
Lincoln is one of the few large cities of Nebraska not located along either the
Platte River or the
Missouri River. The city was originally laid out near
Salt Creek and among the nearly flat
saline wetlands of northern Lancaster County. The city's growth over the years has led to development of the surrounding land, much of which is composed of gently rolling hills. In recent years, Lincoln's northward growth has encroached on the habitat of the endangered
Salt Creek tiger beetle.
Metropolitan area
The Lincoln metropolitan area consists of Lancaster County and
Seward County, which was added to the metropolitan area in 2003. Lincoln has very little development outside its city limits and has no contiguous
suburbs (although the largest city that can be considered a suburb of Lincoln is
Waverly.) This is due primarily to the fact that most land that would have developed as a suburban city has been annexed to the city of Lincoln itself.
Neighborhoods
*
Arnold Heights: Located in far northwest Lincoln, this neighborhood began as base housing for the adjacent
Lincoln Air Force Base during the Cold War. The area originally consisted of 1,000 housing units and was
annexed by Lincoln in 1966, after the base closed.
*
Bethany: Bethany is located along Cotner Blvd. and Holdrege St. Originally laid out as a separate village by the
Disciples of Christ, it was annexed by Lincoln in the late 1920s.
*
College View: College View is located along 48th St. and near Calvert St., adjacent to and surrounding the
Union College campus; originally a separate village.
*
Downtown: Lincoln's business district has a mix of offices, bars, restaurants and retail.
*
Havelock: Havelock is located along Havelock Ave. east of 56th St. in northeast Lincoln; originally a separate village.
*
Hartley: One of Lincoln's earliest suburbs, Hartley is located east of Downtown proper, east of 27th St and north of O St. It is a mainly residential neighborhood of houses built 1890-1940.
*
Haymarket: One of Lincoln's oldest neighborhoods, the Haymarket is a historic warehouse and industrial district. In recent decades, it has become a dining, specialty shopping, and urban living district, with a variety of visual and performing arts and nightlife. The Haymarket has a weekly
farmers' market from May to October.
*
Highlands: The Highlands are a newer residential neighborhood in northwest Lincoln, located north of
I-80 and near
Lincoln Airport.
*
Huskerville: A now non-existent neighborhood built north of Arnold Heights. Constructed during
World War II, Huskerville was once the Lincoln Army Air Field hospital area from 1942 until 1945. After the war the area was converted into college housing and was most noted for a polio outbreak in 1952. The area was either removed or demolished in the late 1960s. The chapel, now protected by the
National Register of Historic Places, is all that remains of Huskerville.
*
Malone: Located just to the east of the University of Nebraska, Malone Neighborhood has been subject to several urban renewal projects from the Northeast Radial project in the 1970s that was to bring an expressway from Omaha into downtown Lincoln (it never materialized) to the quarter-billion-dollar Antelope Creek Project to beautify the "front yard" of the University. These ventures have eliminated virtually all of the original housing stock in Malone.
*
Near South: This neighborhood, located just south and east of the downtown area, contains some of Lincoln's most prominent, well-known features, including the Sunken Garden at 27th and Capitol Parkway and the First Plymouth Congregationalist Church at 20th and D Streets. With the construction of the Kennard and Gillespie houses southeast of the Capitol building in 1869, a trend of building fine homes for some of Lincoln's wealthier residents was set. Many of these homes that are still standing sit in a small district within the neighborhood called Mount Emerald. This district holds over two hundred buildings which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
*
North Bottoms: North of downtown and the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), the North Bottoms were originally settled by
Germans from Russia. Today, its proximity to the University makes it a popular neighborhood for college students.
*
The Ridge: Located south of Old Cheney and west of 27th street. The area contains some of the largest houses and mansions in Lincoln. It is a recently developed area, and is the the most rapidly growing area in Lincoln.
*
University Place: University Place is located along 48th St. between Leighton Ave. and Adams St., near
Nebraska Wesleyan University and UNL East Campus. It was an incorporated community before its annexation by Lincoln in 1926.
*
South Bottoms: South and west of downtown, the South Bottoms were also originally settled by Germans from Russia.
*
West Lincoln: Located along West Cornhusker Hwy., West Lincoln was founded in 1887 and was an incorporated community before its annexation by Lincoln in 1966.
*
Woods Park/East Lincoln: Woods Park contains two separate historic districts, the East Lincoln/Elm Park Historic District and the Bungalow Historic District. The East Lincoln area was first platted in 1868 as the East Lincoln plat, reflecting hopes for Lincoln's rapid growth. It wasn't until 1905, when the Woods Brothers platted the Elm Park Addition (between Randolph and L streets), that rapid growth ensued in the neighborhood.
Parks
Lincoln has an extensive park system, with over 100 individual parks. The largest parks in Lincoln's park system are: Antelope Park(which contains the
Lincoln Children's Zoo and the
Sunken Gardens), Woods Park, Holmes Park, Oak Lake Park, Pioneers Park, Tierra Park, and Wilderness Park. The parks are connected by a 159 km (99 mi.) system of recreational trails. The
MoPac Trail extends through Lincoln.
Lincoln's economy is fairly typical of a mid-sized American city; most economic activity is derived from service industries. The state government and the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln are both large contributors to the local economy. Other prominent industries in Lincoln include banking, information technology, insurance, and rail and truck transport.
Three regional fast-food restaurant chains began in Lincoln:
Amigos/Kings Classic,
Runza Restaurants and
Valentino's.
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Lincoln, operating its
California Zephyr daily in each direction between
Chicago and
Emeryville, California, across the bay from
San Francisco.
Lincoln
Population by decade | | 1880 | 13,003 |
| 1890 | 55,164 |
| 1900 | 40,169 |
| 1910 | 43,973 |
| 1920 | 54,948 |
| 1930 | 75,933 |
| 1940 | 81,984 |
| 1950 | 98,884 |
| 1960 | 128,521 |
| 1970 | 149,518 |
| 1980 | 171,932 |
| 1990 | 191,972 |
| 2000 | 225,581 |
As of the
census of 2000, there were 225,581 people, 90,485 households, and 53,567 families residing in the city. The
population density was 1,166.9/km² (3,022.2/sq mi). There were 95,199 housing units at an average density of 492.5/km² (1,275.4/sq mi). The
racial makeup of the city is 89.25%
White, 3.09%
African American, 0.68%
Native American, 3.12%
Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.81% from other races, and 1.99% from two or more races. 3.61% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There are 90,485 households, out of which 29.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were
married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.8% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the city, the population was spread out with 23.0% under the age of 18, 16.4% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 99.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $40,605, and the median income for a family was $52,558. Males had a median income of $33,899 versus $25,402 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $20,984. About 5.8% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 10.7% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.
The 2005 Census Bureau estimate of Lincoln's population is 239,213; the 2005 population estimate for the Lincoln metropolitan area is 281,553.
*
Nebraska State Capitol: designed by
Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue and constructed between 1922 and 1932. The capitol building is a skyscraper topped by a golden dome. The tower is crowned by a 6-meter (20 ft) statue of a farmer sowing grain on a pedestal of wheat and corn (sculptor:
Lee Lawrie), to represent the state's agricultural heritage. City zoning rules prevent any other building from rivalling it in height, making it a landmark not only within the city but for the surrounding area. Inside, there are many paintings and iridescent murals depicting the
Native American heritage and the history and culture of the early pioneers who settled Nebraska.
*
Alice Abel Arboretum*American Historical Society of Germans from Russia Museum
*Lincoln Children's Museum
*
Haymarket Park*
Hyde Observatory*
Ice Box*James Arthur Vineyards and Winery
*
Joshua C. Turner Arboretum*
Maxwell Arboretum*National Museum of
Roller Skating and the offices of
USA Roller Sports *
Nebraska Statewide Arboretum*
State Fair Park ArboretumUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln
*
Bob Devaney Sports Center*
Lied Center for Performing Arts*
Memorial Stadium: Home of the
Cornhuskers football team, the stadium was built in 1923. The west stadium was renovated in the late 1990s. The north stadium is undergoing an expansion project, which, upon completion in 2006, will increase
seating capacity from 74,000 to over 80,000.
*
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery: built in the early 1960s; architect
Philip Johnson.
*
University of Nebraska State Museum: home to an extensive collection of Nebraska fossils
*International Quilt Study Center
Lincoln's largest university is the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the flagship campus of the
University of Nebraska system. The University of Nebraska system offices are located in Lincoln. The city is also the home of two private colleges,
Union College and
Nebraska Wesleyan University. Lincoln is a
Southeast Community College site and
Bellevue University,
Doane College, and
Peru State College have satellite locations in the city.
 |
Memorial Stadium |
Lincoln is best known for the
Nebraska Cornhuskers, which fields 21 men's and women's teams in 14
NCAA Division I sports. Other sports teams are the
Lincoln Saltdogs, an
American Association independent
minor league baseball team; the
Lincoln Stars, a
USHL junior
ice hockey team; and the
Lincoln Capitols, an
NIFL indoor football team.
 |
Downtown Lincoln at night (14th and O Streets) |
Lincoln's primary venues for live music include:
Pershing Auditorium (large tours and national acts), Knickerbockers and Duffy's Tavern (local/regional acts; smaller venues), and the
Zoo Bar (blues).
The
Lied Center is a venue for national tours of
Broadway productions, concert music, and guest lectures. Lincoln has several
performing arts venues. Plays are staged by UNL students in the Temple Building; community theater productions are held at the Lincoln Community Playhouse, the Loft at the Mill, and the Haymarket Theater.
For movie viewing, the local Douglas Theatre Company owns 41 screens at five locations, and the University of Nebraska's
Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center shows independent and foreign films.
The downtown section of O Street is Lincoln's primary bar and nightclub district.
Annual events
*March: Nebraska high school state boys' and girls' basketball tournaments
*Tuesday evenings in June: Jazz in June, an outdoor summer concert series
*Thursday evenings in July: Movies on the Green, movies shown on the green space near Kimball Hall
*Late July: July Jamm
*Late August/early September: Nebraska
State Fair*Late August to late November:
Nebraska Cornhuskers football*First Saturday in December: Star City Parade
Lincoln has three broadcast television stations with original programming:
*
KLKN (Channel 8; 31
DT) -
ABC affiliate
*
KOLN (Channel 10; 25 DT) -
CBS affiliate
*
KUON (Channel 12; 40 DT) -
PBS affiliate,
NET Television flagship station
The headquarters of
Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (NET), which is affiliated with the
Public Broadcasting System,
National Public Radio and
Public Radio International, are in Lincoln.
Seven commercial
FM and three commercial
AM stations serve Lincoln. The city also has four noncommercial FM stations:
KLCV (88.5), a religious talk station;
KZUM (89.3),
freeform radio;
KRNU (90.3), a UNL student-run station; and
KUCV (91.1), an NET Radio station.
The
Lincoln Journal Star is the city's major daily newspaper.
{| valign="top" |
*
William Jennings Bryan*
Johnny Carson*
Willa Cather*
Dick Cavett*
Dick Cheney*
Charles G. Dawes*
Sandy Dennis
*Harold Edgerton
*Loren Eiseley
*Cliff Hillegass
*Mike Johanns
*Gary Lauck
*Gilbert N. Lewis
*Gordon MacRae |
*Mary Pipher
*Charles Starkweather
*Matthew Sweet
*Brandon Teena
*James Valentine
*Robert Van Pelt
*Daniel Whitney
*Denny Zager | 
