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About Nebraska City

Nebraska City is the seat of Otoe County, on the western bank of the Missouri River in south-eastern Nebraska. The 2020 census counted 7,222 residents. The recorded peak was 7,550 in 1890.

Early history

Lewis and Clark passed the site in 1804. The U.S. Army built Old Fort Kearny here in 1846 and later moved the post west toward the Platte. The Table Creek post office opened on 20 December 1853, and the name was changed to Nebraska City on 4 March 1854. The town became the county seat when Otoe County was created in 1854. Accounts of the incorporation date differ between 1855 and 1856.

The river trade

The city grew as a steamboat port and an outfitting point for freight and travelers heading west. In the spring of 1858 the freighting firm of Russell, Majors and Waddell began hauling from Nebraska City under a government contract to supply the western forts. Rail service arrived in 1871 and trade shifted from the river to the railroad.

Arbor Day and Arbor Lodge

J. Sterling Morton settled here in 1855 and later served as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture under Grover Cleveland. In 1872 the State Board of Agriculture adopted his resolution setting aside 10 April for tree planting, and Arbor Day began. The Legislature made it a legal holiday in 1885, on 22 April, Morton's birthday. His house started in 1855 as a four-room frame dwelling and grew to 52 rooms; it is now Arbor Lodge State Historical Park. The Mayhew Cabin here is the only site in the state recognised by the National Park Service as a station on the Underground Railroad.

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Nebraska City is the seat of Otoe County and one of Nebraska's oldest cities, tracing its roots to the Table Creek settlement and Fort Kearny blockhouse of the 1840s before taking its current name on March 4, 1854, when it became the new county seat. Three neighboring townsites — Nebraska City, Kearney City, and South Nebraska City — merged into one community in 1857. The city is best known as the birthplace of Arbor Day, founded here in 1872 by J. Sterling Morton, whose 52-room mansion is now preserved as Arbor Lodge State Historical Park. Nebraska City is also home to the Mayhew Cabin, the only site in Nebraska recognized by the National Park Service as a station on the Underground Railroad, and boasts 20 of the county's 27 National Register of Historic Places listings, including the 1865 Otoe County Courthouse, Nebraska's oldest public building still in use.

Nebraska City, the Otoe County seat and birthplace of Arbor Day, is home to Arbor Lodge State Historical Park and the historic Mayhew Cabin.

Navigate & Explore Nebraska City

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Road Conditions: Nebraska 511 — 511.nebraska.gov

Otoe County Cameras: View Otoe County cameras

Nebraska City Businesses & Places

259 listings in Nebraska City.

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