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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