October 2025 • Nebraskaland 39
unpopular in the heavily Democratic South Platte region.
But the bill passed anyway. That summer, a three-
man commission toured the four-county region in search
of Lincoln. They selected Lancaster, population 30. The
village was far from any railroad or navigable river. Omaha,
meanwhile, had a major river for steamboats, a soon-to-be-
complete transcontinental railroad and was on its way to
16,000 residents by 1870.
The commissioners reasoned that Lancaster was centrally
located in relation to the state's main cities at the time:
Omaha, Fremont, Columbus, Plattsmouth, Nebraska City
and Pawnee City. They also thought
— mistakenly, it turned out — that
Lancaster's salt deposits would prove
commercially valuable.
Omahans were furious. "Nobody
will ever go to Lincoln who does
not go to the legislature, the lunatic
asylum, the penitentiary or some
of the state institutions," said one
Omaha paper. Lincoln is "destined for
ultimate oblivion," said another.
Feelings in Omaha ran so high that the state auditor
conspired to have two wagonloads of furniture and books
removed secretly in the middle of the night. The wagons
were well out of town before daylight.
Thus, Lincoln got its name at least partly out of spite, and
got the original contents of the capitol through a clandestine
operation that looked like a nighttime burglary.
N
Visit the Nebraska State Historical Society's website at
history.nebraska.gov.
The new state capitol, shown
here under construction in 1868,
was a rush job to ensure that the
legislature had a place to meet.
Replaced in 1879-88, it stood on the
site of the present capitol. NSHS RG1234-
PH4-4
Lincoln had grown considerably by 1872. This view to the northwest from the tower of the state capitol shows the lone
building of the new University of Nebraska. NSHS RG2158.PH0-23
