Lincoln History
Lincoln's history spans deep across the centuries encompassing a variety of peoples; from early American Natives and European immigrants to a diverse group that today calls Lincoln home.
The area was considered a destination point for early Native Americans who would journey for miles to scrape up the valuable salt deposits from the bed of what is known today as Capital Beach Lake.
This destination point soon became home to Captain W. T. Donovan, one of the area's first settlers, who named this land after his hometown of Lancaster, PA. The name was changed to Lincoln, in honor of the popular president of the Union, in the 1860s, the same time Nebraska became a state and Lincoln became the state's capital.
The late 1800s also brought about a transformation of Lincoln from a raw-looking Western town. Streets were paved; some with cedar blocks, sidewalks were laid, and construction began on factories, universities and beautiful home sites. Taxes supported the city's first library, which opened in 1875, and helped to acquire more than 5,000 volumes.
Growth continued in Lincoln, thanks in part to being a railway center, and soon the town was home to the State Fair, a tradition that began at the start of the twentieth century and continues today.
Lincoln is proud of its rich history. Much can be learned of its evolution at various museums located in town, some of which preserve the culture and history of the immigration of Germans from Russia, Asian art and culture, the railroad heritage and other key contributors to the city's maturation into a vibrant, diverse community that is one of the fastest growing non-sunbelt cities in the country.
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