Lincoln

The City of Lincoln meaning “Salt Village”, for Salt Creek, which was the historical center of the city) is the capital and the second most populous city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. The population was 225,581 at the 2000 census.

One of the Midwest’s most affordable, accessible, and agreeable cities, Lincoln is an ideal place for getting down to business and for having a fantastic time. Just a day’s drive from Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Des Moines, Lincoln offers all the amenities of a bustling big city with plenty of opportunities to get back to nature if you choose.

More than 1 million people flock to Lincoln each year. Join the crowd,and discover our many fine parks, museums, restaurants, bars, specialty shops, art galleries, booksellers, and more.

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. However, Omaha interests attempted to derail the move by having Lancaster renamed after the recently assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.[citation needed] 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.