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UPDATED:
MAY 12, 2020
ORIGINAL:
NOV 9, 2009

Nebraska
HISTORY.COM EDITORS
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CONTENTS

1. Interesting Facts

2. PHOTO GALLERIES
Nebraska, which was admitted to the union as the 37th state on March 1,
1867, two years after the end of the American Civil War, contains some of the
nation’s best ranchland and farmland. Prior to its statehood, the Nebraska
Territory had been sparsely settled but saw growth during the California Gold
Rush in 1848, with a larger wave of settlers arriving as homesteaders in the
1860s. Although the territorial capital of Nebraska was Omaha, when it
achieved statehood the seat of government was moved to Lancaster, which
was later renamed Lincoln after President Abraham Lincoln, who had recently
been assassinated. Nebraska is bounded by South Dakota to the north,
Kansas and Colorado to the South, Wyoming to the West and Iowa and
Missouri to the East.

Date of Statehood: March 1, 1867

Did you know? The popular drink Kool-Aid was invented in Hastings,
Nebraska, in 1927. The brainchild of Edwin Perkins, Kool-Aid is the state’s
official soft drink.
Capital: Lincoln

Population: 1,826,341 (2010)

Size: 77,349 square miles

Nickname(s): Cornhusker State
 Motto: Equality Before the Law

Tree: Cottonwood

Flower: Goldenrod

Bird: Western Meadowlark

Interesting Facts
 In 1872, J. Sterling Morton proposed a holiday to promote the planting
of trees in Nebraska. The first “Arbor Day”—in which an estimated 1 million
trees were planted—was celebrated on April 10, 1872. By 1920, 45 states had
adopted the holiday.
 The world’s largest exhibited mammoth skeleton was found on a farm in
Lincoln County in 1922. Originating from the Late Pleistocene Era, “Archie” is
on display at the University of Nebraska State Museum.
 Nebraska is the only state with a nonpartisan, unicameral legislature.
Promoted by Senator George Norris for its efficiency, cost-effectiveness and
ability to eliminate secretive conference committee meetings common in
bicameral legislatures, Nebraska has been governing by a single-house
legislature since 1937.
 On June 22, 2003, a record-setting hailstone with a circumference of
18.75 inches fell in Aurora. The storm left craters of up to 14 inches in the
ground and caused roughly $500,000 in property damage and one million
dollars in crop damage.
 Bailey Yard in North Platte is the world’s largest train yard, situated on
2,850 acres of land spanning eight miles. It manages as many as 10,000 rail
cars each day and can repair up to 20 cars per hour in its immense
locomotive repair shop.
 The Ogallala Aquifer, which lies beneath 174,000 square miles of eight
states extending from South Dakota down to western Texas, provides almost
all of the water for residential, industrial and agricultural use in the High Plains
region. Two-thirds of the Ogallala’s total supply comes from Nebraska.
PHOTO GALLERIES
Nebraska

9
GALLERY
9 IMAGES

Citation Information
Article Title
Nebraska

Author
History.com Editors
 Website Name
HISTORY

URL
https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/nebraska

Access Date
May 19, 2020

Publisher
A&E Television Networks

Last Updated
May 12, 2020

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009

BY
 HISTORY.COM EDITORS
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