A Brief History of Lincoln NE

Lincoln began as the village of Lancaster, founded in 1856, and became the county seat of the new Lancaster County in 1859. The capital of Nebraska Territory had been Omaha since 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.

However, Omaha residents attempted to derail the move by having Lancaster renamed after the recently-assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. 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