Nebraska |
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| Entered the Union: March 1, 1867 (37) | Capital: Lincoln | |
| Origin of Name: From an Oto Indian word meaning “flat water” | ||
| State Nickname: Cornhusker State • Beef State | ||
| State Bird: Western Meadowlark | State Tree: Cottonwood | |
| State Mammal: White-tailed Deer | State Flower: Goldenrod | |
| State Song:“Beautiful Nebraska" | State Parks: 87 | |
| State Motto: Equality before the law | ||
| Famous For: Chimney Rock • Agate Fossil Beds | ||
| Famous Nebraskans: Fred Astaire (dancer, actor), Marlon Brando • Henry Fonda (actors), Warren Buffett (investor), Johnny Carson (TV host), Richard Cheney (Vice President), William "Buffalo Bill" Cody (showman), Fr. Edward Flanagan (founder of Boys Town), Gerald Ford (President), Bib Gibson (baseball), Frank Leahy (football coach) | ||
| Native Animals and Birds: Click on photos of the animals and birds on this page to find out more about them and to hear the sounds they make. | ||
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| French fur traders first visited Nebraska in the late 1600s. Eastern Nebraska was acquired in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The first permanent white settlement was established at Bellevue in 1823. | |||||||||||
| Western Nebraska was acquired by treaty following the Mexican War in 1848. The Union Pacific began its transcontinental railroad at Omaha in 1865. | |||||||||||
| In 1937, Nebraska became the only state in the Union to have a unicameral (one-house) legislature. Members are elected to it without party designation. | |||||||||||
| The 911 system of emergency communications, now used nationwide, was developed and first used in Lincoln, Nebraska. | |||||||||||
| Chimney rock was the most often mentioned landmark in journal entries by travelers on the Oregon Trail. | |||||||||||
| Four historical trails crossed Nebraska including the Oregon, Lewis and Clark, Mormon, and Pony Express. | |||||||||||
| Nebraska has nearly 80,000 miles of river, among the most of any state. | |||||||||||
| The Lied Jungle located in Omaha is the world's largest indoor rain forest. | |||||||||||
| In 1927, Edwin E. Perkins of Hastings invented the powdered soft drink Kool-Aid. | |||||||||||
| The Ogalala aquifer is the U.S.'s largest aquifer (underground lake/water supply). | |||||||||||
| Nebraska has more underground water reserves than any other state in the continental U.S. | |||||||||||
| Kearney, Nebraska is located exactly between Boston and San Francisco. | |||||||||||
| Nebraska, mistakenly called the "Great American Desert" by European Explorers, is one of the top farming areas in the world. | |||||||||||
| Arbor Day was started in Nebraska City in 1872 by Sterling Morton to encourage tree planting. | |||||||||||
| The biggest mammoth fossils ever discovered were found in Lincoln County. | |||||||||||
| The Niobrara is one of the top canoeing rivers in the country. It has more than 90 waterfalls. | |||||||||||
| Twice-yearly migrations of millions of cranes, ducks and geese turn the Platte River area into an amazing sight. | |||||||||||
| Between Northport and Ogallala on Highway 26 there is a shoe fence. The fence line, which runs for miles and miles, is adorned with mounted upside down boots and shoes. | |||||||||||
| The University of Nebraska-Lincoln weight room is the largest in the country. It covers three-fourths of an acre | |||||||||||
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Just north of Alliance, Nebraska there is a place called Carhenge that replicates the historic English Stonehenge with 38 old automobiles placed to assume the same proportions. |
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| Nebraska's Ethnic Roots: German 38.6%, Irish 12.4%, English 9.6%, Swedish 4.9%, Czech 4.9%. | |||||||||||
| Religion in Nebraska: 90% Christian (61% Protestant, 28% Catholic, 1% Other), 9% No Religion, 1% Other Religions | |||||||||||
| Borsheims in Omaha has the largest jewelry store in the nation. | |||||||||||
| Father Edward Flanagan founded Boys Town in Omaha, Nebraska in 1917. | |||||||||||
At a Glance
Nebraska Quick Facts
| Entered the Union | March 1, 1867 (37) |
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| Capital | Lincoln |
| Nickname | Cornhusker State • Beef State |
| State Bird | Western Meadowlark |
| State Flower | Goldenrod |
| State Tree | Cottonwood |
New for 2026
More Nebraska Facts & Photos
Minutes after midnight on January 1, 1863, Daniel Freeman filed the nation's first claim under the Homestead Act, for a quarter section of land near Beatrice. His farm is now Homestead National Historical Park.
The Sandhills cover about a quarter of Nebraska with grass-stabilized dunes up to 400 feet tall, the largest sand dune formation in the Western Hemisphere.
The Bessey district of the Nebraska National Forest near Halsey began as an experiment in 1902 to see whether trees could be raised on the treeless plains. Today it is the largest hand-planted forest in the United States.
Union Pacific's Bailey Yard in North Platte is the world's largest railroad classification yard: an eight-mile-long complex that handles more than 10,000 rail cars every 24 hours.
Voices of America
In Their Own Words
"The Constitution is the bedrock of all our freedoms; guard and cherish it; keep honor and order in your own house; and the republic will endure."
"Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms."
“All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.”
Last updated: July 2026