Lincoln, Nebraska
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Lincoln is the capital of Nebraska and is the county seat of Lancaster County. It is the second-largest city in the state (after Omaha).
History
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 nearby.However, Omaha interests 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.
Law and government
Lincoln has a mayor-council government. The mayor and a seven-member city council are selected in nonpartisan elections. Four members are elected from city council districts; the remaining three members are elected at-large. Lincoln's health, personnel, and planning departments are joint city/county agencies; most city and Lancaster County offices are located in the County/City Building.Many Nebraska state agencies and offices are located in Lincoln, as are several United States Government offices. The city lies within the Lincoln Public Schools district.
Geography
Lincoln is located at (40.809868, -96.675345) [Geographic references#1GR1]. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 195.2 km² (75.4 sq mi). 193.3 km² (74.6 sq mi) of it is land and 1.9 km² (0.7 sq mi) of it (0.98%) is water.Lincoln is one of the few large cities of Nebraska not located along either the Platte River or the Missouri River. The city was originally laid out near Salt Creek and among the nearly flat saline wetlands of northern Lancaster County. The city's growth over the years has led to development of the surrounding land, much of which is composed of gently rolling hills. In recent years, Lincoln's northward growth has encroached on the habitat of the endangered Salt Creek tiger beetle.
Metropolitan area
The Lincoln metropolitan area consists of Lancaster County and Seward County, which was added to the metropolitan area in 2003. Lincoln has very little development outside its city limits and has no contiguous suburbs (although the largest city that can be considered a suburb of Lincoln is Waverly.) This is due primarily to the fact that most land that would have developed as a suburban city has been annexed to the city of Lincoln itself.Neighborhoods
- Arnold Heights: Located in far northwest Lincoln, this neighborhood began as base housing for the adjacent Lincoln Air Force Base during the Cold War. The area originally consisted of 1,000 housing units and was annexed by Lincoln in 1966, after the base closed.
- Bethany: Bethany is located along Cotner Blvd. and Holdrege St. Originally laid out as a separate village by the Disciples of Christ, it was annexed by Lincoln in the late 1920s.
- College View: College View is located along 48th St. and near Calvert St., adjacent to and surrounding the Union College campus; originally a separate village.
- Downtown: Lincoln's business district has a mix of offices, bars and restaurants and retail.
- Havelock: Havelock is located along Havelock Ave. east of 56th St. in northeast Lincoln; originally a separate village.
- Hartley: One of Lincoln's earliest suburbs, Hartley is located east of Downtown proper, east of 27th St and north of O St. It is a mainly residential neighborhood of houses built 1890-1940.
- Haymarket: One of Lincoln's oldest neighborhoods, the Haymarket is a historic warehouse and industrial district. In recent decades, it has become a dining, specialty shopping, and urban living district, with a variety of visual and performing arts and nightlife. The Haymarket has a weekly farmers' market from May to October.
- Highlands: The Highlands are a newer residential neighborhood in northwest Lincoln, located north of I-80 and near Lincoln Municipal Airport.
- Huskerville:A now non-existent neighborhood built north of Arnold Heights. Constructed during World War II, Huskerville was once the Lincoln Army Air Field hospital area from 1942 until 1945. After the war the area was converted into college housing and was most noted for a polio outbreak in 1952. The area was either removed or demolished in the late 1960s. The chapel, now protected by the National Register of Historic Places, is all that remains of Huskerville.
- Malone:Located just to the east of the University of Nebraska, Malone Neighborhood has been subject to several urban renewal projects from the Northeast Radial project in the 1970s that was to bring an expressway from Omaha into downtown Lincoln (it never materialized) to the quarter-billion-dollar Antelope Creek Project to beautify the "front yard" of the University. These ventures have eliminated virtually all of the original housing stock in Malone.
- North Bottoms: North of downtown and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), the North Bottoms were originally settled by Germans from Russia. Today, its proximity to the University makes it a popular neighborhood for college students.
- The Ridge:Located south of Old Cheney and west of 27th street. The area contains some of the largest houses and mansions in Lincoln. It is a recently developed area, and is the area of the most growth in Lincoln.
- University Place: University Place is located along 48th St. between Leighton Ave. and Adams St., near Nebraska Wesleyan University and UNL East Campus. It was an incorporated community before its annexation by Lincoln in 1926.
- South Bottoms: South and west of downtown, the South Bottoms were also originally settled by Germans from Russia.
- West Lincoln: Located along West Cornhusker Hwy., West Lincoln was founded in 1887 and was an incorporated community before its annexation by Lincoln in 1966..
Parks
Lincoln has an extensive park system, with over 100 individual parks. The largest parks in Lincoln's park system are: Antelope Park (which contains the [Lincoln Children's Zoo] and the [Sunken Gardens]), Holmes Park, Oak Lake Park, Pioneers Park, Tierra Park, and Wilderness Park. The parks are connected by a 159 km (99 mi.) system of recreational trails. The MoPac Trail extends through Lincoln.Economy
Lincoln's economy is fairly typical of a mid-sized American city; most economic activity is derived from service industries. The state government and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are both large contributors to the local economy. Other prominent industries in Lincoln include banking, information technology, insurance, and rail and truck transport.Three regional fast-food restaurant chains began in Lincoln: Amigos/Kings Classic, Runza Restaurants and Valentino's.
Demographics
| Lincoln Population by decade | |
|---|---|
| 1880 | 13,003 |
| 1890 | 55,164 |
| 1900 | 40,169 |
| 1910 | 43,973 |
| 1920 | 54,948 |
| 1930 | 75,933 |
| 1940 | 81,984 |
| 1950 | 98,884 |
| 1960 | 128,521 |
| 1970 | 149,518 |
| 1980 | 171,932 |
| 1990 | 191,972 |
| 2000 | 225,581 |
There are 90,485 households, out of which 29.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.8% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the city, the population was spread out with 23.0% under the age of 18, 16.4% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 99.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $40,605, and the median income for a family was $52,558. Males had a median income of $33,899 versus $25,402 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,984. About 5.8% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.7% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.
The 2005 Census Bureau estimate of Lincoln's population is 239,213; the 2005 population estimate for the Lincoln metropolitan area is 281,553.
Sites of interest
- Nebraska State Capitol: designed by Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue and constructed between 1922 and 1932. The capitol building is a skyscraper topped by a golden dome. The tower is crowned by a 6-meter (20 ft) statue of a farmer sowing grain on a pedestal of wheat and corn (sculptor: Lee Lawrie), to represent the state's agricultural heritage. City zoning rules prevent any other building from rivalling it in height, making it a landmark not only within the city but for the surrounding area. Inside, there are many paintings and iridescent murals depicting the Native American heritage and the history and culture of the early pioneers who settled Nebraska.
- Alice Abel Arboretum
- American Historical Society of Germans from Russia Museum
- Lincoln Children's Museum
- Haymarket Park
- Hyde Observatory
- Ice Box
- James Arthur Vineyards and Winery
- Joshua C. Turner Arboretum
- Maxwell Arboretum
- National Museum of Roller Skating and the offices of USA Roller Sports
- Nebraska Statewide Arboretum
- State Fair Park Arboretum
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- Bob Devaney Sports Center
- Lied Center for Performing Arts
- Memorial Stadium: Home of the Cornhuskers football team, the stadium was built in 1923. The west stadium was renovated in the late 1990s. The north stadium is undergoing an expansion project, which, upon completion in 2006, will increase seating capacity from 74,000 to over 80,000.
- Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery: built in the early 1960s; architect Philip Johnson.
- University of Nebraska State Museum: home to an extensive collection of Nebraska fossils
- International Quilt Study Center
Colleges and universities
Lincoln's largest university is the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the flagship campus of the University of Nebraska system. The University of Nebraska system offices are located in Lincoln. The city is also the home of two private colleges, Union College and Nebraska Wesleyan University. Lincoln is a Southeast Community College site and Bellevue University, Doane College, and Peru State College have satellite locations in the city.Sports teams
Lincoln is best known for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, which fields 21 men's and women's teams in 14 NCAA Division I sports. Other sports teams are the Lincoln Saltdogs, an American Association independent minor league baseball team; the Lincoln Stars, a USHL junior ice hockey team; and the Lincoln Capitols, an NIFL indoor football team.
Arts, entertainment and culture
Lincoln's primary venues for live music include: Pershing Auditorium (large tours and national acts), Knickerbockers and Duffy's Tavern (local/regional acts; smaller venues), and the Zoo Bar (blues).
The Lied Center is a venue for national tours of Broadway productions, concert music, and guest lectures. Lincoln has several performing arts venues. Plays are staged by UNL students in the Temple Building; community theater productions are held at the Lincoln Community Playhouse, the Loft at the Mill, and the Haymarket Theater.
For movie viewing, the local Douglas Theatre Company owns 41 screens at five locations, and the University of Nebraska's Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center shows independent and foreign films.
The downtown section of O Street is Lincoln's primary bar and nightclub district.
Annual events
- March: Nebraska high school state boys' and girls' basketball tournaments
- Tuesday evenings in June: Jazz in June, an outdoor summer concert series
- Thursday evenings in July: Movies on the Green, movies shown on the green space near Kimball Hall
- Late July: July Jamm
- Late August/early September: Nebraska State Fair
- Late August to late November: Nebraska Cornhuskers football
- First Saturday in December: Star City Parade
Local media
Lincoln has three broadcast television stations with original programming:- KLKN (Channel 8; 31 DT) - ABC affiliate
- KOLN (Channel 10; 25 DT) - CBS affiliate
- KUON (Channel 12; 40 DT) - PBS affiliate, NET Television flagship station
Seven commercial FM and three commercial AM stations serve Lincoln. The city also has four noncommercial FM stations: KLCV (88.5), a religious talk station; KZUM (89.3), freeform radio; KRNU (90.3), a UNL student-run station; and KUCV (91.1), an NET Radio station.
The Lincoln Journal Star is the city's major daily newspaper.
Notable residents
Trivia
Lincoln's nickname is the "Star City" (from the use of a star to mark state capitals on road maps); a logo formerly used by the city's convention and visitors bureau consists of a star comprised of 5 Ls. A brick-patterned star was laid at the main Downtown intersection in the early 1980s when the city officially adopted the "Star City" nickname.
The Lincoln Municipal Airport is among the [emergency landing sites] for the NASA Space Shuttle, and the top location located within the non-coastal United States.
Canadian musician Dallas Green, of Alexisonfire and City and Colour, wrote in the song “Comin' Home” that he's “been to Lincoln, Nebraska and it ain't worth shit.”
Singer/songwriter Matthew Sweet was born and raised in Lincoln. Sweet has released over 10 studio albums yet has had very little radio airtime. He was however part of the Austin Powers band in all three of the Austin Powers movies. Him and Mike Meyers are friends.
External links
- [City of Lincoln]
- [Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau]
- [H2G2 Guide Entry on Lincoln, Nebraska]
- [Downtown Lincoln Association]
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