LINCOLN, the capital city of Nebraska, U.S.A., and the county seat of Lancaster county, 55 m. S.W. of Omaha, on Salt creek. It is on Federal highways 38 and 77; and is served by the Burlington, the Chicago and North Western, the Missouri Pacific, the Rock Island and the Union Pacific railways. The population was 54,948 in 1920, of whom 7,198 were foreign-born white and 896 were negroes; and had increased to 75,933 in 1930 by Fed tral census. Including the immediate suburbs and the student body of over 15,000, the total population of the metropolitan area in 1928 was not far from io0,000.
The city occupies 12.4 sq. m. on a gentle swell of the prairie, rising from the valley at its western border, and has an altitude of 1,167 ft. at the State capitol. It is regularly laid out, with wide streets, beautifully shaded by trees which have all been planted since the founding of the city. There are 357 ac. in public parks, and over 1,200 ac. in the parked grounds of the schools and insti tutions. A zoning plan has been adopted, and a system of boule vards is under construction. The assessed valuation of property in 1927 was $120,282,085.
The new State capitol, under construction since 1922, is one of the most impressive architectural achievements of America. From a massive base (of two storeys) will rise a central tower 400 f t. high, surmounted by the figure of a sower. The architect was Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue ; the sculptor, Lee Lawrie ; the inte rior mural decorations are by Augustus Vincent Tack and Miss Hildreth Miere ; the inscriptions and symbols were chosen by Hartley B. Alexander. At the western approach to the capitol grounds is a statue of Abraham Lincoln by Daniel Chester French.
The site of the University of Nebraska (q.v.) covers 45 ac. in the heart of the city, and includes the Nebraska Memorial stadium, seating 40,00o. At University Place, a suburb, adjoining the city on the north-east, is the Nebraska Wesleyan university (chartered 1887); at Bethany, on the east, is Cotner college (Christian; incorporated 1889) ; and at College View, 4 m. S.E., is Union college (Seventh Day Adventist; 1891). The State institutions at Lincoln include the penitentiary, a hospital for the insane, the reformatory for men, a home for dependent children and an orthopaedic hospital. The State fair, which draws an attendance of 300,000, has had permanent grounds (181 ac.) since 1884, just outside the city limits. Salt-water bathing is available at Capital Beach, in a lake formed from one of the old salt basins.
Lincoln ships large quantities of grain, and has an extensive wholesale and jobbing trade amounting to $6o,000,000 annually. The business of its retail stores is estimated at $50,000,000. Its
factories had an output in 1925 valued at The lead ing manufactures are flour, woodwork, confectionery, brick, tile and meat products. One of the largest creameries in the world is here. Bank clearings in 1927 amounted to $254,013,059.
In 1838 the salt basins of Lancaster county (smooth floors of hard clay, covered with a glistening layer of crystallized salt) were described by a commissioner sent by the U.S. Government to settle some Indian disputes; and in 1856 they were brought promi nently to public notice by Government surveyors, and attracted the first permanent settlers to this region. Several small salt works did a thriving business in the early '6os, but the industry died out when the railroads brought into competition salt pro duced by the cheaper methods of the eastern manufacturers. In 1886 the State sank a deep test-well, with disappointing results, and no serious efforts have been made since to use the deposits for the production of salt ; but one of the largest basins has been converted into a salt lake and developed as a pleasure resort. A small village called Lancaster, which served as the county seat, remained from the early experiments.
In 1867 the first legislature of the State of Nebraska, in the Capital Removal Act, designated a commission to select a site for a new capital city, to be named Lincoln. The commission, on July 29, 1867, decided on this hamlet of Lancaster, a cluster of ten stone and log-houses on the bare prairie, i oo m. from the nearest railroad. From the sale of building lots in September they raised $53,000 (later increased to $78,000) for the construction of the capitol; and in spite of tremendous obstacles (architect, contrac tors and labour were difficult to find, and all materials had to be hauled by team 4o to 6o m.) they had the building ready for the opening of the next legislature on Jan. 1, 1869. The city was incorporated, and formally declared to be the county seat, in 1869. In 1870 the population was 2,300. The first railroad (the Burling ton and Missouri River) reached Lincoln in July 1870, and was soon followed by several others. In 1880 the population was 13,003; in 1890, 55,154; in 1900 it dropped to 40,169; by 1920 it had again reached the high point of 1890. The most discouraging period of its history was 1872-76 when for four successive seasons the region was devastated by a scourge of locusts and grasshop pers. Lincoln was the home of William Jennings Bryan from 1887 to 1921, and here he published The Commoner. His country home at Fairview, east of the city, which he bequeathed to the Metho dist churches of the State, has been made the nucleus of a large memorial hospital.