How Nebraska City Got Its Name (Once Called Table Creek)
Nebraska City is named for Nebraska itself. The settlement by the Missouri River was called Table Creek until March 1854, when it took the name Nebraska City, years before Nebraska became a state.
Where the name comes from
A 1925 study of Nebraska place names says the town “was named after the state, which in turn had its name from the Indian name for the Platte river.” The city’s own history says the community changed its name from Table Creek to Nebraska City on March 4, 1854. That was long before statehood, so “named after the state” really means named after the name Nebraska.
The fort that came first
Before there was a town, there was an Army post. History Nebraska’s marker for the city says permanent settlement here goes back to 1846, when the first Fort Kearny was set up on Table Creek. That first fort didn’t stay, and the name Fort Kearny ended up farther west, on the Platte. The city of Kearney is named for that later fort.
Several towns become one
Nebraska City grew out of more than one town site. The 1925 study says it was incorporated in March 1855 and incorporated again on December 31, 1857, and that it was founded by Stephen F. Nuckolls, for whom Nuckolls County is named. A 1906 booklet, Nebraska City Illustrated, says Kearney, South Nebraska City and Prairie City all joined in 1858. The sources don’t agree on whether the merger was at the very end of 1857 or in 1858.
The rest of the record
The marker says the town, founded in 1854, became a big depot for wagon freight heading west, with Alexander Majors shipping military supplies from here starting in 1858. The U.S. Geological Survey’s record says Nebraska City was incorporated in 1855. It’s the county seat of Otoe County.
Sources & further reading
- Lilian Linder Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names (University of Nebraska, 1925). A public-domain study of the state’s place names, county by county. Named after Nebraska; incorporation dates; Stephen F. Nuckolls.
- City of Nebraska City, “History of Nebraska City.” The change from Table Creek on March 4, 1854.
- History Nebraska, “Marker Monday: Nebraska City.” Old Fort Kearny on Table Creek and the freighting years.
- Nebraska City Illustrated (1906), on the Otoe County NEGenWeb site. The towns that merged in 1858.
- GNIS feature 831570 (U.S. Geological Survey). The federal record for Nebraska City. Incorporated 1855.
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