How Norfolk, Nebraska Got Its Name (It Was Supposed to Be North Fork)

Norfolk, Nebraska, was meant to be named for the North Fork of the Elkhorn River. The settlers sent in a short form of North Fork, and the post office turned it into Norfolk.

Where the name comes from

A 1925 study of Nebraska place names tells the story as Colonel Mathewson, one of the town’s founders, told it. When the settlers petitioned for a post office, they had to pick a name. “Finally the name Nor’fork, a contraction of North Fork, was agreed upon, since the town was located on the north fork of the river.”

Then the government stepped in. According to the study, “the post office department respelled the name Norfolk, assuming, undoubtedly, that the petitioners had misspelled the name.”

Encyclopaedia Britannica tells the same basic story: the name was shortened to Norfork, and the post office changed it to Norfolk.

Nor’fork, Norfork or North Fork?

Not everyone tells the petition the same way. The 1925 study says the settlers sent in “Nor’fork.” Britannica says “Norfork.” A Madison County history on the NEGenWeb site says the settlers asked for a post office named “North Fork,” and officials, thinking it was misspelled, issued it as Norfolk. All of them point back to the North Fork. The part everyone agrees on is the ending: somebody at the post office read it as Norfolk.

An 1882 state history by A. T. Andreas is shorter. It says the post office was named Norfolk simply because the town was on the North Fork of the Elkhorn.

When the post office opened

Here the sources split. The 1925 study says the office was established in 1867. The 1882 history says 1869 and names August Raasch as the first postmaster. The U.S. Geological Survey’s record says the town itself was founded in 1866.

Not named for England

Norfolk sounds like the county in England, and an older national book of place names by Henry Gannett said that’s where it came from. The 1925 study mentions Gannett’s claim, but tells the North Fork story as the town’s founders told it.

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. Colonel Mathewson’s account of “Nor’fork,” the post office’s respelling, the 1867 date and Gannett’s England claim.
• A. T. Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882), Madison County. The post office in 1869, named for the North Fork of the Elkhorn; August Raasch, first postmaster.
• Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Norfolk.” Shortened to Norfork, then changed by the post office.
• NEGenWeb, “Norfolk History” (Madison County). The settlers ask for “North Fork,” and officials issue the office as Norfolk.
• GNIS feature 834976 (U.S. Geological Survey). The federal record for Norfolk. Founded 1866; incorporated as a village in 1881 and as a city in 1909.