LANCASTER COUNTY WEATHER

Lancaster County Cameras

Lancaster County Cameras

Lancaster County, Nebraska

County seat: Lincoln, the state capital · Created: March 16, 1855; organized October 10, 1859 · Named for: Lancaster (sources differ on Lancaster, England, or Lancaster, Pennsylvania) · License plates: county number 2 from 1922 to 2002; alphanumeric since · Population: 322,608 (2020 census), the highest yet; about 334,000 (2025) · Area: 846 sq mi (838 land) · Time zone: Central

About Lancaster County

Lancaster County, in southeastern Nebraska, is the state’s second-most-populous county. Lincoln, the county seat and state capital, is Nebraska’s second-largest city; Waverly and Hickman are the other cities. The villages are Bennet, Firth, Malcolm, Hallam, Panama, Roca, Denton, Raymond, Sprague and Davey; Cheney and Martell are unincorporated. The county borders eight others: Saunders on the north, Cass on the northeast, Otoe and Johnson on the southeast, Gage on the south, Saline on the southwest, and Seward and Butler on the northwest.

Settlers came to the salt flats along Salt Creek in 1856, and the village of Lancaster was platted in 1864. After statehood in 1867 the Legislature moved the capital south of the Platte; an Omaha senator proposed the name Lincoln hoping to sink the bill, but it passed, and the commission that set out on July 18, 1867, chose Lancaster, renamed Lincoln. The University of Nebraska followed in 1869. The county has grown at almost every census since and is at its peak today.

Towns of Lancaster County

Cities and villages

Lincoln

City · County seat · Pop. 291,082 · ZIP 68508
I-80 (Exits 395–409) · I-180 · US 6 · US 34 · US 77 · NE 2

Nebraska’s capital and second-largest city (291,082), seat of Lancaster County and home of the State Capitol and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Waverly

City · Pop. 4,279 · ZIP 68462
I-80 (Exit 409) · US 6

City of 4,279 on US 6 and I-80 Exit 409 northeast of Lincoln, named for Scott’s novel <em>Waverley</em>; it has grown at every census since 1950.

Hickman

City · Pop. 2,607 · ZIP 68372
US 77 (west) · county roads

City of 2,607 south of Lincoln, named by a clerk’s misspelling of founder C. H. Heckman; it grew more than 50% in 2010–20.

Bennet

Village · Pop. 1,082 · ZIP 68317
NE 43 · NE 2 (north)

Village of 1,082 southeast of Lincoln, founded in 1871 as Bennett’s Station on the Midland Pacific; it nearly doubled from 2000 to 2020.

Firth

Village · Pop. 649 · ZIP 68358
County roads · US 77 (west)

Village of 649 at the south edge of Lancaster County, named for railroad superintendent Frank Firth; home of the Norris school campus.

Malcolm

Village · Pop. 457 · ZIP 68402
County roads

Village of 457 northwest of Lincoln between Branched Oak and Pawnee lakes; it runs its own school district.

Hallam

Village · Pop. 268 · ZIP 68368
County roads

Village of 268 in southwestern Lancaster County, named for Hallau, Switzerland, and rebuilt after the record-wide tornado of May 22, 2004.

Panama

Village · Pop. 235 · ZIP 68419
County roads · NE 43 (east)

Village of 235 in southeastern Lancaster County, named for the Isthmus of Panama; by local tradition it has stayed dry under a founder’s land clause.

Roca

Village · Pop. 201 · ZIP 68430
US 77 · NE 33 (east end)

Village of 201 south of Lincoln whose name is Spanish for rock, for the limestone quarries that supplied building stone for more than a century.

Denton

Village · Pop. 189 · ZIP 68339
County roads (W. Denton Rd.)

Village of 189 southwest of Lincoln, near Spring Creek Prairie and Conestoga Lake; home of Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary.

Raymond

Village · Pop. 159 · ZIP 68428
NE 79 (west edge)

Village of 159 north of Lincoln, platted on the railroad in 1880; Branched Oak Lake, the largest in eastern Nebraska, is just southwest.

Sprague

Village · Pop. 136 · ZIP 68438
County roads

Village of 136 south of Lincoln, founded on the Missouri Pacific in 1888; Bluestem Lake is just outside town.

Davey

Village · Pop. 135 · ZIP 68336
County roads

Village of 135 north of Lincoln, founded on the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad in 1886; Davey Hall is a WPA building.

Cheney

Unincorporated community · Pop. 164 · ZIP 68526
City and county roads · NE 2 (nearby)

Census-designated place of 164 on Lincoln’s southeast edge, a Midland Pacific station of 1871 that gave its name to Old Cheney Road.

Martell

Unincorporated community · Pop. 125 · ZIP 68404
County roads

Census-designated place of 125 southwest of Lincoln with its own post office (68404), a Rock Island station named for Charles Martel.

Airpark

Lincoln neighborhood · ZIP 68524
NW 48th St. · I-80 (Exit 395)

Northwest Lincoln neighborhood (Arnold Heights) built from the housing of Lincoln Air Force Base, which closed in 1966.

Emerald

Unincorporated community · Pop. 45
US 6

Census-designated place of 45 on US 6 west of Lincoln, a Burlington station named because the land was “as green as an emerald.”

Walton

Unincorporated community · Pop. 351 · ZIP 68461
US 34 (north edge)

Census-designated place of 351 just east of Lincoln on US 34 and the MoPac Trail East, a Missouri Pacific station with a post office since 1880.

Yankee Hill

Unincorporated community · Pop. 286
City and county roads

Census-designated place of 286 on Lincoln’s southwest edge, home of Yankee Hill Brick, maker of the bricks inside the State Capitol.

Princeton

Unincorporated community · Pop. 51
County roads

Census-designated place of 51 in southern Lancaster County, an 1886 Union Pacific town and the birthplace of baseball’s Leon Riley.

Agnew

Unincorporated community · Pop. 30
County roads (Agnew Road)

Census-designated place of 30 in far northern Lancaster County, the former West Oak Station on the Union Pacific, named for railroad official W. J. Agnew.

Kramer

Unincorporated community · Pop. 26
County roads

Census-designated place of 26 in southwest Lancaster County, an 1888 Missouri Pacific town ringed by three wildlife-area lakes.

Prairie Home

Unincorporated community · Pop. 38
County roads

Census-designated place of 38 south of Waverly, platted by the Rock Island in 1891 and named for the Waite family’s farm.

Travel Corridors

I-80 crosses the county from the west through north Lincoln to Waverly, with seven open exits: 395 (NW 48th St.), 397 (US 77 south), 399 (Lincoln Airport), 401 (I-180 to downtown), 403 (27th St.), 405 (56th St., US 77 north) and 409 (US 6, Waverly). I-80 Corridor → US 6 runs from Milford through Lincoln to Waverly. US 6 Corridor → US 34 follows I-180 into downtown Lincoln. US 34 Corridor → US 77 runs north to Wahoo and south past Roca to Beatrice. NE 2 heads southeast from Lincoln past Bennet toward Nebraska City. Highway 2 Corridor → NE 33 runs west from US 77 near Roca to Crete, NE 43 north–south through Bennet, and NE 79 north from Lincoln past Raymond.

Cameras: View Lancaster County cameras → · Road conditions: Nebraska 511

Things to See

The Nebraska State Capitol (1922–32), a National Historic Landmark with a tower about 400 feet tall, houses the nation’s only one-house legislature and offers free tours. Lincoln also has the Nebraska History Museum, Morrill Hall, the Sheldon Museum of Art, the International Quilt Museum, the Museum of American Speed, the Lincoln Children’s Zoo, Sunken Gardens and the Historic Haymarket. The county has 110 places on the National Register, 105 of them in Lincoln. Near Denton, Spring Creek Prairie preserves tallgrass prairie and wagon ruts of the Nebraska City–Fort Kearny cutoff.

Parks and Outdoors

About two dozen Salt Valley lakes, built as flood-control reservoirs, lie within 25 miles of Lincoln, with 15,039 acres including 4,438 acres of water. State recreation areas include Branched Oak (the largest lake in eastern Nebraska) and Pawnee northwest of Lincoln, Conestoga near Denton, Bluestem at Sprague, Stagecoach and Wagon Train near Hickman and Olive Creek near Hallam; a park entry permit is required. Lincoln’s Pioneers Park Nature Center is free.

Lancaster County Business Directory

Businesses within 20 miles of: Lincoln · Waverly · Hickman · All listings →

Adjacent Counties

Saunders County (north) · Cass County (northeast) · Otoe County and Johnson County (southeast) · Gage County (south) · Saline County (southwest) · Seward County and Butler County (northwest).

Events

The Lancaster County Super Fair at the Sandhills Global Event Center (July 30–August 8 in 2026), Jazz in June in the Sheldon Sculpture Garden (Tuesdays in June), the Haymarket Farmers’ Market (Saturdays, May to mid-October), Hickman Hay Days in late July and the Camp Creek Threshers show near Waverly on the third weekend of July.

Events in Lancaster County

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Lancaster County at a Glance

Lancaster County, Nebraska — created March 16, 1855, organized October 10, 1859, and named for Lancaster (England or Pennsylvania; sources differ). County seat Lincoln, the state capital. Population 322,608 at the 2020 census, the highest yet, and about 334,000 in 2025; Nebraska’s second-most-populous county. 1,659 listings across 24 towns.

The capital story: when Nebraska became a state in 1867, Omaha Sen. J. N. H. Patrick proposed naming the new capital for Abraham Lincoln, hoping lawmakers from south of the Platte would vote the move down. They did not, and the commission that set out on July 18, 1867, chose the village of Lancaster; the plat of Lincoln was finished on September 6. The Nebraska State Fair, held in Lincoln until 2009, moved to Grand Island in 2010.

Getting there: I-80 crosses north Lincoln (Exits 395–409), with I-180 and US 34 into downtown, plus US 6, US 77 and NE 2. Lincoln Airport has United, American and Breeze flights, and Amtrak’s California Zephyr stops daily each way. Central Time.

Born in Lincoln: Roscoe Pound, Loren Eiseley, Ted Sorensen, Dick Cheney, Bob Kerrey and Hilary Swank.

Vehicles registered in Lancaster County carry license plate number 2. See what every Nebraska county number means.

Lancaster County Businesses & Places

1659 listings in Lancaster County.

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