Nebraska City Nebraska 68410

Nebraska City is the seat of Otoe County and one of Nebraska's oldest cities, tracing its roots to the Table Creek settlement and Fort Kearny blockhouse of the 1840s before taking its current name on March 4, 1854, when it became the new county seat. Three neighboring townsites — Nebraska City, Kearney City, and South Nebraska City — merged into one community in 1857. The city is best known as the birthplace of Arbor Day, founded here in 1872 by J. Sterling Morton, whose 52-room mansion is now preserved as Arbor Lodge State Historical Park. Nebraska City is also home to the Mayhew Cabin, the only site in Nebraska recognized by the National Park Service as a station on the Underground Railroad, and boasts 20 of the county's 27 National Register of Historic Places listings, including the 1865 Otoe County Courthouse, Nebraska's oldest public building still in use.

Nebraska City, the Otoe County seat and birthplace of Arbor Day, is home to Arbor Lodge State Historical Park and the historic Mayhew Cabin.