University of Nebraska–Lincoln

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln, often referred to as Nebraska, UNL or NU, is a public research university located in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. It is the state's oldest university, and the largest in the University of Nebraska system.

The university was chartered by the legislature in 1869 as a land-grant university under the 1862 Morrill Act, two years after Nebraska's statehood into the United States. Around the turn of the 20th century, the university began to expand significantly, hiring professors from eastern schools to teach in the newly organized professional colleges while also producing groundbreaking research in agricultural sciences. The "Nebraska method" of ecological study developed here during this time, which pioneered grassland ecology and laid the foundation for research in theoretical ecology for the rest of the 20th century. The university is organized into eight colleges, located on two campuses in Lincoln with over 100 classroom buildings and research facilities.

Lincoln, Nebraska

Lincoln /ˈlɪŋkən/ is the capital of the State of Nebraska and the second-most populous city in Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County Lincoln is located in the southeastern part of Nebraska and is in the Lincoln metropolitan (statistical) area. Lincoln's population in 2014 was estimated at 272,996.

Lincoln was founded as the village of Lancaster on the wild salt flats of what was to become Lancaster County. A short time later, Lancaster was renamed Lincoln and became Nebraska's capital.

Sometimes referred to as the "Star City", many of Lincoln's primary employers fall within the service and manufacturing industries, including a growing high tech sector. The city is the home of the University of Nebraska, has an unemployment rate of 2.2% (December 2015, preliminary) and has the second tallest capitol building in the United States.

History

Pioneer Lincoln

Prior to the expansion westward of settlers, the prairie was covered with buffalo grass. Plains Indians, descendants of indigenous peoples who occupied the area for thousands of years, lived in and hunted along Salt Creek. The Pawnee, which included four tribes, lived in villages along the Platte River. The Great Sioux Nation, including the Ihanktowan-Ihanktowana and the Lakota located to the north and west, used Nebraska as a hunting and skirmish ground, although they did not have any long-term settlements in the state. An occasional buffalo could still be seen in the plat of Lincoln in the 1860s.