County-City Building

The courthouse that stood just north of this building was designed by Omaha architect F. M. Ellis and built by Lincoln contractor W. H. B. Stout. Its cornerstone was laid on November 1, 1888, on the block bounded by Ninth, Tenth, J and K streets. It was a two-story stone building under a bell tower topped by a statue of Abraham Lincoln. The tower and statue came down long before the rest, because they had grown too costly to maintain. A postcard of it in the Nebraska Memories collection shows buggies lined up along the lawn.

What the plaque says

County-City Building Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska On March 6, 1855, Lancaster County was created by act of the Territorial Legislature. Many early settlers came for land, while others were attracted by the commercial possibilities of the nearby Salt Basin. In 1859, a site east of the Salt Basin was selected as the future county seat. Originally known as Lancaster, the town was first settled in 1864 and renamed Lincoln in 1867 when it was designated the state capital. Lincoln's city government occupied various locations until 1886, when a municipal headquarters building was erected at 10th and Q Streets. The old U.S. Post Office building, constructed in 1874-1879 at 10th and O Streets, served as City Hall from 1907-1969. In 1888, the County Commissioners accepted a bid of $164,976 for the construction of Lancaster County's first courthouse. Completed in 1890 on a site directly north of this building, the courthouse was razed in 1969. Through the combined efforts of the City Council and County Commissioners, voter approval was received in 1965 for the construction of a building to house both governments. Designed by two local architectural firms, the County-City Building was completed in 1969 at a cost of five million dollars. Lincoln Bar Association, May 1, 1970 Nebraska State Historical Society

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Nebraska State Capitol — 0.4 mi
  Bertram Goodhue's 400-foot tower on the prairie, built in four phases from 1922 to 1932 and paid off on completion, home of the only one-house legislature in the country.
• Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum — 25 mi
  Two hangar-sized halls beside I-80 near Ashland holding the bombers and reconnaissance planes of the command that ran America's nuclear force from Offutt, south of Omaha, from 1948 to 1992.

More markers nearby

• Mari Sandoz in Lincoln — 0.2 mi
• U. S. Post Office and Courthouse (Old City Hall) — 0.4 mi
• The Ferguson House — 0.5 mi
• Lincoln's Founding Block — 0.5 mi