Historic and Descriptive Review of Nebraska

NEBRASKA'S ENTERPRISING CITIES.

born in Illinois. He is an I. O. O. F. and G. A. R., and served in the 32nd Illinois Infantry.

     THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK.--This is the oldest banking house in the county, first known as the Madison County Savings Bank, then as Wohlford Bros. & Co's. Bank, and being re-organized as the First National Bank in August, 1887. Capital, $50.000. Interest paid on deposits. Farm loans negotiated. Peter Rubendall president. born in Illinois, has been banking here since 1883. He is a Mason and an I. O. O. F. C. L. Plass, born in New York, is in the mercantile business. M. C. Garrett, cashier, born in Missouri, has been banking here two years. No gentlemen stand higher here in either social or commercial circles than these officers.

     MADISON HOTEL, A. Spence, Proprietor.--A hotel which is well-known here is the "Madison," founded three years. There are twenty bed rooms and the dining hall will seat thirty-five persons. Mr. A. Spence is a native of Canada. He has lived in our county four years, and is a K. P. As "mine host" he is thorough success and merits his solid patronage.

     THE MADISON CHRONICLE, Carl P. Seely, Editor and Proprietor.--This paper has been in operation nineteen years and was taken by the present owner in August, 1888. It has steadily continued to augment its influence, and, while the oldest paper in the county, is no less the liveliest and most creditable paper here published. It is Republican, with a circulation of 720 weekly. Mr. Seely is an energetic and reliable gentleman, a native of Illinois, and twenty-two years a newspaper man. His paper sells at $1.50 per year. As an advertising medium it is not surpassed in the northern section. He also has a nice job printing plant, so that merchants do not require to go to large cities in quest of fine stationery.

     Norfolk is located on the north fork of the Elkhorn, in the northeastern part of the county, about four miles above its junction with the main branch of that river. The valley surrounding it is level, and in the earlier days the town was occasionally flooded, but now, by means of street grading and proper embanking, such is entirely prevented.
     Situated at the confluence of two of the greatest and most fertile valleys of north Nebraska. easily accessible from all portions of the territory of which she is the center, Norfolk is especially fortunate in her geographical location. Her advantageous position in this regard has received ample recognition in the fact that every successful railroad that has been built into and through northeastern Nebraska has been built to Norfolk, while the only road that disregarded that position is bankrupt and in the hands of a receiver. With four different lines of railway radiating in five different directions, and with bright prospects of a fifth line connecting her with the Great Northern Railway system and with the harbor of Duluth, will be built and in operation before the close of the coming season, Norfolk is certainly fortunate in her railway facilities, and has every advantage necessary for building up into a great commercial and manufacturing center. Located in the northeastern portion of Madison County, the city draws trade largely from Madison, Wayne, Stanton and Pierce Counties and from all surrounding cities and towns.
     Norfolk dates its origin to 1866, in which year Evan Jones erected his dug-out on what is now the site of the Norfolk mills, of Birchard Bridge & Co. The mills were completed in Feb., 1870, and determined the location of the town, which was laid out in 1869. The postoffice was established in 1869 and named Norfolk, being on the north fork of the Elkhorn. The first store was built in 1869, The first church was of logs and erected by the German Lutherans in 1867. The Congregationalists erected a neat frame building in 1872. The Lutherans erected a fine building in 1878. They have now two churches, St. Paul's and Christ's. The Methodists, Roman Catholics. Episcopalians and Baptists have also good edifices.
     The town was incorporated in 1881. The board of trustees were: Chas. P. Matthewson, chairman; John Cluey, clerk; A. P. Pilger, Jno. Koenigstein, Frederick Lukes; Sam. W. Hayes, treasurer.
     The Sioux City & Pacific Road, now incorporated in the F. E. & M. V. system, was the first road to reach Norfolk, in 1880. its Creighton branch being started to the northwest in the fall. In the same year the Union Pacific came into the town from the south. The coming of these roads marked the commencement of a new era in Norfolk life, and since the town has grown and become a solid center for everything accompanying modern life.
     In the summer of 1882 the Chicago, St Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway completed its Norfolk line and began running trains upon it, thus giving the town four separate lines of railway--a terminus of three and a division station on the fourth.
     On March 2, 1886, the village having more than one thousand people, was declared a city of the second class and was divided into three wards; at the present time it is composed of four wards, each ward sending two representatives to the town council.
     The prospects of the city were never better than now. The impetus given the material growth by securing the sugar factory, the

No city in Nebraska has shown a more rapid growth in population and material wealth than Norfolk. Without even a village organization in 1880, the place was an unknown quantity in the report of the United States census taken in that year, while Norfolk precinct, composed of the present townships of Norfolk and Warnerville, a territory six by twelve miles in extent contained a population of even 1,200 souls. When the State census of 1885 was taken, the city had a population of 1,949. The census figures for 1890 have not yet been published, but the number of inhabitants was certainly over 3,000. At the present time, owing to the rapid increase that has taken place since the sugar factory was secured, the population must be very nearly 5,000. The growth in wealth has more than kept pace with the advance in population, hundreds of thousands of dollars having been invested in buildings, manufacturing and business enterprises, while the bank deposits have

shown a rapid and steady increase from year to year.
Not only has Norfolk made a rapid stride in her gain in population and wealth, but, in those conveniences that go to make the modern progressive city, she has led the van in north Nebraska and ranks second to none of her sister cities of the State. A system of waterworks, the best in the State, outside of the large city of Omaha, supplies an abundance of pure water for fire protection and private use. A street railway already connects the different portions of the city, and an electric motor line will soon be running its cars between the business center and the sugar factory. One of the best equipped telephone exchanges in the West furnishes the means of communication for the people and connects the city with the neighboring town of Madison. It was put in by the Nebraska Telephone Company, which expects in the near future to enlarge its sphere of usefulness by extensions to the various cities and towns of north Nebraska, with Norfolk as the center of radiation. An electric light plant that is first-class in every particular furnishes an abundance of both are and incandescent lights for street, commercial and residence lighting. Sewerage has been put in in the business portion of the city and the system is being extended into the residence portion.
The city has a perfected electric street rail


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