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The time has come, we believe, gently to remove the guide who has been
walking ahead in these Lincoln explorations, and to let those
following—if there are those following—go on, each with his own
sightseeing. Possibilities have not been exhausted. There are, for
example, the state orthopedic hospital, with its bright-eyed little
birds, seemingly survivals of some great battering storm; the state
reformatory, once a normal college (a thousand tapped on its door for
admission 50 years ago this fall), later a military academy and now,
last chance for wayward boys and young men; the state hospital, with its
population of 1,440, widely known its treatments.
There are old houses, patient, wise and worn; churches, each with its
own flavor, history and problems; parks we have not mentioned; hospitals
and theaters. The agricultural college, apple cheeked sister of the
university we have inadvertently neglected.
If you are interested particularly in the historical aspects of a
community you will visit the historical society museum in the capitol.
Here time will cease for an afternoon as in spirit you move rapidly from
1842 to 1942 and back again to 1842, your fingers touching visible
evidence of periods between those dates. For Nebraska had its white
people even before 1842—its fur traders, trappers, missionaries. In
Bellevue, first Nebraska town, first territorial governor Francis Burt
took his oath of office Oct. 16, 1854—only to die two days later in the
log cabin home of Rev. William Hamilton.
... In short, we commend all ramblers into the past to the state
historical society. It will serve as an excellent guide to early Lincoln
and Nebraska.
And so, goodbye.
(THE END)