Nebraska City

In 1804, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and the Corps of Discovery passed what is now Nebraska City on their journey up the Missouri River. Approximately 40 years later, the US Army wanted to build a new fort on the Great Plains, and they chose the same site. By 1859, when this wagon-train image was captured, Nebraska City had been platted and incorporated and was well on its way to becoming an industrial and transportation hub. (Courtesy of the Morton James Public Library.)

After a visit to the area in 1838, Col. Stephen Kearny recommended this site for a military outpost. Construction of Fort Kearny, as it became known, began in 1846. The buildings, including the blockhouse replicated here, were vacated a mere two years later when the Army decided to move the fort west to what is now Kearney, Nebraska. Platting of the actual city began on July 10, 1854, and Nebraska City was officially incorporated in March 1855. Wagon trains pulled by oxen and mules clogged the town’s main thoroughfares. Those trains, called prairie schooners, carried settlers and supplies to California; New Mexico; Denver, Colorado; and Salt Lake City, Utah. From the 1850s through the 1860s, four thousand wagons left Nebraska City each year. (Courtesy of the Mayhew Cabin Museum.)

The Mayhew family settled in Nebraska City in the mid-1850s. In February 1859, John Henry Kagi, a brother of Barbara Kagi Mayhew, led a group of escaped slaves from Kansas through Nebraska City and then into Iowa. Kagi is believed to have been accompanied by famous abolitionist John Brown. For many years, John Brown’s Cave was a tourist attraction, finally achieving recognition as an official stop on the Underground Railroad. (Courtesy of the Mayhew Cabin Museum.)

Early settlers often lived in sparse log cabins, but some families, such as the H.G. Markel family pictured here, were able to build and furnish more elaborate and ornate structures. Henry Markel owned a hardware store at 906 Central Avenue and sold the first Model T Ford in Nebraska City out of his store. (Courtesy of the Morton James Public Library.)

In 1855, J. Sterling Morton and his wife, Caroline, purchased 160 acres of treeless prairie west of Nebraska City. Morton, who was the new editor of the News, paid $1.25 an acre for the land. He established a working farm and orchard, writing in his later years that “there is beauty in a well-ordered orchard, which is a joy forever—it is a blessing to him who plants it.” The property has grown apples continuously since Morton began planting. (Courtesy of Arbor Lodge.)

By 1860, the Mortons had built a four-room frame house and boasted more than 1,000 acres of property. They farmed corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, and hay and raised hogs and other animals. The Mortons had four sons: Joy, Paul, Mark, and Carl. Joy later founded the Morton Salt Company, while Paul became secretary of the Navy under Theodore Roosevelt. Mark worked on the Morton farms, and Carl was the principle founder and manager of Argo Starch Works in Nebraska City. (Courtesy of Arbor Lodge.)

As the 1800s drew to a close, the Mortons continued to establish themselves in the community, investing in many industrial endeavors, including an opera house, creamery, cereal mill, printing establishment, grain elevators, and stockyards. A complete remodel of their home in the 1870s, including the addition of wraparound porches, transformed the house into a Victorian-era mansion. By 1875, Morton was calling his property Arbor Lodge. (Courtesy of Arbor Lodge.)

J. Sterling Morton was, by all standards, a prosperous man. He worked as a lawyer, politician, farmer, author, and editor. His hard work brought him wealth, which he used to improve his property and home. He filled his dwelling with fine furnishings and amassed a collection of carriages. The estate of J. Sterling Morton, now a museum, has many of those carriages on display. (Courtesy of Arbor Lodge.)

Caroline Morton died in 1881 and was buried in the Morton plot in Wyuka Cemetery in Nebraska City. J. Sterling Morton died in 1902. While he began his career as a newspaperman, Morton also dabbled in politics, serving as secretary of the Nebraska Territory from 1858 to 1861, acting governor in 1858 and 1859, and president of the State Board of Agriculture in 1873. Morton unsuccessfully ran for governor of Nebraska in 1880, 1882, 1884, and 1892. Pres. Grover Cleveland appointed Morton as the US secretary of agriculture from 1893 to 1897. (Courtesy of Arbor Lodge.)

J. Sterling Morton is remembered as the “Father of Arbor Day.” On the first Arbor Day in 1872, more than one million trees were planted in Nebraska. In 1885, Arbor Day was declared a legal holiday, and Morton’s date of birth, April 22, was chosen to be the day to plant trees; however, in Nebraska, it is now celebrated on the last Friday of April each year. (Courtesy of the Arbor Day Foundation.)

In 1903–1904, Joy Morton ordered the last major renovation to Arbor Lodge. The plans called for additional rooms to the home, increasing the total of rooms from 18 to 52. A long brick driveway was added, its entrance flanked by two large brick walls. (Courtesy of Arbor Lodge.)

The reconstruction of Arbor Lodge in 1903 and 1904 styled the exterior of the house as a Neo-Colonial. The three-story addition to the front of the house called for curved porticos and columns. Stucco was added to the exterior of the structure, and a bowling alley was installed in the basement. (Courtesy of the Arbor Day Foundation.)

Chester Dwyer was hired by Joy Morton in 1904 to create a formal garden adjacent to the mansion. His plans included Italian-inspired terraces and varied plantings. These images show the construction of the formal garden. (Both courtesy of Arbor Lodge.)

In addition to designing the landscape, Dwyer also dabbled in photography. His collection of glass plate negatives was donated to Arbor Lodge more than 100 years after he captured the images. (Courtesy of Arbor Lodge.)

The 1903–1904 renovations to Arbor Lodge included the addition of a main hall featuring a grand staircase. In this photograph from October 1904, the hall is decorated for the wedding of Jean Morton, Joy Morton’s daughter, to Joseph Cudahy. (Courtesy of Arbor Lodge.)

The walls of the parlor inside Arbor Lodge were covered in French silk tapestry and adhered with braids and nails. A Corinthian ceiling topped the room. In October 1905, a special monument was dedicated to J. Sterling Morton. Guests at the dedication included former US president Grover Cleveland and former US vice president Adlai Stevenson. Politicians, family, and friends of J. Sterling Morton gathered in the parlor the night prior to the monument unveiling to exchange stories about their friend. (Courtesy of Arbor Lodge.)

Morton’s bronze sculpture was created by Rudolph Evans, who became known later in life for designing the bronze monument of Thomas Jefferson in the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC. At the unveiling of the Morton monument, Adlai Stevenson spoke to the large crowd about Morton, saying, “Under his guiding hand, a new day was added to the calendar . . . millions of trees now beautify and adorn this magnificent state. . . . Henceforth, upon its annual recurrence, ordinary avocations are to be suspended, and this day wholly set apart to pursuits which tend to beautify the home, make glorious the landscape, and gladden the hearts of all the people.” (Both courtesy of Arbor Lodge.)

Joy Morton and his family used Arbor Lodge as a summer home in the early 1900s. Morton, who made his home in Chicago, would load his family, their bags, and even special pieces of furniture on a train every year and make the journey to Nebraska City, staying a few months before returning to Chicago. A staff of 20 would be employed to get the mansion ready for the family’s visit. (Courtesy of Arbor Lodge.)

J. Sterling Morton’s monument is located at the east end of his property in an area called Morton Park. It remains a popular spot for visitors. (Courtesy of Brett and Robyn Gay.)

Joy Morton is known to have loved horses and used them as a source of power on the farm and his commercial orchard, Morton Orchard. (Courtesy of Arbor Lodge.)

The carriage house behind Arbor Lodge was erected around 1900. It housed the family’s collection of carriages, including the overland stagecoach purchased by J. Sterling Morton in 1894. Morton used the stagecoach to transfer guests from the train depot south of downtown Nebraska City to his property on the west side of town. (Courtesy of Arbor Lodge.)

Joy Morton, pictured above (second from left), gave Arbor Lodge and the surrounding acres to the State of Nebraska in 1923. His goal was to have Arbor Lodge maintained as a historical museum and park. Today, Arbor Lodge and its grounds are a favorite destination for many, welcoming thousands of visitors each year. (Both courtesy of Arbor Lodge.)