The North Bottoms neighborhood was settled by Germans from
Russia beginning in the 1870s.
During the preceding century they had colonized in Russia, attracted
by offers of free land,
military exemption, and political autonomy. In 1871, when the
Czar revoked these privileges, a
flood of German emigration to the Americas began.
Immigrants were drawn to the Great Plains by land and jobs.
Lincoln became a major
destination. Here most took residence along the bottom lands of
Salt Creek, where frequent
flooding diminished land values and rail yards offered employment.
Settler from the same
villages clustered together, creating a distinct neighborhood.
The North Bottoms ethnic enclave developed its own businesses,
social groups, churches, and
schools. Small houses on long, narrow lots followed either Old
World models or the new
American styles. In the backyards, chicken coops, tiny barns,
and summer kitchens recalled the
old country agricultural community. Descendants have largely dispersed
throughout Lincoln and
the nation, but North Bottoms reminds us of the old "urban
villages" immigrants built in a new
land.
City of Lincoln
Faith United Church of Christ
Immanuel Church
Nebraska State Historical Society
Tenth and Charleston Streets, Lincoln
Lancaster County
Marker 396