Firth is a village in Lancaster County,

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, United States. It is part of the

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 649 at the 2020 census.

Geography

According to the

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, the village has a total area of , all land. Located in South Pass Township, which is now used as a county precinct, Firth is the southernmost community in Lancaster County. Firth is bordered to the east by Big Nemaha Reservoir.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 590 people, 204 households, and 147 families living in the village. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 218 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 89.8%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.2%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.2% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 6.8% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races.

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or Latino of any race were 9.0% of the population. There were 204 households, of which 45.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.8% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 27.9% were non-families. 23.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.31. The median age in the village was 34.2 years. 32.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 4.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.9% were from 25 to 44; 15.6% were from 45 to 64; and 18.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 51.4% male and 48.6% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 564 people, 192 households, and 139 families living in the village. The population density was . There were 200 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 98.76%

, 0.18%

, 0.35% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.18% from other races, and 0.35% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.18% of the population. There were 192 households, out of which 41.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.6% were

living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.1% were non-families. 22.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.15. In the village, the population was spread out, with 26.8% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 11.2% from 45 to 64, and 24.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males. As of 2000 the median income for a household in the village was $41,944, and the median income for a family was $52,083. Males had a median income of $34,375 versus $24,875 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $20,471. About 5.6% of families and 6.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 10.7% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those age 65 or over.

Schools

Norris School District 160 is located approximately two miles north and one mile west of Firth. Norris is made up of an elementary school, intermediate school, middle school, and a high school, all of which are in separate buildings but on the same campus. Norris provides Pre-K-12 education for students from Hickman, Holland, Firth, Cortland, Roca, Princeton, Panama, and parts of southern Lincoln. Norris School was named after a

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from Nebraska, George William Norris.

History

A courthouse square was planned in the area that would become Firth sometime before 1860. However, due to Firth's remote location, residents would have had to travel to Nebraska City for supplies, meaning that the area remained largely uninhabited by non-Natives for many years. Firth was settled in the early 1870s, as the Atchison & Nebraska Railroad was extended toward

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

. The post office was established in 1872, named for Superintendent Frank Firth of the Atchison & Nebraska Railroad, and was incorporated in 1879."Firth--Lancaster County".Nebraska... Our Towns.
Retrieved November 29, 2012. Once the railroad was completed, Firth became an important hub of business on the Atchison & Nebraska line, shipping 700 carloads of grain and livestock daily. In 1916, a brick school was built to replace the two-story schoolhouse which had previously served the village. In 1964, Firth became one of several schools to consolidate and form the

Norris School District Norris School District is an elementary school district in Bakersfield, California. Norris School District was established in 1880, when farmer, Robert Norris, donated land to the Norris School District in Northwest Bakersfield. The school di ...

. The brick school building was torn down in 1971 after years of vacancy. Fundraising in the area allowed for the Lakeview Rest Home to be built in the 1970s on land donated by Henry and Bertha TeKolste.

Notable person

Orah Dee Clark Orah Dee Clark (1875–1965) was an American educator. She was the first superintendent for the first school in Anchorage, Alaska. In 2009, she was named into the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame. Early life and work Orah Dee Clark was born in Fi ...

, the first

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Building superintendent, a manager, maintenance or repair person, custodian or janitor, especially in the United States; sometimes shortened to "super" *Prison warden or superintendent, a prison administrator *Soprin ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

schools, was born in Firth.

References

External links

Village website
{{authority control Villages in Lancaster County, Nebraska Villages in Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska metropolitan area