Firth, NE

Firth is the southernmost community in Lancaster County, a village in the Lincoln metro whose eastern edge meets Big Nemaha Reservoir. Its central park preserves the footprint of a courthouse square laid out before 1860, when this part of Nebraska was still considered too remote for sustained settlement. Early residents traveled to Nebraska City for supplies; the town's fortunes changed after the railroad arrived, and by 1881 Firth was shipping about 700 carloads of grain and livestock through the A&N line.

Today, the school map reaches beyond the village. Firth joined nearby communities to form Norris School District 160 in 1964, and the district's campus sits roughly two miles north and one mile west. In town, the Village Office and Community Center share a building on Nemaha Street, while a farmer's cooperative, general store, eateries, auto repair shop, and churches keep everyday services close to the historic center. Lakeview Rest Home, built in the 1970s with land donated by Henry and Bertha TeKolste, adds another local institution. Firth's daily geography runs from the village center to the reservoir, school campus, and Lincoln-area routes beyond.