Malcolm, NE

Malcolm is a small Lancaster County village in the Lincoln metropolitan area, platted in 1877 after the railroad opened this part of Nebraska to settlement. Malcolm and Emma Showers filed the original plat, and the village took the name Malcolm from the townsite’s first owner. The rail line gave the place its first town shape; later, schools, a newspaper, and local businesses filled in the grid. Malcolm incorporated in 1915, and the old Malcolm Messenger recorded village life from 1891 to 1934.

School and lakes now define much of the local map. Malcolm Public Schools serves students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, with athletic, cultural, and extracurricular programs tied to the village. Pawnee Lake lies roughly four miles south, Branched Oak State Recreation Area is to the north, and both bring fishing, boating, camping, and trails within a short drive. Larry Murray Park and Harriet Circle Park add picnic, playground, and field space inside town. Malcolm’s old rail settlement has become a small recreation-and-school community with Lincoln close by and the Salt Valley lakes around it.