Crawl Space Repair Norfolk, NE

During late 1865, three scouts were dispatched from a German Lutheran settlement near Ixonia, Wisconsin to find productive, affordable farmland which could be claimed beneath the Homestead Act. From the Omaha region, they followed the Elkhorn River upstream to West Point. Finding that region too congested, they carried on up the river. On September 15, they hit the junction of the Elkhorn and its North Fork, and chose that region as a settlement site. On May 23, 1866, a party of 124 settlers representing 42 families from the Ixonia region set out for northeast Nebraska in 3 wagon trains. They reached the new site on July 15. Another group of settlers from Wisconsin showed up in July 1867.

The original name of the community was a variation of “North Fork”, but accounts fluctuate on the actual name: “Northfork”, “Nor’fork”, and “Nordfork” are all suggested. The name was sent in to federal postal authorities, and at some point in time was transmuted to “Norfolk”. The pronunciation “Norfork” is still used by lots of Nebraskans.

In the 1970s, another endeavor was made to relocate the county seat from Madison to Norfolk. In a 1975 countywide election, the move’s proponents didn’t secure a simple majority. A 60% majority would have been needed for the measure to pass.