ABSTRACT
During the 1880s and 1890s many of the fixtures of modern life were introduced into cities in Nebraska, such as telephone systems, water and sewer systems, electricity, streetcar lines, and paved streets. If communications technology and the availability of utilities brought the urban world to the farm, transportation improvements allowed farmers access to the city. From the nineteenth century through the 1940s, rural children were educated in local schools that offered instruction in grades one through eight. By residence, if not by background, most Nebraskans live in cities. The growing numbers of urbanites, their affluence, and their mobility mean that the influence of urban Nebraska reaches far into rural areas. Water-based recreation in Nebraska takes place on reservoirs developed primarily for irrigation, flood control, or power generation. Urbanization of the countryside has had considerable impact on rural Nebraska. Land-use change is the most obvious effect.
