Norfolk is located in
Madison County, situated 43 miles north of
Columbus between Madison and
Pierce along Hwy 81, near the Elkhorn River.
Childhood home of Johnny Carson and birthplace of Hallmark Cards.
A major disagreement within a Lutheran congregation in Ixonia, WI, prompted a number of families, led by the Rev. Hoeckendorf, to resettle on the prairies in Nebraska Territory. A committee was sent to find a suitable location for the colony in this "new promised land" in 1865. The next spring, 44 families packed all their earthly possessions into wagons and started for the fertile Elkhorn Valley.
Now days in Norfolk, the Nebraska Game and Parks maintains more than 20 Wildlife Management Areas in the region.
Some popular attractions are the Elkhorn Valley Historical Museum, Norfolk Arts Center, Johnny Carson Home, Cowboy Recreation and Nature Trail, Million Dollar Shoot Out (golf), and The Northeast Nebraska Farm & Equipment Show.
