Editing Otoe, Nebraska (section)

==History==
The village was established in 1880 on the proposed line of the [[Missouri Pacific Railroad]] from [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]] to [[Omaha, Nebraska|Omaha]].  The town was originally named Berlin; many of the early inhabitants were German Lutherans.  In 1896, when the population reached 200, the town incorporated.  It survived and rebuilt after a tornado in 1913 destroyed most of its businesses.<ref name=survey>Kay, John, Lonnie Dickson, Robert Kay, and Kathleen Fimple.  {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20061116014012/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/reports/otoe_county.pdf "Nebraska Historic Buildings Survey&mdash;Reconnaissance Survey Final Report of Otoe County, Nebraska".]}}  {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110307215553/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/index.shtml Nebraska State Historical Society.]}}  Retrieved April 18, 2012.</ref><ref name=casde>Paap, Verena, and Loris Roettger.  [http://www.casde.unl.edu/history/counties/otoe/otoe/index.php "Otoe&mdash;Otoe County".]  [http://www.casde.unl.edu/history/index.php Nebraska... Our Towns.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123132824/http://www.casde.unl.edu/history/index.php |date=November 23, 2011 }}  Retrieved April 18, 2012.</ref>

The entry of the United States into [[World War I]] was followed by [[anti-German sentiment]], which extended to a town that bore the name of [[Berlin|Germany's capital]].  A 1918 series of fires that destroyed a block of the town's main street was attributed to anti-German crusaders.  In October 1918, less than a month before the war's end, the town's name was changed to its current Otoe.<ref name=casde/> Berlin Precinct was left unchanged, however.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dlas_EPVGFEC | title=Nebraska Place-Names | publisher=University of Nebraska Press | author=Fitzpatrick, Lillian L. | year=1960 |isbn=0-8032-5060-6 | pages=109}} A [http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=englishunsllc 1925 edition] is available for download at [http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ University of Nebraska—Lincoln Digital Commons.]</ref>

Passenger rail service to Otoe was discontinued in 1932; despite this setback, the town continued to grow, reaching its maximum historical population of 298 in the 1940 census. Following [[World War II]], the population began to decline. In 1958, the high school was closed; in the 1960s, the railroad line through Otoe was abandoned.<ref name=survey/><ref name=casde/>