Any place is bound to change over the course of a century, but Nebraska has really changed. Cities and towns have grown by leaps and bounds, and even rural areas have changed with the times. These photo were taken between 1900 and 1940, with a lot of them coming from a large series captured in 1936 by photographers John Vachon and Arthur Rothstein. Vachon and Rothstein both toured through Nebraska with the Farm Security Administration that year with the goal of documenting the rural poor of America. Their photos and others here capture the feeling of life 80-100 years ago here in Nebraska.

1. Even 80 years ago, abandoned farms were not an uncommon sight in the Nebraska countryside.
Library of Congress/John Vachon
2. Businesses in the small community of Agate.
Library of Congress/Arthur Rothstein
3. Just a regular Saturday afternoon in Lincoln in 1938.
Library of Congress/John Vachon
4. A family and their very neatly constructed home in Cherry County.
Library of Congress/Solomon D. Butcher
5. A family sits proudly outside of their modest sod home in Sartoria.
Library of Congress/Solomon D. Butcher
6. Food Administration signs like this one in Omaha (between 1917 and 1919) were common sights during WWI.
Library of Congress
7. A sweet little church in Gilead.
Library of Congress/John Vachon
8. A farmer shucking corn the old-fashioned way: by hand.
Library of Congress/John Vachon
9. A policeman in a crowd on a Lincoln street in 1938.
Library of Congress/John Vachon

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10. An incredibly small-looking Lincoln in 1938.
Library of Congress/John Vachon
11. The Gladson family all decked out in their Sunday best, possibly standing on the site of their new homestead in Milburn.
Library of Congress/Solomon D. Butcher
12. Omaha, looking north in 1938.
Library of Congress/John Vachon
13. The South Omaha Stockyards in 1938.
Library of Congress/John Vachon
14. Omaha, looking toward downtown in 1938.
Library of Congress/John Vachon
15. A grouping of sod buildings in Alliance.
Library of Congress/Arthur Rothstein
16. Shops on Main Street in Wymore, 1938.
Library of Congress/John Vachon
17. An everyday 1908 street scene in Overton.
Library of Congress/Solomon D. Butcher
18. Little businesses in Whiteclay.
Library of Congress/John Vachon

What an interesting look into our state’s history! Which of these really embodies Nebraska to you? Let us know in the comments.

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