A colony of mostly German-speaking immigrants traveled west from Davenport, Iowa, in the summer of 1857 and became the first permanent settlers of Hall County. They intended to form a new town, because they anticipated the construction of a transcontinental railroad that would follow the north side of the Platte River.

On July 4, 1857, they decided to settle at a wooded area on the north channel of the Platte River, opposite the island called Grand Island. This early settlement at first failed to materialize into a town.

But in 1864, the U.S. government authorized the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroad companies to link the nation by rail. The Union Pacific built west from Omaha, and the Central Pacific built east from California.

As part of the Pacific Land Grant Act of 1862, revised in 1864, the government gave the Union Pacific 12 million acres of land and the right to develop towns on the odd-numbered sections. In Nebraska, the U.P. had more than 4.8 million acres of land grants.

In July 1866, the U.P. tracks reached Grand Island -- strategically located 153.8 rail miles west of Omaha. Grand Island became an important division point on the railroad, and the town's population began to swell. The railroad was completed in 1869 at Promontory Summit, Utah.

The city of Grand Island was incorporated in December 1872. By the early 1880s, extensive U.P. car-building shops had been completed on the east edge of Grand Island, and branch lines were being developed out of the city.

In 1879, the St. Joseph and Grand Island Railroad, a U.P. subsidiary, linked Grand Island with communities to the south. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad -- today's Burlington Northern -- reached Grand Island in 1884. It was a direct route to Lincoln. That railroad began building northwest out of Grand Island in 1886, opening more new trade territory.

This early success as a hub of railroad activity secured the city's continued early growth and development.