Miles:
599
Senator George Norris
State Historic Site
McCook Nebraska; Red Willow County
George Norris changed rural life by working in a big city—Washington, D.C. Norris spent over forty years in the U.S. Congress, fighting to make life better for the common people. As a U.S. Senator, he fathered the Rural Electrification Act. This act brought electric power to farms across the nation. He changed Nebraska’s government forever. He convinced Nebraskans a one-house Unicameral legislature would serve them best. This humble house in McCook served as his home base from 1902 to 1944.
Norris ignored party lines to align his votes with his beliefs. Norris felt the two-party system was outdated and unnecessary. He set off around Nebraska campaigning for a non-partisan, one-house state legislature. In 1934 Nebraskans voted to create the nation’s only unicameral legislature.
Norris’s big ideas originated in a little house in McCook. After his very long career in government, he returned to his home base until he died in 1944.
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