A city of Madison county, Nebraska, U.S.A., on the north branch of the Elkhorn river, 2 m. from its mouth, and about 75 m. S.W. of Sioux City. Pop. (1900) 3883, of whom 622 were foreign-born. It is served by the Union Pacific, the Chicago & North Western (of which it is a division headquarters), and the Chicago, St Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha railways. The city is the seat of the Northern Nebraska Insane Asylum. Cereals, alfalfa and fruit are raised in the surrounding country. The site was first permanently settled in 1866. Norfolk was incorporated as a village in 1881 and chartered as a city in 1886; it became a city of the first class in 1909.