In late 1865 three scouts were sent from a German Lutheran settlement near Ixonia, Wisconsin, to find productive, inexpensive farmland that could be claimed under the Homestead Act.

On September 15, they reached the junction of the Elkhorn and its North Fork, and chose that area as a settlement site.

[4]: 1–2  On May 23, 1866, a party of 124 settlers representing 42 families from the Ixonia area set out for northeast Nebraska in three wagon trains.

[4]: 19  These collective wagon parties established the first church in Madison County, St. Paul's Lutheran, which is still operating today.

The name was submitted to federal postal authorities, and at some point was transmuted to "Norfolk".

[4]: 56–7 The Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad was built after the discovery of gold in the Black Hills in South Dakota.

It ran from the Omaha area up the Elkhorn valley, then across northern Nebraska and into South Dakota.

[4]: 60  The Omaha, Niobrara, and Black Hills branch of the Union Pacific ran north from the railroad's main line at Duncan to Norfolk;[9] it reached the city in 1880.

[4]: 85 The Nebraska legislature created the Insane Asylum in Norfolk in 1885;[11] it accepted its first patients in 1888.

[10]: 14  In 1915, petitions were filed for an election to move the county seat from Madison to Norfolk.

The 1924 completion of the Meridian Bridge across the Missouri River at the Nebraska-South Dakota border made the highway a continuous year-round thoroughfare.

[15] Air travel developed in Norfolk beginning with the establishment of a flying school in 1928.

After the war, Congressman Karl Stefan, a resident of Norfolk and a member of the Congressional Air Policy Board, used his influence to secure further funding for the airport.

In a 1975 county-wide election, the move's proponents failed to secure a simple majority.

[13]: 8 On September 26, 2002, three gunmen robbed a US Bank branch in Norfolk, killing five people in the process.

[17] The three gunmen, Jose Sandoval, Jorge Galindo and Erick Vela, were arrested the same day as was their accomplice Gabriel Rodriguez.

Sandoval, Galindo and Vela were given the death penalty, whereas Rodriguez received life imprisonment.

Nebraska Highway 35 leads northeast from Norfolk 31 miles (50 km) to Wayne.

The 2020 United States census[24] counted 24,955 people, 10,240 households, and 5,724 families in Norfolk.

[27] Major local manufacturers include: Major non-manufacturing commercial employers include Wal-Mart, with about 410 employees, and Associated Wholesale Grocers, formerly known as Affiliated Foods Midwest, whose distribution center in Norfolk employs about 650.

Other major employers include Faith Regional Health Services, a nonprofit with about 1,300 employees, and Norfolk Public Schools, with about 700.

[30] Norfolk has a single post-secondary educational institution, Northeast Community College, with over 7,000 students taking courses for credit.

[33] Keystone Christian Academy enrolled about 60 students in pre-school through twelfth grade until its closure in May 2019.

[34] Norfolk has two television stations, KXNE-TV 19 (DTV 16), which is part of the NET Television network, and KNEN-LD 35 (DTV 35), operating as part of the statewide network News Channel Nebraska (NCN).

There are seven FM stations: KXNE-FM 89.3 (public radio); KPNO 90.9 (Christian talk); K219DW 91.9 (Christian talk); KUSO 92.7 (country); KNEN 94.7 (rock); KEXL 97.5 (adult contemporary), and KQKX 106.7 (country).