North Omaha, Nebraska

North Omaha has a recorded history extending to 1812 with the founding of Fort Lisa by Manuel Lisa.[3] The area was home to Cabanne's Trading Post from the 1820s through the 40s,[4] and in 1846 became home to two encampments that were some 3½ miles apart from one another: Cutler's Park and Winter Quarters. This whole area became part of what is now the city of Omaha, Nebraska.

When Omaha City was founded in 1854 the boundaries were around the present-day downtown core. Prospect Hill Cemetery, a North Omaha landmark, was founded on a high hill on the outskirts of Omaha in 1856, and with more than 15,000 burials it included many of the founding figures of Omaha, as well as soldiers from nearby Fort Omaha, immigrants, and many black people who worked throughout the city.[5]

During the initial period of Omaha history there were a number of outlying towns surrounding it, many of which were located in present-day North Omaha, including Florence, East Omaha, and Saratoga, all of which were settled within a few years of Omaha. Scriptown was a land grab by early legislators of the Nebraska Territory who sought to award themselves for working for the new territory.[6] Casey's Row was a small neighborhood of Black porters who worked for the local railroads. Squatter's Row was an area between North 11th and North 13th Streets, from Nicholas to Locust Streets, behind the Storz Brewery. For more than 75 years this area was inhabited solely by squatters.[7] Before the city of Omaha extended north beyond Lake Street, mostly Irish settlers inhabited an area known as Gophertown, located north of Saratoga and south of Florence.[8] The towns of Benson and Dundee, both in North Omaha, were suburbs of Omaha founded in the 1880s. Fort Omaha was a U.S. Army installation that was built starting in 1878, and was home to the Department of the Platte. Growth in North Omaha was spurred by the arrival of the Union Pacific Railroad and railyards to the east.

The older neighborhoods in North Omaha were all founded by 1900, including Bemis Park, Gifford Park, Gold Coast, Kountze Place, Miller Park, Walnut Hill and Orchard Hill.

Night view of the Grand Court. Photograph by Frank Rinehart, 1898.

The grand Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition was a world's fair held in North Omaha from June through November 1898. It attracted more than 1,000,000 visitors to the area in and surrounding Kountze Park, which won the location over other areas, including the Miller Park neighborhood. The Expo featured many events in the community, including performances by Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show at the Omaha Driving Park, where it was founded several years prior.[9] In 1909 Omaha University opened in the Redick Mansion in the Kountze Place neighborhood.[10]

Perhaps the most important community, if not the most visible, in all of North Omaha was the Near North Side.[11] This neighborhood was one of the first in Omaha, emerging in the 1860s as a home to the city's influx of German and Irish. In the later 19th century, they were joined by eastern European Jewish immigrants and African American migrants from the South. The bustling corridors of North 24th Street and North 16th Street were long the centers of important commercial and social activity.

From the 1920s through the 1950s North 24th Street was seen as a "Street of Dreams" where the city's African-American culture thrived.[12] It was home to such important locations at the Dreamland Ballroom, and fostered a variety of social and political developments, including the founding of the Hamitic League of the World. Omaha had early chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Urban League. The early years of noted Harlem Renaissance writer Wallace Thurman were spent in the Near North Side,[13] and Jewish feminist author Tillie Olsen grew up in the neighborhood.[14] During this period Malcolm X was born in the neighborhood.

After restructuring of railroads and the meatpacking industries, massive job loss resulted in poverty and social unrest. In the 1960s and 70s three major riots tore apart the North 24th Street corridor. One broke out after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968. With lower tax revenue because of job losses, the city had neglected many of the neighborhoods, leading to decreased police response times, decreased funding for education in the community, decreased support for youth and community programs, and other problems.[15] A 1966 documentary film entitled A Time for Burning highlighted the racial tension which had been driving white flight from the community for the two previous decades. That film portrayed a young Ernie Chambers. A barber who later earned a law degree, in 1970 Chambers started his service as the longest serving State Senator in the history of Nebraska.[16]

That year's Rice/Poindexter Case proved controversial as two leaders of Omaha's Black Panther Party were sentenced to life in prison for bombing a house in which a policeman was killed. Contention spread throughout the 1970s, when, according to one government agency, "Construction of the North Omaha Freeway, coupled with social unrest in the 1970s, greatly impacted the North Omaha area. One neighborhood experienced a 30 percent housing loss and major increase in crime."[17] However, North Omaha has not seen another riot since 1970.

In the 1990s the Omaha Housing Authority demolished the Logan Fontenelle Housing Project in North Omaha. Built in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration as improved housing for working families, by the late 20th century, the project was called "Little Vietnam" because of its association with gangs, violence and drug dealing.[18]

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Cornerstone Memorial at the NW corner of 24th and Lake St in North Omaha

Because of its troubles, many residents of Omaha view the North Omaha community as violent, poor, and drug-riddled.[19] A recent local news report stated the area was "71 percent Black".[20] Despite positive activities directed at improving North Omaha over the years, including those listed above, local media tend to focus on dramatic stories of racial and economic strife within the community.

Controversy arose from a 2006 spoof aired by a local radio station in which a popular area radio DJ parodied a recent North Omaha tourism promotion campaign, reportedly saying on air, "Discover miles of mayhem, discover drive-bys, discover gang violence, discover North Omaha."[21] The City Council fought against this portrayal, with North Omaha city councilman Frank Brown demanding an apology from the radio station because "the spoof paints all residents of north Omaha as criminals."[22]

North Omaha has a range of important community-based organizations and government programs conducting community development, educational assistance and low-income housing.[25] Additionally, a series of private and public ventures are developing local businesses in the community.[26]

Economic development

The historic office of the Omaha Star

The Omaha Star has long been a source of employment and positive news for citizens in North Omaha. The North Omaha Development Project is a project of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce designed to "bring... business and community leaders together to find ways to positively impact the economic growth of the North Omaha community."[41] It seeks to leverage city, federal and private sector funding to support public infrastructure and economic development.[42] The North Omaha Business Park is located at 24th and Clark Streets the business park is "a joint effort of the Omaha Chamber and the City of Omaha... [It is] a 15 acre development on the former Logan Fontenelle Housing Projects site." It is home to several businesses, including Wes & Willy's,[43] Cintas Corporation, Jobosh, Inc., and Armored Knights Company.[44]

North Omaha is home to a wide variety of cultural institutions, events and activities that anchor the community. In the 20th century, North Omaha was home to several important cultural venues. They included the Druid Hall on Ames Avenue, where Maceo Pinkard performed frequently, and the Dreamland Ballroom was a historic venue that featured a wide range of national jazz talent, as well as local legends including saxophonist Preston Love. He said, "North Omaha used to be a hub for black jazz musicians, 'the triple-A league' where national bands would go to find a player to fill out their ensemble."[45]

Early North Omaha jazz bands included Dan Desdunes Band, Simon Harrold's Melody Boys, the Sam Turner Orchestra, the Ted Adams Orchestra, and the Omaha Night Owls, as well as Red Perkins and His Original Dixie Ramblers. In 1931 Lloyd Hunter's Serenaders became the first Omaha band to record their music. A Lloyd Hunter concert poster can be seen on display at the Community Center in nearby Mineola, Iowa.[46] Nat Towles was a renowned territory band leader based in Omaha. One of Omaha's most notable musicians of the 1940s was Anna Mae Winburn. As the leader of North Omaha's Cotton Club Boys, which included guitarist Charlie Christian,[47] Winburn traveled the local region as a typical territorial band. Upon the advice of Jimmie Jewell, owner of the Jewel Building, Winburn left Omaha and hit the "big time" with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm.

North Omaha's musical culture also gave rise to several nationally and internationally reputable African-American musicians. Influential drummer Buddy Miles was friends with Love while they grew up and played together. They collaborated throughout their lives, and while they were playing with the greatest names in Rock and Roll, Jazz, R&B and Fund. Funk band leader Lester Abrams is also from North Omaha. Omaha-born Wynonie Harris, one of the founders of rock and roll, got his start at the North Omaha clubs and for a time lived in the now-demolished Logan Fontenelle Housing Project.[48] Another notable local musician was Lomie Washburn. Born in North Omaha, she went on to write songs and sing backup with such legends as Chaka Khan, Rufus, Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin.[49] She and many of the musicians from North Omaha have been inducted in the Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame.

North Omaha is home to several important annual events that help define and celebrate the community, its history, and its future. Native Omaha Days is a biennial North Omaha cultural tradition, reuniting members of the city's African-American community. The Days are commemorated with a variety of events, including the Evergreen Reunion, named after a town in Alabama from where many families' ancestors migrated.[50] Other annual activities include the Juneteenth Parade, to mark Emancipation; the Fort Omaha Intertribal Powwow; the Omaha Blues, Jazz & Gospel Festival,[51] Florence Days, and the Omaha North High School Homecoming, which includes a parade for the community. The Stone Soul Picnic is also an important annual event in the community.

With its long history of migration from other regions and immigration from other countries, North Omaha has developed a rich religious tapestry representing the range of faith in Nebraska today. The diversity includes its Mormon roots in Florence, as well as the historic locations of Jewish synagogues established by European immigrants in the Near North Side. Several African-American congregations are located in the area, including the historic St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church and Salem Baptist Church. The Episcopal Church of the Resurrection on 30th Street by Miller Park is Nebraska's only fully integrated Episcopal parish. The Holy Family Catholic Church is the oldest surviving Catholic church in Omaha. St. Cecilia Cathedral, designed by Thomas Rogers Kimball, took more than fifty years to build. Evidence of the community's Jewish history can also been seen at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery or the Golden Hill Cemetery, while Christian burials have long been held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park and the historic poor cemetery called Potter's Field.

Education institutions in North Omaha include Creighton University, Metropolitan Community College (Omaha) located at Fort Omaha, and the Charles B. Washington Branch of the Omaha Public Library, located at 2868 Ames Avenue.[52] The area is served by Omaha Public Schools, including the local feeder school, Omaha North High Magnet School. Tech High School, once the largest technical education high school in the Western United States, was closed in 1983.

In 1909 Omaha University was founded along North 24th Street, and their football team once played on the field at Saratoga School.[53] The Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary was once located in the heart of the Kountze Place neighborhood, closing in 1947.

North Omaha has several main arterials. The major routes running north and south are Abbott Drive, North 16th Street (also called Sherman Avenue), North 24th Street (locally called "The Deuce"), North 30th Street, North 42nd Street, North 52nd Street, North 60th Street and North 72nd Street. Fontenelle Boulevard, Northwest Radial Highway, Military Road, Happy Hollow Boulevard, Country Club Avenue, John A. Creighton Boulevard and Saddle Creek Road each run north, south, east and west. Other important streets in the area include Burt and then Cuming Streets, which are the same street, and eventually earn the designation as Nebraska Highway 64 from North 27th Street west. Hamilton Street, Bedford Avenue, Sprague Street, Ames Avenue, Sorenson Parkway, Fort Street, Martin Avenue, Forest Lawn Avenue and McKinley Street are all important, as well. Lake Street eventually becomes Maple Street, which also spurs off as Military Avenue, all in North Omaha.

Several streets in the area are named after locally, regionally, and nationally important individuals.[54] One of the main thoroughfares is North 24th Street, which from Cuming Street on the south to Reed Street on the north, is commonly thought to represent North Omaha's greatest historical legacy and hope for the future. North 24th was addressed as Omaha's "Street of Dreams" because of the prosperity and hope it embodied for its early African American, Eastern European and Jewish residents.[55]

Florence Boulevard, Lincoln Boulevard and Fontenelle Boulevard are three once-highly regarded components of Omaha's boulevard system that are located in North Omaha.

Several North Omaha traffic ways are named after military interests. They include Military Road, which is a historic road first laid out in 1854 by the US Army. It starts in North Omaha just off Hamilton at North 45th Street, where it is signed as Military Avenue. General John J. Pershing Drive was named after the successful World War I U.S. Army leader, and flows from East Omaha north by Florence, by the historic site of Fort Lisa and towards Blair. Similarly, Sherman Avenue, also known as North 16th Street, was named after William Tecumseh Sherman, the commander general of the U.S. Army in charge of the Indian Wars. Fort Street between North 30th and North 24th is named for Fort Omaha.

Sorensen Parkway, a modern contribution to the historic park boulevard system, was named after an Omaha mayor. It was built along an abandoned railroad bed and runs from North 72nd Street to North 30th Street, which is the historic Main Street of Florence. Sorensen is an example of a street in North Omaha which has been renamed; prior to 1996 Sorensen Parkway west of Northampton Boulevard was called Redick Avenue until 72nd Street. That year the city changed the name, and currently Sorensen Parkway travels beyond 72nd Street, continuing to the intersection of Blair High Road and North 90th Street, which is the start of Nebraska Highway 133. John A. Creighton Boulevard was named after the brother of Edward Creighton.

U.S. Highway 75 is a historic highway flowing along North 30th Street to become the North Expressway. This stretch of the highway was the source of much contention in when it was constructed in the 1970s and 80s. As a Nebraska state agency reports, "Construction of the North Omaha Freeway, coupled with social unrest in the 1970s, greatly impacted the North Omaha area. One neighborhood experienced a 30 percent housing loss and major increase in crime."[56] Interstate 680 is the north bypass freeway that is a boundary for North Omaha. The Mormon Bridge is located on this stretch.

Other important streets in the area include Lake Street, Ames Avenue, Cuming Street, State Street, Abbott Drive and North 20th Avenue.

The historic founding, development and current identification of North Omaha is bound to its geography. Located west of the Missouri River and next to Carter Lake, North Omaha includes several streams, small lakes, cliffs, and artesian springs. One historic report identifies a sulphur spring at the "foot of Spencer Street", with another at the "foot of Grand Avenue". The foot is presumed to be where 16th Street meets Commercial Avenue.[57]

In addition to its many historic neighborhoods, North Omaha has a number of substantial neighborhoods. In successive generations the area has been home to Irish, German, Jewish, Lithuanian and other European immigrants, as well as African-American migrants from across the Southeast. Their community in North Omaha has lasted more than 100 years.

Statistics gathered from the 2000 United States Census for the North Omaha area show that by percentages, North Omaha has a population of 43,621 and is 59% African-American, 29% White, 5% Hispanic and 7% other.

In 2003, the African-American population in Omaha was estimated at 52,273 or 13.1 percent of the city's total estimated population of 397,713. African Americans are the largest minority group in Omaha, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• List of people from North Omaha, Nebraska
• List of landmarks in North Omaha, Nebraska

• 
  Omaha Star office at NE corner of 24th & Grant Streets
• 
  Webster Telephone Exchange Building, also used for the 20th-century Great Plains Black Museum
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  Captain Alfonza Davis commemorative plaque; Tuskegee Airman from N.O.
• 
  General Crook House at Fort Omaha
• 
  Now-closed Mister C's, a local landmark restaurant
• 
  Historical marker for Omaha's pioneer Prospect Hill Cemetery
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  Historical marker for Fort Omaha
• 
  North Omaha above Eppley Airfield and Levi Carter Park

• Fletcher Sasse, Adam (2016) North Omaha History: Volume 1. Olympia, WA: CommonAction Publishing.
• Fletcher Sasse, Adam (2016) North Omaha History: Volume 2. Olympia, WA: CommonAction Publishing.
• Fletcher Sasse, Adam (2016) North Omaha History: Volume 3. Olympia, WA: CommonAction Publishing.
• Alexander, C. (1981) Rebirth of the Inner City: The North Omaha Plan. Center for Environmental Structure.
• (1992) The North Omaha Renaissance 2000 Plan. Ciaccio Dennell Group Inc.
• (2004) Housing Study: Omaha Housing Authority—Population & Housing Demand Profile.
• (n.d.) Multiethnic Guide. Greater Omaha Economic Partnership.

• North Omaha History website
• North Omaha Development Project website
• Empower Omaha Empowerment Network website
• Loves Jazz and Art Center website
• NorthOmaha.Com NorthOmaha.com website
• The Omaha Star website
• North Omaha - a photoset on Flickr

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