North Omaha is a community area in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. It is bordered by Cuming and Dodge Streets on the south, Interstate 680 on the north, North 72nd Street on the west and the Missouri River and Carter Lake, Iowa on the east, as defined by the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the Omaha Chamber of Commerce.Center for Public Affairs (1998) Omaha Conditions Survey. University of Nebraska at Omaha"North Omaha Development Project Description" . Omaha Chamber of Commerce. p 1. Retrieved 8/28/07.
Located just north of Downtown Omaha, the community includes some of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, including the Near North Side, Bemis Park, Saratoga and Florence. It is the site of the Mormon Pioneers' Winter Quarters and the Mormon Temple, a center of European immigration as well as the historically significant African-American community, and the birthplace of Malcolm X. Important landmarks in the community include the Bank of Florence, Prospect Hill Cemetery and the Fort Omaha Historical District.
In 2006, North Omaha became the focus of national attention after local State Senator Ernie Chambers introduced an amendment to divide the Omaha school system into three, which some observers suggested would have created de facto segregated school systems based on residential patterns. The measure was eventually repealed.
History
North Omaha has a recorded history extending to 1812 with the founding of Fort Lisa by Manuel Lisa.Helmus, T., Toppin, E., Pounds, N. & Arnsdorf, V. (1990) The United States Yesterday and Today. Silver Burdett & Ginn Inc. The area was home to Cabanne's Trading Post from the 1820s through the 40s,"Washington County", Andreas' History of Nebraska. Retrieved 4/28/08. 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.(nd) About Prospect Hill Cemetery . Omaha Public Schools. Retrieved 6/25/07.
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.Roenfeld, R. (nd) Sam Bayliss on Broadway . The Historical Society of Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Retrieved 6/7/07. 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.Federal Writers' Project. (1939) Nebraska: A guide to the Cornhusker state. Nebraska State Historical Society. p 243. 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.Barstow, D. (2002) A Dirty Town. Caxton Press. 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 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.. Nebraska State Historical Society. In 1909 Omaha University opened in the Redick Mansion in the Kountze Place neighborhood.City of Omaha. (n.d.) Neighborhood Associations
Perhaps the most important community, if not the most visible, in all of North Omaha was the Near North Side."Andreas' History of Nebraska: Douglas County". Retrieved 4/28/08. 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."A Street of Dreams," Nebraska Public Media. Air Date, 08/01/1994. Retrieved April 8, 2024. 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,Singh, A. and Scott, D.M. (2003). The Collected Writings of Wallace Thurman: A Harlem Renaissance Reader. Rutgers University Press. p. 3. and Jewish feminist author Tillie Olsen grew up in the neighborhood.Rosenfelt, D. (1981) "From the Thirties: Tillie Olsen and the Radical Tradition." Feminist Studies. 7;3. (Autumn), p 371-406. 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.Larsen and Cotrell. (2002) Omaha: The Gate City. University of Nebraska Press. p 172. 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.Beckel, M. (2006) The Maverick of Omaha. Interview: Sen. Ernie Chambers talks race and politics. Mother Jones. January 5, 2006
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."(2001) State's top community development projects honored . Nebraska Department of Economic Development. Retrieved 4/7/07. 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.History of Conestoga Place. Conestoga Place Neighborhood Association. Retrieved 6/25/07.
Notable figures
North Omaha has been the birthplace and home of many figures of national and local import. They include Jewish-American author Tillie Olsen, who was a labor organizer in a packinghouse and wrote about women and the poor working class; Whitney Young, an important civil rights leader and later national director of the Urban League; the Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers; actor John Beasley; and actress Gabrielle Union. Malcolm X was born there in the early 1920s but his family moved away before he was a year old.
Singer Wynonie Harris, saxophonist Preston Love, and drummer Buddy Miles all called North Omaha home. Businesswoman Cathy Hughes is from North Omaha. The community was also the native home of several sports stars, including Baseball Hall of Famer Bob Gibson, football player Johnny Rodgers, Pro Football Hall of Famer, Chicago Bears Gale Sayers, Houston Texans starting running back Ahman Green, Former lightweight, Former unified Super lightweight and current WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford and basketball player Bob Boozer.
Landmarks
Due to its diverse history, North Omaha is home to numerous historical and modern landmarks. There are many buildings listed on the Registered Historic Places and designated Omaha Landmarks within its boundaries. These include the 1856 Bank of Florence, which is the oldest standing building in Omaha; the 1892 Florence Boulevard, part of H.W.W. Cleveland's grand boulevard scheme for Omaha, and; the 1897 the Sherman, the oldest standing apartment building in Omaha.
African-American community leader Jack Broomfield commissioned noted African-American architect Clarence W. Wigington to design the Broomfield Rowhouse in 1913 after the Easter Sunday Tornado ravaged much of North Omaha. This building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
Neighborhoods There are more than 50 defined historic neighborhoods in North Omaha today.Fletcher Sasse, Adam. (June 14, 2022) "Historic neighborhoods in North Omaha," NorthOmahaHistory.com. Retrieved August 19, 2024. The oldest neighborhoods in North Omaha were established between 1856 and 1900. They include Bemis Park, Gifford Park, Gold Coast, Kountze Place, Miller Park, Walnut Hill and Orchard Hill.Fletcher Sasse (2022)
Some of the oldest neighborhoods in North Omaha today were originally hamlets, villages or towns of their own. They include Saratoga, established by real estate speculators and abandoned by 1857; Briggs, a whistle stop on the Omaha Road heading north to Blair, Nebraska; Florence, once a contender for the Nebraska Territorial capital; and others.Fletcher Sasse, Adam. (March 30, 2017) "A history of lost towns in North Omaha," NorthOmahaHistory.com. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
There are several North Omaha neighborhoods listed on the National Register of Historic Places as historic districts including the 24th and Lake Historic District, Benson Downtown Historic District, Country Club Historic District, Dundee–Happy Hollow Historic District, Florence Main Street Historic District, Fairacres Historic District, Fort Omaha Historic District, Minne Lusa Residential Historic District, and the Nicholas Street Historic District.Fletcher Sasse, Adam. (April 30, 2023) "National Register of Historic Places in North Omaha," NorthOmahaHistory.com. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
Architecture