Automobile Row (Omaha, Nebraska)

Last updated

Automobile Row was a commercial district in Midtown Omaha, Nebraska. Early reports place the location of the strip as extending Eighteenth to Twenty-first Street along Farnam, [1] while contemporary accounts place it from 20th to roughly 26th Street. [2] The row featured dealers, garages, and parts stores.

Contents

History

Auto rows developed in numerous US cities shortly after 1900 as car companies sought to create districts where the sale and repair of cars could become an easy urban shopping experience. Described as a "country tributary," Omaha's Farnam Street was the location of Automobile Row from the outset of car sales in Omaha. It was noted as "one of the best lots to choose from ever assembled between Chicago and San Francisco." With "five exclusive dealerships" in 1906, the strip was the prime location for car sales in Omaha. [3]

Hupmobile building Omaha Hupmobile building N center 1.JPG
Hupmobile building

At its peak, as many as 60 different makes of automobiles were sold and repaired on Automobile Row. Current brands that formerly had showrooms on Automobile Row included Ford, Buick, Fiat, and Cadillac. Other marques with showrooms there that have since dissolved include Hudson, Hupmobile, and Pierce-Arrow. Currently, several car-related businesses stand along this stretch, although no dealers are still there.

Several of the buildings have been considered for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Peerless Motor Company at 2562 Harney Street and the Hupmobile Building at 2523 Farnam Street. [4] Today, the street is the location of "the only Hupmobile dealership left in the U.S. today." [5]

There were many events on Automobile Row supported by the Omaha Autodealers Show Association. They included an annual "garage show" and carnival that was noted for its incandescent lightbulbs and the draw of car dealers. A national journal for car dealers reported that, "The promise of bumper crops in the state is leading all of the automobile men to predict record sales this fall." [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hupmobile</span> Former American car manufacturer

Hupmobile was a line of automobiles built from 1909 through 1939 by the Hupp Motor Car Company of Detroit. The prototype was developed in 1908.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automobile Alley (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)</span> United States historic place

The Automobile Alley neighborhood and Automobile Alley Historic District in Oklahoma City is an upscale Urban area, located roughly along North Broadway Avenue in Downtown Oklahoma City. The district contains numerous low and mid-rise heritage buildings once home to the city's automobile dealerships, that today hosts many of the city's top bars and restaurants, retail shops, and urban residences alongside modern construction consisting mostly of residential housing and hotels. Automobile Alley is listed in the National Historic Register of neighborhoods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Car dealership</span> Business which sells, buys, and trades new and/or used cars, trucks, SUVs, and vans

A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintenance services.

Manheim, Inc. is an automobile auction company and the world's largest wholesale auto auction, based on trade volume with 145 auctions located in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. As a subsidiary of Cox Automotive, a subsidiary of privately owned Cox Enterprises, Inc. based in Atlanta, Georgia, Manheim's primary business is wholesaling vehicles via a bidding process using traditional and online formats. Manheim also provides other vital dealership and wholesale services, such as financing, title work, transportation, recovery, auto body repair, dealership management systems, dent repair and automotive reconditioning, and automotive re-marketing at each location.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln Highway (Omaha)</span>

The Lincoln Highway in Omaha, Nebraska, runs east–west from near North 183rd Street and West Dodge Road in Omaha, Nebraska, towards North 192nd Street outside of Elkhorn. This section of the Lincoln Highway, one of only 20 miles (32 km) that were paved with brick in Nebraska, is one of the most well-preserved in the country. The roadway was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The Lincoln Highway was the first road across the United States, traversing coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Automobile Dealers Association</span> American trade organization

The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) is an American trade organization representing nearly 16,500 franchised new car and truck dealerships, both domestic and foreign. Established in 1917, the organization is based in Tysons Corner, Virginia. As the automotive retail industry's primary trade association, NADA monitors federal legislation and regulation affecting dealerships and publishes forecasts and reports about industry trends. American Truck Dealers, established in 1970, is a division of NADA representing nearly 1,800 heavy- and medium-duty truck dealerships throughout the United States.

United Australian Automobile Industries (UAAI) was an automobile model sharing firm that operated in Australia between 1987 and 1996 as the result of an agreement between Holden and Toyota Australia. The joint venture resulted in the two companies sharing production of locally produced automobiles by selling their models under both brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H Street Playhouse</span> United States historic place

The H Street Playhouse was a black box theater and gallery located in the Atlas District of Washington, D.C. Home to resident companies Scena Theatre, Theater Alliance and Forum Theatre, the Playhouse also hosted African Continuum Theatre Company, Musefire, Landless Theater Company, Theater Blue, Journeymen Theater Company, Madcap Players, Solas Nua, Restoration Stage, Capitol Renaissance Theatre, and Barnstormers. After opening its doors in 2001, the H Street Playhouse, with Theater Alliance, was at the forefront of a movement to develop and revitalize the H Street commercial corridor. The H Street Playhouse closed in 2012.

The Herb Chambers Companies, usually shortened to Herb Chambers, is one of the largest automotive dealership in New England and is the North America's 17th largest dealer group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hupmobile Building</span> United States historic place

The Hupmobile Building is located at 2523 Farnam Street in Midtown Omaha, Nebraska. Built in 1917 on the city's historic Auto Row, the building was an early Hupmobile dealership. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Farnam Apartments</span> United States historic place

The West Farnam Apartments are located at 3817 Dewey Avenue in Midtown Omaha, Nebraska. The building was reportedly the first luxury apartment building constructed in Omaha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auto row</span> Business cluster with multiple car dealerships

An auto row or auto mall is a business cluster with multiple car dealerships in a single neighborhood or road. Auto rows are distinct from car supermarkets which are a single, large dealership.

Casa de Cadillac is a Cadillac-Buick-GMC dealership located at 14401 Ventura Boulevard, in Sherman Oaks, California. Due to its classic Googie architecture and tenure in the area, the dealership building, built in 1949, has become an architectural landmark in the San Fernando Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennings Ford Automobile Dealership</span> United States historic place

The Jennings Ford Automobile Dealership is a historic automobile dealership located at 431 South 4th Street in Springfield, Illinois. Ford dealer Frank Jennings built the dealership in 1919. The automobile became widespread in Springfield in the 1910s; Jennings Ford was one of several dealerships to open on South 4th Street, which was then the city's automobile row. The three-story building integrated every major function of an auto dealership at the time; it included a sales floor, a service center, a car wash, a storage garage, and a repainting facility. While Jennings Ford closed between 1927 and 1933, the building remained a car dealership through the 1950s. It is one of the few remaining dealership buildings in downtown Springfield and is the best-preserved of the survivors. Today, the building houses an operations center for Illinois National Bank.

Homer B. Roberts (1885–1952) was a graduate of Kansas State Agricultural College and veteran of World War I who was the first black man to attain the rank of lieutenant in the United States Army Signal Corps. He began his auto business by placing ads in the local paper advertising used cars. By the end of 1919, Roberts had negotiated over 60 car sales exclusively for African-American buyers. He hired two salesmen to work his lot, offered auto insurance and payment terms to customers, and later founded Roberts Motors, the first African-American owned car dealership in the United States.

Ellis Brooks Auto Center is an automobile dealership in San Francisco, California. It is best known for its commercials, featuring an adaptation of See the USA in Your Chevrolet. Originally Ellis Brooks Chevrolet, the company later became "Auto Center" after it began marketing other brands of automobile. The company is now located at 1565 Bush Street, but the original Ellis Brooks sign is still used. The company was founded in 1939.

The electric car company Tesla has faced dealership disputes in several US states as a result of local laws. In the United States, direct manufacturer auto sales are prohibited in many states by franchise laws requiring that new cars be sold only by independent dealers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnold Clark Automobiles</span> Car dealership network in the United Kingdom

Arnold Clark is a car dealer based in Glasgow, Scotland. As of 2022, the company has 193 dealerships across the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baker Motor Vehicle Company Building</span> United States historic place

The Baker Motor Vehicle Company Building, also known as the Baker Electric Building, is a historic commercial building in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. Built in 1910, it was the first showroom of the Baker Electric Motor Car Co., a pioneer in Brass Era electric automobiles. Baker Electric merged with Rauch and Lang in 1914, and the building was sold in 1920. It served as an auto dealership, machine shop, and print shop for the next 86 years. The structure underwent a two-year renovation and historic preservation from 2006 and 2008, and now serves as a startup business incubator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom</span> Car dealership in Toronto, Ontario

The McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom was built in 1925 and operated continuously as a car dealership until March 2007 when it was last occupied by Addison on Bay dealership (Cadillac) at 832 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario.

References

  1. (1906) "Garage development continues", Automotive Industries, Volume 14. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  2. (Winter 2007) "Landmarks Annual Meeting to be Held at Historic Site", Landmark News. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  3. (1906) "Garage development continues", Automotive Industries, Volume 14. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  4. (September 27, 2007) "Press release" [usurped] , Nebraska State Historical Society. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  5. (Winter 2007) "Landmarks Annual Meeting to be Held at Historic Site", Landmark News. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  6. (1919) Automotive industries, Volume 27. p 501. Retrieved March 26, 2010.