The Omaha Race Riot occurred in Omaha, Nebraska, September 28–29, 1919. The race riot resulted in the lynching of Will Brown, a black civilian; the death of two white rioters; the injuries of many Omaha Police Department officers and civilians, including the attempted hanging of Mayor Edward Parsons Smith; and a public rampage by thousands of white rioters who set fire to the Douglas County Courthouse in downtown Omaha. It followed more than 20 race riots that occurred in major industrial cities and certain rural areas of the United States during the Red Summer of 1919.
The Old Market is a neighborhood located in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, United States, and is bordered by South 10th Street to the east, 13th Street to the west, Farnam Street to the north and Jackson Street to the South. The neighborhood has many restaurants, art galleries and upscale shopping. The area retains its brick paved streets from the turn of the 20th century, horse-drawn carriages, and covered sidewalks in some areas. It is not uncommon to see a variety of street performers, artists, and other vendors.
The civil rights movement in Omaha, Nebraska, has roots that extend back until at least 1912. With a history of racial tension that starts before the founding of the city, Omaha has been the home of numerous overt efforts related to securing civil rights for African Americans since at least the 1870s.
The history of Omaha, Nebraska, began before the settlement of the city, with speculators from neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa staking land across the Missouri River illegally as early as the 1840s. When it was legal to claim land in Indian Country, William D. Brown was operating the Lone Tree Ferry to bring settlers from Council Bluffs to Omaha. A treaty with the Omaha Tribe allowed the creation of the Nebraska Territory, and Omaha City was founded on July 4, 1854. With early settlement came claim jumpers and squatters, and the formation of a vigilante law group called the Omaha Claim Club, which was one of many claim clubs across the Midwest. During this period many of the city's founding fathers received lots in Scriptown, which was made possible by the actions of the Omaha Claim Club. The club's violent actions were challenged successfully in a case ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, Baker v. Morton, which led to the end of the organization.
Jobbers Canyon Historic District was a large industrial and warehouse area comprising 24 buildings located in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, US. It was roughly bound by Farnam Street on the north, South Eighth Street on the east, Jackson Street on the south, and South Tenth Street on the west. In 1989, all 24 buildings in Jobbers Canyon were demolished, representing the largest National Register historic district loss to date.
Crime in Omaha, Nebraska has varied widely, ranging from Omaha's early years as a frontier town with typically widespread gambling and prostitution, to civic expectation of higher standards as the city grew, and contemporary concerns about violent crimes related to gangs and dysfunctions of persistent unemployment, poverty and lack of education among some residents.
Downtown Omaha is the central business, government and social core of the Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area, U.S. state of Nebraska. The boundaries are Omaha's 20th Street on the west to the Missouri River on the east and the centerline of Leavenworth Street on the south to the centerline of Chicago Street on the north, also including the CHI Health Center Omaha. Downtown sits on the Missouri River, with commanding views from the tallest skyscrapers.
Joe Coe, also known as George Smith, was an African-American laborer who was lynched on October 10, 1891, in Omaha, Nebraska. Overwhelmed by a mob of one thousand at the Douglas County Courthouse, the twelve city police officers stood by without intervening. Afterward, the mayor called the lynching "the most deplorable thing that has ever happened in the history of the country."
Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church is located at 2650 Farnam Street in Midtown Omaha, Nebraska. Organized on December 5, 1858, as Emanuel's Evangelical Lutheran Church, the church is thought to be the first Lutheran congregation organized west of the Missouri River. In the 1920s the church was credited with being the largest Lutheran congregation in the United States.
The Old City Hall, also known as the Red Castle, located in downtown Omaha, Nebraska was located at the corner of 18th and Farnam Streets. Completed in 1890, the building was demolished 1966 after controversy erupted over landmark preservation in the city. Along with Omaha's Old Post Office, the Old City Hall became a rallying call for more deliberate efforts by the community and city leaders.
John Latenser Sr. (1858–1936) was an American architect whose influential public works in Omaha, Nebraska, numbered in the dozens. His original name was Johann Laternser.
The Douglas House was the second hotel in Omaha, Nebraska. Located in present-day Downtown Omaha on the southwest corner of 13th and Harney Streets, the hotel housed influential politicians, speculators, and the first court trial in the Nebraska Territory. A two-story frame structure, it supplemented the earlier St. Nicholas Hotel.
The Burlington Headquarters Building, also called Burlington Place, is located at 1004 Farnam Street in Downtown Omaha, Nebraska. This four-story brick building was originally designed by Alfred R. Dufrene and built in 1879 next to Jobbers Canyon. It was redesigned by noted Omaha architect Thomas R. Kimball in 1899, and vacated by the railroad in 1966. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, designated an Omaha Landmark in 1978, and rehabilitated in 1983. Today it is office space.
Mendelssohn, Fisher and Lawrie was a significant architecture firm in early Omaha, Nebraska. Fisher & Lawrie continued. A number of their works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Omaha Public Library in Omaha, Nebraska, currently has 13 locations.
The former Woodmen of the World Building in Omaha, Nebraska, was located at 1323 Farnam Street. Built in 1912 by the architectural firms of Holabird & Roche and Fisher and Lawrie, the building was the headquarters of Woodmen of the World (WOW) from 1912 until 1934. WOW relocated in 1934 to the Bee Newspaper Building at 17th and Farnam, also known as the Insurance Building.
Hospitals in Omaha, Nebraska have been integral to the city's growth since its founding in 1857. The city has a number of hospitals that were founded by religious groups, and has many medical centers resultant from the mergers of various hospitals. Nebraska is also home to a VA facility that was the only hospital in the United States with a nuclear reactor.
Significant events in the history of Omaha, Nebraska, include social, political, cultural, and economic activities.
Rocheford & Gould were brick manufacturers and construction contractors in early Omaha, Nebraska. The firm built numerous brick structures during Omaha's transition from the wooden buildings of Nebraska's territorial days to more permanent structures. The buildings the firm built included breweries, schools, packing houses, business blocks, Vaudeville theaters, street car barns and power houses, and civic buildings. Many of the structures the firm built have been demolished but a few of their earliest structures still exist and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Moon Theater was a silent movie theater at 1410 Douglas Street in Downtown Omaha, Nebraska. The 1,600-seat theater was built on the site of Omaha's first movie theater, the Parlor. In later years the theater was renamed the Town Theater and eventually the Cooper Theater. The building was demolished in 1976.
