Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. Its population was 62,799 as of the 2020 census, making it the state's tenth most populous city, and the most populous city in Southwest Iowa. The Omaha metropolitan region of which Council Bluffs is a part, is the 58th largest in the United States, with an estimated population of 967,604 (2020). It is located on the east bank of the Missouri River, across from Omaha, Nebraska. Until about 1853 Council Bluffs was known as Kanesville. Kanesville was the historic starting point of the Mormon Trail. Kanesville is also the northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trails because there was a steam-powered boat which ferried the settlers' wagons and cattle across the Missouri River. In 1869, the first transcontinental railroad to California was connected to the existing U.S. rail network at Council Bluffs.
Winter Quarters was an encampment formed by approximately 2,500 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they waited during the winter of 1846–47 for better conditions for their trek westward. It followed a preliminary tent settlement some 3½ miles west at Cutler's Park. Members of the LDS faith built more than 800 cabins at the Winter Quarters settlement. Located in present-day North Omaha overlooking the Missouri River, the settlement remained populated until 1848.
The Mormon Bridge is a bridge composed of two cantilevers that crosses the Missouri River connecting Pottawattamie County, Iowa with the Florence neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska via Interstate 680 (Iowa-Nebraska). The bridge is officially called the Mormon Pioneer Memorial Bridge due to its location on the historic Mormon Trail, which passed nearby.
Florence is a neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska, United States on the city's north end and originally one of the oldest cities in Nebraska. It was incorporated by the Nebraska Territorial Legislature on March 10, 1857. The site of Winter Quarters for Mormon migrants traveling west, it has the oldest cemetery for people of European descent and oldest standing gristmill in Nebraska. Florence was the site of an illegal territorial legislature in 1858. Given the high concentration of National Register of Historic Places in the neighborhood, it is regarded as "the historic front door to Omaha as well as the state."
North Omaha, Nebraska has a recorded history spanning over 200 years, pre-dating the rest of Omaha, encompassing wildcat banks, ethnic enclaves, race riots and social change. North Omaha has roots back to 1812 and the founding of Fort Lisa. It includes the Mormon settlement of Cutler's Park and Winter Quarters in 1846, a lynching before the turn of the twentieth century, the thriving 24th Street community of the 1920s, the bustling development of its African-American community through the 1950s, a series of riots in the 1960s, and redevelopment in the late 20th and early 21st century.
Significant events in the history of North Omaha, Nebraska include the Pawnee, Otoe and Sioux nations; the African American community; Irish, Czech, and other European immigrants, and; several other populations. Several important settlements and towns were built in the area, as well as important social events that shaped the future of Omaha and the history of the nation. The timeline of North Omaha history extends to present, including recent controversy over schools.
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.
The Prospect Hill Cemetery, located at 3202 Parker Street in the Prospect Hill neighborhood of North Omaha, Nebraska, United States, is believed to be the oldest pioneer cemetery in Omaha. It is between 31st and 33rd Streets and Parker and Grant Streets.
Architecture in Omaha, Nebraska, represents a range of cultural influences and social changes occurring from the late 19th century to present.
The Bank of Florence was a wildcat bank located in Florence, Nebraska Territory. It originally operated for three years in the 1850s, and another bank adopted the name and location in 1904. Today the building that housed the bank is the Bank of Florence Museum. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is the oldest building in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Havens–Page House, also known as the T. C. Havens House, is a historic house built between 1900 and 1924 at 101 North 39th Street in the Gold Coast Historic District of Omaha, Nebraska. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, this home is remarkable for its classical Georgian Revival architecture.
The Union Station, at 801 South 10th Street in Omaha, Nebraska, known also as Union Passenger Terminal, is "one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture in the Midwest". Designated an Omaha Landmark in 1978, it was listed as "Union Passenger Terminal" on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2016. The Union Station is also a contributing property to the Omaha Rail and Commerce Historic District. It was the Union Pacific's first Art Deco railroad station, and the completion of the terminal "firmly established Omaha as an important railroad terminus in the Midwest".
The John P. Bay House is located at 2024 Binney Street in the Kountze Place neighborhood of North Omaha, Nebraska. Built in 1887 by George L. Fisher, the house was designed in the Queen Anne style. It was designated an Omaha Landmark by the City of Omaha in 1981.
The Mormon Pioneer Cemetery is located at 3300 State Street in present-day Florence at the north end of Omaha, Nebraska. The Cemetery is the burial site of hundreds of Mormon pioneers who lived in Winter Quarters, a temporary settlement that lasted from 1846 to 1848 as the settlers moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. It was designated a landmark by the City of Omaha in 1990.
The Edgar Zabriskie Residence is located at 3524 Hawthorne Avenue in the Bemis Park neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It was built in 1889 as one of the first homes in Bemis Park. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and was designated an Omaha Landmark in 1980.
The Eggerss–O'Flyng Building is located at 801 South 15th Street in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, United States. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991, and named an Omaha Landmark on March 17, 1992.
The Charles D. McLaughlin House is located in the Gold Coast Historic District of Midtown Omaha, Nebraska. Designed in the Colonial Revival Style by noted Omaha architect John McDonald, it was built in 1905. The City of Omaha designated it an Omaha Landmark on March 16, 1982, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in November of that same year.
North 30th Street is a two-way street that runs south–north in the North Omaha area of Omaha, Nebraska. With the street beginning at Dodge Street, historically significant sections include those from Dodge to Lake Street, from Fort Street to Laurel Avenue, and from Weber to Bondesson Streets.
The Danish people in Omaha, Nebraska, were a predominant ethnic group in the city in the 1920s, and were notable for that compared to other cities across the United States. Omaha, as well as its neighbor, Council Bluffs, had "major colonies of Danes for many years."
