Florence was born after the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act opened lands west of the Missouri River to speculators and settlers. Build on the grounds of Winter Quarters, founder James C. Mitchell named the new town after his granddaughter, Florence . . . — — Map (db m90576) HM
Forced to leave their homes along the Mississippi, the Mormons began arriving in the Missouri River Valley in June of 1846. By September, nearly 4,000 refugees had begun to settle in for the winter - laying out blocks and streets, building cabins . . . — — Map (db m90578) HM
Florence was a small town with a big history. The Oto, Missouri, and Omaha Indians lived and hunted here. Frenchmen, Canadians and Spaniards traded along the Missouri river. Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery made their first contact with Indians . . . — — Map (db m90529) HM
This Bridge is on the Mormon Pioneer Trail from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Rocky Mountains. Driven from their homes by mobs, many of the dispossessed Mormon people crossed the Mississippi River on the ice in February, 1846. From these refugees five . . . — — Map (db m90469) HM
The Bank of Florence was chartered by the Nebraska Territorial legislature on January 18, 1856. It was located in this substantial building, constructed during the same year. Sheet steel one quarter inch thick, shipped by river steamboat from . . . — — Map (db m90468) HM
On this lot stands the old mill build during the westward migration of the Mormons. Purchased by Jacob Weber in 1860. Now owned by his descendants. — — Map (db m90461) HM
The Florence Mill, one of the earliest in Nebraska, was constructed by the Mormons at Winter Quarters during the winter of 1846-1847. Supplying both flour and lumber, the water-powered mill enabled the Mormons to cope more readily with the adverse . . . — — Map (db m90460) HM
Fleeing heated religious and political hostility and persecution, many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (widely known as Mormons) abruptly fled their homes in Nauvoo, Illinois in February 1846. Unprepared for the cold of . . . — — Map (db m90577) HM
From the late 1840s through the 1860s, an exodus of more than 70,000 Mormons passed by here on their way to their "New Zion" in Utah. Starting from Nauvoo, Illinois in February 1846, the first group of at least 13,000 Mormons crossed into Iowa to . . . — — Map (db m90464) HM
Here in 1846 an oppressed people fleeing from a vengeful mob found a haven in the wilderness. Winter Quarters, established under the direction of the Mormon leader Brigham Young, sheltered more than 3,000 people during the winter of 1846-1847. . . . — — Map (db m90527) HM
Built near this site in 1807 by Manuel Lisa, trader and indian commissioner, through whose influence the Omaha, Pawnee, Ponca, Otoe and Sioux tribes remained loyal to the United States during the War of 1812. — — Map (db m7892) HM
At the camp established very near here Captain Clark wrote about the "butifull Breeze from the N W. this evening which would have been verry agreeable, had the Misquiters been tolerably Pacifick, but thy were rageing all night." Clark may have . . . — — Map (db m7886) HM
Dundee, Omaha's first suburb, was connected to downtown by the streetcar. Dundee was literally the end-of-the-line. The streetcars reversed their course just west of this site. In 1891, a steam driven "trolley" and then a horse-drawn car brought . . . — — Map (db m58356) HM
American servicemen have displayed exemplary courage in all our nation's wars. They have sacrificed their time, their energy, given their blood and thousands their lives, to help keep America free.
This flag is a special tribute to the Medal of . . . — — Map (db m35168) WM
Between 1804 and 1806, the Corps of Discovery traveled from St. Louis, Missouri, to the Pacific coast and back. President Jefferson instructed Meriwether Lewis to collect information on "the soil & face of the country, [its] growth & vegetable . . . — — Map (db m72050) HM
In August 1804, members of the Expedition visited villages like this one, homes to the Otoe and Missouria who lived in what is today Omaha. Planning to invite these tribes to a council, or meeting, the explorers found the villages deserted. The . . . — — Map (db m72049) HM
The tallgrass prairies of Nebraska stood in stark contrast to the forested homelands of the explorers. Dense grasses, some taller than a man, covered the land. Lewis and Clark noted beauty in the vast reaches of waist-high grarsses, a beauty . . . — — Map (db m72048) HM
Near here, the Corps of Discovery held its first council, making speeches and presenting gifts to the Otoe and Missouria. Communicating through an interpreter, members of the Expedition believed their messages were clear. But were they?
This . . . — — Map (db m72057) HM
In 1803 the Missouri River carried the hopes of the young United States in its dark and unpredictable waters. President Thomas Jefferson sought a "direct & practicable water communication across the continent, for the purposes of commerce." The . . . — — Map (db m72059) HM
The Missouri River is the longest river in the United States. It stretches 2,341 miles from its headwaters at Three Forks, Montana, to where it meets the Mississippi River at St. Louis, Missouri. Its watershed covers one-sixth of the United . . . — — Map (db m72062) HM
A river forever changed by the power of humans flows beneath this bridge.
For more than a century, man has worked to tame the natural cycles of the Missouri River and exploit its power. There are benefits. Dams hold back floodwaters that once . . . — — Map (db m72066) HM
Omaha was a rich brew of immigrants, and many brought with them a well-developed taste for hops, giving rise to a half-dozen local breweries in the late 19th century. In 1887, Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis built a distribution complex in Omaha, . . . — — Map (db m35267) HM
On July 27, 1804, Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery left their “White Catfish” camp and proceeded up the Missouri River. After traveling some distance, Clark “took one man R. Field and walked on Shore with a View of Examoning . . . — — Map (db m32964) HM
Omaha's first municipal swimming pool, "The New Natatorium," originated in the basement of the westernmost of these three buildings; and vestiges of it can still be seen there. The ornamental work at the building's top announces that E. Homan . . . — — Map (db m35190) HM
This monument, titled Labor, is a salute to the dedication and hard work of all those who built the grand city of Omaha. It is a tribute to the men and women who worked for and continue to forge a better life for themselves, their families . . . — — Map (db m83300) HM
The 2011 Missouri River Flood was triggered by record snowfall in the Rocky Mountains of Montana and Wyoming and near record spring rainfall in the upper Missouri River Basin. High water levels threatened communities of all sizes along the river . . . — — Map (db m83302) HM
To commemorate the sturdy pioneers who in 1854 crossed the Missouri River to establish the Town of Omaha, more than 500 committee members and several thousand of the city's quarter-million citizens one hundred years later conducted a twelve-month . . . — — Map (db m88602) HM
As pioneers settled in small towns and villages across Nebraska, the shout of “Fire” summoned fear and panic in every person who heard it. If they were lucky, bucket brigades could save part of a burning building and its surrounding . . . — — Map (db m58037) HM
The joint efforts of many individuals and groups – among them military men and scientists, a president and an enslaved man, French-speaking boatmen and American Indians, women and men – determined the fate of the Corps of Discovery. . . . — — Map (db m57978) HM
The Midwest Regional Office, located in Omaha since 1937, assists NPS sites across the heartland of the United States. Inside this building, more than 200 people – from architects to wildland fire managers – work to sustain the . . . — — Map (db m57970) HM
You are standing at the site of the original Union Pacific Omaha Shops.
From this point a railroad was begun that would fulfill a national destiny.
Even before Union Pacific was an American icon, it was an American dream. It was a . . . — — Map (db m58038) HM
Increasing business led the Skinner Manufacturing Company to build this six-story brick building in 1914. Designed by architect Harry Lawrie, it was doubled in size with the addition of 66 feet to the east a year later. The new building was . . . — — Map (db m83293) HM
has been placed on the
National Register of
Historic Places
by the
United States
Department of the Interior
Renovated 1992
Alley-Poyner Architect
Lund-Ross Constructors — — Map (db m83241) HM
Presented by
College World Series of Omaha, Inc.
to the City of Omaha
June 7, 1999
In Celebration of 50 Years of NCAA
Division I Baseball Championship Games
in Omaha
John Lajba, Sculptor
Moved from its Original Location . . . — — Map (db m57999) HM
In 1898, following the financial panic of 1893 and the droughts of 1894-95, a world-class
exposition was held in Omaha under the guidance of Gurdon W. Wattles and other civic leaders.
The Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition emulated . . . — — Map (db m33044) HM
This Union Walk is a reminder to all of our citizens, as well as a salute to the unionized men and women from all walks of life, who invested their energy, the sweat of their brow, and sometimes even their lives to forge a better life for . . . — — Map (db m63498) HM
From 1867 to 1869 the first photography studio of William Henry Jackson, renowned photographer, artist, and explorer of the Old West, stood on the northwest corner of this block. His autobiography, Time Exposure, reports that in 1869 Omaha . . . — — Map (db m35193) HM
This plaque commemorates
the First Holy Sacrifice
of the Mass celebrated in
Omaha Nebraska - May 14, 1855
by
Father William Emonds
Erected May 1959 — — Map (db m35184) HM
In loving memory of The Right Reverend
Robert Harper Clarkson
(1826 - 1884)
Bishop of Nebraska and Dakota Territories
First Episcopal Bishop of the State of Nebraska
Founder of Trinity Cathedral
Founder and Sponsor of Nebraska's . . . — — Map (db m35188) HM
William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody held the first official performance of his Wild West show just half a mile northeast of here on May 19, 1883. Eight thousand people attended the premiere at the Omaha Driving Park near Eighteenth and . . . — — Map (db m33040) HM
At this site in 1898, Omaha hosted the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition. Following the model of other “world's fairs,” the exposition highlighted the “Progress of the West,” drawing over 2.5 million admissions. . . . — — Map (db m33018) HM
Land for Hanscom Park was donated in 1872 by Andrew J. Hanscom and James Megeath. Improvements including flower beds, lakes, cascades and fountains greatly changed the site’s rugged character. In time, the park was referred to as “one of . . . — — Map (db m57998) HM
38th President
of the United States
“My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works. Our Great Republic is a government of laws and not of men.
Here, the People rule…”
President Ford’s Inaugural Address . . . — — Map (db m58089) HM
Hanscom Park, Omaha’s oldest remaining park, was designed by landscape architect H.W.S. Cleveland in 1889. Early improvements were described in the 1898 Park Commissioner’s Report: “Two lakes, a cascade, extensive flower beds, two and . . . — — Map (db m57979) HM
Nebraska, originally part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, became a territory of the United States Government in 1854 when Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Nebraska Territory included parts of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, . . . — — Map (db m58063) HM
The settlement of Omaha began in 1854 with the opening of the Nebraska Territory. The following year Omaha was selected as the Nebraska Territorial capital. Omaha was incorporated as a city in 1857. The capital was moved from Omaha to Lincoln in . . . — — Map (db m58060) HM
Alfred Sorenson, the doyen of Omaha newspapermen, was a picturesque figure familiar around Omaha. His varied career led him to seek the offices of U.S. Senator twice and Congressman once. He was unsuccessful all three times, but remarked that he . . . — — Map (db m58237) HM
Andrew was born on July 25, 1830, in Oakland County, Michigan, one of seven children, and was reared on a farm. His father, William, had served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Andrew attended the University of Michigan, and . . . — — Map (db m58201) HM
On April 27, 1875, General George A. Crook assumed command of the Department of the Platte, which then included Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, and part of Montana and Idaho. When the headquarters was shifted from downtown Omaha to Fort Omaha (Omaha . . . — — Map (db m223451) HM
A military post was first established here in 1868 and named Sherman Barracks after the famous Civil War general, William Tecumseh Sherman. The post's name was soon changed to Omaha Barracks and, in 1878, to Fort Omaha. In 1879, General George . . . — — Map (db m33057) HM
Until after World War I, no other method equaled a soldier’s ability to send intelligence information directly to the ground by telephone from an observation balloon.
Fort Omaha entered America’s balloon and aviation history in April 1909 when . . . — — Map (db m58151) HM
Originally a filtration plant constructed in 1912, this building was remodeled and enlarged to become the Post Exchange Building in 1923. All incoming or outgoing calls, whether emergency or routine, would pass through the Post switchboard housed . . . — — Map (db m58118) HM
To maintain discipline among a large garrison, Fort Omaha commanders strictly followed the military code of the frontier era. Facing occasional problems with drunkenness, insubordination, fighting and desertion, officers were quick to punish . . . — — Map (db m58122) HM
Constructed in 1906, this double barracks building housed noncommissioned officers of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, which had reactivated Fort Omaha in 1905. During World War I, this building served as South Post Headquarters for the Army’s first . . . — — Map (db m58106) HM
Maintaining the health and well-being of soldiers at Fort Omaha was accomplished only after overcoming serious obstacles.
One such obstacle was the shortage of potable water. By 1869 only two of the Fort’s wells were considered safe for . . . — — Map (db m58090) HM
During World War I, citizen participation in relief and aid societies was exceptional across America. Omaha’s Red Cross chapter led all cities in the country in per capita membership.
In addition to the Red Cross providing a canteen at Fort . . . — — Map (db m58149) HM
Built in 1906, Fort Omaha’s “Officers Row” typifies the architecture appropriate for officers’ residences on an army post in the early 20th century. Large and impressively formal, the houses lack elaborate exterior decoration . . . — — Map (db m58156) HM
In 1880, nearly a dozen years after Fort Omaha was established, indoor hot and cold water bathing facilities were installed – three shower rooms for enlisted men and one for officers. By the end of the 19th century a new attitude towards the . . . — — Map (db m58120) HM
Even after the 1869 completion of the transcontinental railroad, the Army relied on mules and wagons to outfit its isolated posts. The Department of the Platte, headquartered at Fort Omaha, paid over $700,000 to acquire and transport troops and . . . — — Map (db m58107) HM
Upon the recommendation of Lt. General William T. Sherman, in 1866 the Adjutant General’s office created the Department of the Platte which included present-day Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Montana and a portion of southeastern Idaho. As . . . — — Map (db m58154) HM
Founded in 1858 by Byron Reed, early Omaha real estate developer and financier, Prospect Hill is the final resting place for over 15,000 citizens. While burial permit #1 was issued for Territorial Legislator Alonzo Salisbury on October 4, 1858, . . . — — Map (db m53108) HM
As a result of a major confrontation from 1866-1868 between the U.S. Army and the Lakota (Sioux), the U.S. government signed a treaty agreeing that the Army would abandon several posts along the Bozeman Trail. By this time, the Union Pacific had . . . — — Map (db m58157) HM
Born in Virginia in 1824, James Megeath was the eldest of 10 children. By age 20, he had become a cattle and sheep trader. Struck by gold fever, he went to Calaveras County, California, in 1851, operating a general merchantise store for three . . . — — Map (db m58234) HM
Born in 1829 in Onondaga County, New York, Mr. Woolworth graduated with high honors from Hamilton College in 1849, and took up the study of law. After two years practicing in Syracuse, New York, he determined to go west and locate in the new . . . — — Map (db m58345) HM
Johan Ahmanson was born on April 7, 1827, in Smaland, Sweden. At age six he was taken to live with a farmer, for whom he worked until age eighteen. He became a master bookbinder and emigrated to Denmark in 1849. There he was recruited by the . . . — — Map (db m58207) HM
John Wesley Nichols was born January 28, 1839, in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, to Samuel and Katharine Maxwell Nichols. Little is known of his early years. In 1860 he married Sarah Elizabeth Dearborn, also born in Crawford County.
Nichols . . . — — Map (db m58277) HM
Born in Germany, Joseph Francis Bauman came to Omaha in the early 1860s. Like many others, he may have been escaping the wars that plagued Central Europe at that time. In 1863, with his partner John Green, he purchased a brewery from a Mr. McCombe . . . — — Map (db m58338) HM
El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz was born Malcolm Little at University Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, May 19, 1925. He was the son of Earl and Louise Little, 3448 Pinkney Street. Reverend Little helped organize the Universal Negro Improvement Association. . . . — — Map (db m33050) HM
After nine years of inactivity, Fort Omaha reopened in 1905 as a school for noncommissioned Signal Corps officers. A structure to house the army’s only dirigible (balloon airship) was completed in 1908, and the first dirigible flew in April 1909. . . . — — Map (db m58150) HM
This small, tin-roofed building hardly suggests its central role in the mission of the officers and troops once stationed at Fort Omaha. Constructed in 1883-84, the ordnance magazine was the chief storage place for weapons and ammunition.
It was . . . — — Map (db m58117) HM
In August 1905, the Fort Omaha post was reestablished with a new mission. The War Department designated Fort Omaha as a place of instruction for the technical duties in connection with the Signal Corps of the Army. With this change, the War . . . — — Map (db m58158) HM
Throughout the frontier era, the Quartermaster’s Department oversaw post construction, supply procurement and transportation. It worked closely with the Subsistence Department which purchased and assigned rations. To both agencies, Fort Omaha . . . — — Map (db m58131) HM
This beautiful monument to the soldiers of the Spanish-American War was erected in 1900 by the Lee Forby Encampment #1 of the Spanish-American War Veterans.
Captain Lee Forby, born January 3, 1871, was wounded at the Battle of San Francisco del . . . — — Map (db m58332) HM WM
William Brown is credited as Omaha's founder (although not its first settler). He operated a Missouri River ferry from Council Bluffs and was a principal in the company that first developed the Omaha townsite.
Mr. Brown came west as a young man . . . — — Map (db m58275) HM
This site on Capitol Hill was for a decade the location of Nebraska's second territorial capitol. The building was erected here in 1857 and 1858 and served until the seat of government was removed to Lincoln in 1868.
Acting-Governor Cuming . . . — — Map (db m178538) HM
The first session of Omaha High School, now Central High School, was held on November 10, 1859, in Nebraska's territorial capitol on Ninth Street between Douglas and Farnam. Following the removal of the territorial government from Omaha, Nebraska's . . . — — Map (db m33252) HM
Jews have been part of Nebraska’s social, economic and political life since the mid 1800’s.
It was not until 1871 that the small Jewish community in Omaha grew large enough to organize and formally found Congregation of Israel.
On Sept. . . . — — Map (db m40743) HM
Bohemian patriot and journalist who sincerely labored for the elevation and liberty of his countrymen.
To live in hearts we leave behind, is not to die. — — Map (db m83239) HM
Buried here at Ak-Sar-Ben is Omaha, one of the immortals of the American turf. His sire Gallant Fox was the 1930 winner of the Triple Crown, and Omaha succeeded him to this title in 1935. To win the Triple Crown a three-year-old must win the . . . — — Map (db m66486) HM
No other improvement...can
equal in utility the railroad.
Abraham Lincoln
March 9, 1832
Dedicated by the railways of Omaha
to the service, comfort and
convenience of the people — — Map (db m35264) HM
This building has carried the Baum Iron name since the company purchased and occupied the property in 1905. Baum Iron Company was established in 1857 and was originally across the street. At one time this firm was the largest wholesaler of iron . . . — — Map (db m31368) HM
Omaha capitalist Ezra Millard, a former mayor of Omaha and the man for whom a western suburb was named, erected the four-story Millard Block in 1880-81. The first tenants were Tootle, Maul & Co., wholesale dry goods; Reed, Jones & Co., boots and . . . — — Map (db m35273) HM
Architects Findley and Shields designed this five-story brick, built in 1892-93 for $40,000. Footwear wholesalers W.V. Morse & Co. and Charles A. Coe and Company combined to manufacture a thousand shoes daily here, with sales focused on the western . . . — — Map (db m35266) HM
In 1903, George Fisher and Harry Lawrie designed Fire Substation No. 1 in the then-popular Chateauesque style. The gabled third floor gave the building the look of a French chateau. On April 9, 1917, firefighters were sunning themselves out front . . . — — Map (db m35244) HM
The Windsor Hotel, designed in the Italianate style, was constructed in two phases – the east wing was completed in 1885, and an addition to the west was finished by 1887. It was designed to be a workingman’s hotel, and with the proximity to . . . — — Map (db m35254) HM
Dedicated to Boys Town's
sons & daughters who
have served their country in the
Armed Forces
July 1991
Honoring
Boys Town Alumni
who gave the
Ultimate Sacrifice
Ask not what your country can do for you
ask what you can do for . . . — — Map (db m58573) WM
Boys Town was founded as a home and school for homeless, abandoned, neglected or otherwise underprivileged boys, regardless of color or creed, by Father Edward J. Flanagan (1886-1948) on December 10, 1917. The first Father Flanagan's Boy's Home at . . . — — Map (db m53109) HM
Founder of Boys Town
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A.
"The work will continue, you see,
whether I am there or not,
because it is God's work, not mine."
Msgr. Edward J. Flanagan
Mol an oige
agus tiocfaidh si
Ni neart go cur le cheile . . . — — Map (db m58482) HM
In memory of
Rt. Rev. Monsignor
Edward J. Flanagan
Founder of Boys Town and
Recipient of Variety Clubs
First Humanitarian Award
His dictum:
"There is no such thing as a bad boy" — — Map (db m58481) HM
