A History of the Miller Park Duplex Historic District in North Omaha

Immediately after World War II, there was a rush of soldiers flush with government money that allowed them to buy homes and build families right away. A lot of North Omaha finished in-filling during this period, with houses constructed in just a few months and selling a lot quicker than that. Spread across a few streets in the Miller Park neighborhood, one set of these homes created an architecturally distinct area that should be designated as a historic district and preserved quickly.

5813 North 27th Street, North Omaha, Nebraska — Built in 1944, this duplex is at 5813 North 27th Street. This pic is circa 2017.

Homes for Troops

5819 North 27th Street, North Omaha, Nebraska — The duplex at 5819 North 27th Street was built in 1947. This pic is circa 2017.

A housing shortage led developers to get creative in some parts of the community. In the Miller Park neighborhood, they created several blocks of multi-family duplexes surrounding shared parks. These homes, which I’m calling the Miller Park Duplex Historic District, are located on Laurel Avenue and Himebaugh Avenue, between North 27th Street and 24th Street.

Over these two blocks, there are more than 20 duplexes, each designed with slight variations from the other, with one-and two-story units. All of them were built in the 1940s.

This is a 1958 aerial pic of the Miller Park Duplex Historic District, N. 24th and Himebaugh, North Omaha, Nebraska — This is a 1958 aerial pic of the Miller Park Duplex Historic District.

In the two-story units, each side has three bedrooms and one bathroom. There are concrete stoops on them, and some have porch roofs. The single story duplexes have two bedrooms and a bathroom.

I grew up a block away from these duplexes, and I remember being mystified by the central parkland between them. When I was young, this area was overgrown and unpleasant. It was also made known that we shouldn’t go back there. However, that led some friends and I into the space in the early 1990s. We found rusted playground sets and wood on the ground, and nothing that would indicate anything of significance.

2579 Laurel Avenue, North Omaha, Nebraska — This duplex at 2579 Laurel Avenue was built in 1944. Its shown here circa 2017.

Talking with the older people at Pearl Church when I was in my late teens, I was told there had been gardens and picnic tables in the open space. It was never really developed though. At some point after their construction, many of the duplexes did have detached garages built in their backyards; few survive today.

5805 North 27th Street, North Omaha, Nebraska — The duplex at 5805 North 27th Street was built in 1944. Its shown here circa 2017.

To think of these spaces in the 1950s, packed with young families and aspiring parents! Flowers and gardens in the mornings, sandboxes and swing sets abounding during the day, and picnics and fireflies mixed at evening times. Kids shooed off to Miller Park School in the fall, and ice skates carried to the Miller Park Pond in the winter. Walking to the grocery store at North 24th and Laurel, or pulling into the Phillips 66 at North 24th and Himebaugh to gas up for a Saturday morning drive…

Local or National Landmarks?

I’m taking the privilege of naming these homes the Miller Park Duplex Historic District. There are 19 buildings comprising 38 homes clustered on two blocks with a shared park in between the duplexes.

2426-2428 Himebaugh Avenue, North Omaha, Nebraska — Built in 1944, this duplex sits at 2426 and 2428 Himebaugh Avenue.

The Omaha Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission says that they may qualify for to be designated as Omaha Landmarks, which would make reckless redevelopment a little harder. One report suggests, “An intensive evaluation of the area would assist in assessing integrity and determining historic boundaries. This collection of duplexes does not appear to meet the criteria for listing in the National Register as a historic district.”

5809 North 27th Street in North Omaha, Nebraska — This is 5809 North 27th Street, which was built in 1944.

For years, many of these homes have provided Section 8 housing, and with absentee landlords, many of them are in poor condition to say the least. However, as other deteriorated historic properties in Omaha have shown, money fixes everything and these homes could be great again.

2450-2452 Himebaugh Street, North Omaha, Nebraska — This is the duplex at 2450 and 2452 Himebaugh Street, built in 1944.

Contributing Properties

Miller Park Duplex Historic District, North Omaha, Nebraska — This is an aerial comparison of the Miller Park Duplex Historic District in 1930, 1950 and 2016. Green stars indicate contributing properties.

There are 19 duplexes in the Miller Park Duplex Historic District. They are:

5816 and 5818 North 24th Street
5810 and 5812 North 24th Street
5802 and 5804 North 24th Street
2408 and 2410 Himebaugh Avenue
2412 and 2414 Himebaugh Avenue
2418 and 2420 Himebaugh Avenue
2426 and 2428 Himebaugh Avenue
2430 and 2432 Himebaugh Avenue
2438 and 2440 Himebaugh Avenue
2442 and 2444 Himebaugh Avenue
2450 and 2452 Himebaugh Avenue
5801 and 5803 North 27th Street
5805 and 5807 North 27th Street
5809 and 5811 North 27th Street
5815 and 5817 North 27th Street
5819 and 5821 North 27th Street
2585 and 2587 Laurel Avenue
2581 and 2583 Laurel Avenue
2577 and 2579 Laurel Avenue

There is a lot of potential for historic preservationists in Miller Park’s residential areas, and these duplexes show one reason why. As historic preservation is embraced by Omahans, its essential that the City steps up and meets people where they want to be – in historic homes like these!

You Might Like…

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Elsewhere Online

Reconnaissance Survey of Portions of North Central Omaha

BONUS PICS

5801 North 27th Street, Nebraska — This may be 5801 North 27th Street, built in 1944. Its at the corner of North 27th and Himebaugh Avenue.

Miller Park Duplex Historic District, N. 24th and Himebaugh, North Omaha, Nebraska — These are contributing properties to the proposed Miller Park Duplex Historic District, located at N. 24th and Himebaugh in North Omaha.

5 Comments

Jeanette. says:

October 24 at 8:24 pm

Thanks for sharing this, it was a nice to revisit this area I live in as a kid. My family lived in a duplex on Himebaugh, just across the street from my Grandmother, and two doors down from my Aunt. How a family with 4 kids did it is beyond me. Many years later we moved into another duplex on 27th Street until my folks finally bought a house. Whew!

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Juan Alvarado says:

July 5 at 2:06 pm

I feel the same way about North Omaha I own a couple of properties in this area and I am moving back to this area by choice not because I have to I really embrace North Omaha and I would like to see if there’s an opportunity to invest in some of these duplex please send me more info on this . Thank you and have a great day

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1. Adam Fletcher Sasse says:
  
  July 9 at 8:37 pm
  
  Juan, I would love to see anyone put real money into these potentially beautiful homes, but I don’t follow real estate. I hope you’ll work with an agent to follow the addresses I shared in this article, buy up and restore what you get. Please send pictures when you do. Thanks for writing.
  
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