On the farthest south stretch of Florence Boulevard stands a proud building that is nearly 140 years old! Tucked away within the rapidly expanding Creighton University campus, this building has been homes, flats, a boarding house, a dormitory, a priests’ hall, and offices. This is a history of Campion House in North Omaha.
The Campion House is located at 518 Florence Boulevard, also called North 19th Street.
Built in 1890, these are the kind of homes lived in by German, English and Scandinavian immigrants throughout the years, as well as Easterners migrating west. My research shows at least one of the flats might have been run as a boarding house, and that surrounding historical places at North 19th and California Streets are in line with the neighborhood’s diverse development patterns, including the St. Barnabas Catholic Church and Fleischmann Yeast Company, which shared the same corner.
In the 1970s, the building was renovated to serve as a home for Jesuit priests studying a liberal arts learning program at Creighton.
It was renovated again in 2005, and has served as offices for many programs since then. I speculate that this building predates all other construction on the campus except Creighton Hall, and may have been developed concurrent with the Creighton Observatory.
The building appears to be in good physical condition today. It is not included in a proposed Creighton University Historic District, and has not been listed on the National Register of Historic Places or designated as an official Omaha Landmark by the City of Omaha Landmark Heritage Preservation Commission.
You Might Like…
- A History of Creighton University
- A History of Apartments in North Omaha
- A History of Florence Boulevard
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