A Timeline of the History of Saratoga

This is a timeline of the history of the Saratoga neighborhood in North Omaha, including the intersection of 24th and Ames. Included here are events, places and people central to the neighborhood’s existence as a pioneer town, leafy suburb, and a seemingly abandoned urban neighborhood.

Adam F.C. Fletcher

May 16

10 minutes

Saratoga Nebraska History Map — This is a map of landmarks in Saratoga history, a neighborhood in North Omaha.

The following timeline has numbers in parentheses after most of the titles. Those numbers correspond to the map above. Please leave your questions, concerns and criticisms in the comments section.

Saratoga History Timeline

1854: Native American encampment (7) at Horseshoe Bend existed before and after European settlers arrived.
1854: Saratoga Brewery (8) Richard Simeon opened the Saratoga Brewery at 16th and Commercial Ave. After turning over several times, in 1891 this became the Storz Brewery.
1856: Saratoga Dump – A dump was started on a creek that ran along Meredith Ave. It stayed there until
1857: Erastus Flavel Beadle arrives.
1857: Paulsen Mill (1) was built along Saratoga Creek at N. 24th and Grand Ave.
1857: Saratoga Post Office (1) opens. It closed in 1858.
1857: Beadle house (26) was built near N. 16th and Sprague St. He left by 1858.
1857: Beadle’s Warehouse (10) was built for steamboats stopping at his docks at Sulphur Springs. Learn more here »
1857: Saratoga Springs Hotel (1) built at 24th and Grand Ave. Learn more here »
1857: 30th and Ames had two businesses started there when the intersection was called Janetta and Butler Street. Learn more here »
1858: Douglas County Fair (6) began on the site of the future Saratoga Race Track. Learn more here »
1861: Brownell Hall (1) was opened in the old Saratoga Springs Hotel. Learn more here »
1863: Gallows (9) were built in Saratoga for the hanging of Cyrus Tator. Learn more here »
1866: Saratoga Race Track (6) advertised horse races for the first time. Learn more here »
1866: Grand Hotel (1) opened in the former Brownell Hall after it moved to Omaha. Learn more here »
1866: First Saratoga School (3) opens. Learn more here »
1866: Omaha Barracks later called Fort Omaha (21) was opened less than a mile from Saratoga. Learn more here »
1868: Saratoga Race Track (6) hosts the first Douglas County Agricultural Society fair. Learn more here »
1869: Saratoga Race Track (6) advertises two seasons of the Omaha Clippers baseball team. Learn more here »
1871: Second Saratoga School (3) built. Learn more here »
1874: Saratoga Congregational Church built on southwest corner of N. 25th and Ames Ave.
1877: Saratoga Bend and Sulphur Springs (10) flooded; Cut-Off Lake created. Learn more here »
1877: Saratoga Race Track becomes Omaha Driving Park (6) and management is assumed by an association led by lawyer John Redick and others. Learn more here »
1875: Saratoga Stables at 2501 Taylor St. were advertised in an Omaha newspaper.
1880: 2527 Ames Avenue might have been built this early.
1883: Belt Line Railway (14) is built through Saratoga along the former Boyd Street south of Ames Avenue by the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Learn more here »
1883: Omaha Driving Park (6) hosts the world premier of Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show. Learn more here »
1884: Cummings Hotel (27) was opened at N. 16th and Laird St.
1888: Oak Chatham Depot (14) was built at N. 23rd and Taylor St. Learn more here »
1890: Saratoga Hotel (4) moved into a new building on the northwest corner of N. 24th and Ames Ave.
1891: Third Saratoga School (3) built. Learn more here »
1894: Trinity Lutheran Church opened in the former Saratoga Congregational Church.
1895: Omaha Driving Park (6) hosts the Nebraska State Fair for the next five years. The Omaha Driving Park Association built paddocks, grandstands, fencing around the entire park, a floral hall, dining hall and more. Learn more here »
1895: Stroud Company (15) was started by Thomas Stroud in Saratoga to build road grading machines at Florence Blvd. and Ames Ave. Learn more here »
1898: Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition was partially located on the southeast corner of Saratoga, including the return of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West on the southeast corner of 24th and Ames Avenue. Learn more here »
1898: Rome Miller mansion (13) is built by a rich hotelier at 4823 Florence Boulevard. Learn more here »
1898: Covenant Presbyterian Church opened at N. 27th and Pratt St. Learn more here »
1898: Saratoga Drug (4) was opened by Harry Lane on the northwest corner of N. 24th and Ames Ave. Learn more here »
1899: Omaha and Council Bluffs Streetcar Company barn (13) was built on the southeast corner of 24th and Ames Avenue. Learn more here »
1899: YMCA Athletic Park (3) opened at the northeast corner of N. 24th and Ames Ave. with a quarter-mile bicycle and running track, a baseball diamond, trap shooting, handball, quoits and cricket, as well as tennis courts. There were showers, baths, rubbing tables and dressing rooms, too. Learn more here »
1900: Suburban Theatre (11) opened as the first vaudeville not located in downtown Omaha at 4414 North 24th St. It showed movies after 1907. Learn more here »
1900: Belt Line Railway (14) passenger service completely ended and it was used exclusively for light industrial shipping to the mainline railroads downtown. Learn more here »
1900: Douglas County Fair (5) held at the Omaha Driving Park again. Learn more here »
1902: Omaha Driving Park (6) was taken care of by the newly formed Tri-City Amateur Driving Club. Learn more here »
1903: Omaha Driving Park (6) hosted the second season of racing that was managed by the Tri-City Amateur Driving Club.
1904: Omaha Driving Park (6) was officially closed.
1905: Stroud Company (15) built a major factory at Florence Blvd and Ames Ave. Learn more here »
1905: Pearl Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church (2) was built at 2377 Larimore Ave. Learn more here »
1909: Thomas Stroud mansion (29) was built at 5100 Florence Blvd in the Saratoga neighborhood. Learn more here »
1910: Omaha Fire Department Station #15 (22) opened at N. 22th and Ames Ave. Learn more here »
1910: Suburban Theater (11) closed. Learn more here »
1912: Stroud Company (15) factory burned down and was rebuilt. Learn more here »
1913: The Omaha Motor Company (15) opened within the Stroud Company factory. Learn more here »
1914: Omaha Motor Company (15) went out of business.
1914: J.F. Bloom and Company (15) built a production factory and display room at Florence Boulevard and Ames Ave. Learn more here »
1915: The Druid Hall was designed by Joseph Guth and built at 2412 Ames Ave. It originally included a bowling alley and gambling room, a large ballroom and women’s room, a full kitchen, meeting rooms, and storefronts. Learn more here »
1915: Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer (2) moved into the former Pearl Church, which moved to N. 24th and Ogden Ave.
1916: The Saratoga Creek where the dump was along Meredith Ave. was cleaned and capped. Learn more here »
1917: Omaha University Science Department (3) moved into the former Saratoga School located on the northeast corner of N. 24th and Ames Ave. Learn more here »
1917: Omaha University Football Field (3) opened behind the Science Department. Learn more here »
1919: Druid Hall hosted Maceo Pinkard’s Saxophone Orchestra. Pinkard would go on to compose “Sweet Georgia Brown,” the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters.
1919: Holy Angels Catholic Church was opened at N. 28th and Fowler. Learn more here »
1921: The Omaha Public Library North Branch opened on the southwest corner of N. 25th and Ames Ave. Learn more here »
1924: The Metropolitan Loan and Building Association opened at 4508 N. 24th St. Learn more here »
1926: The North Star Theater (12) building was constructed at 25th and Ames Ave. Learn more here »
1926: Fourth Saratoga School built. Learn more here »
1926: 4225 Florence Boulevard is built. Learn more here »
1932: Stroud Manufacturing Company went bankrupt and closed. Learn more here »
1938 – Omaha Fire Department Station #15 (22) got a new building constructed by the Works Progress Administration at N. 22nd and Ames Ave. Learn more here »
1938 – The Omaha Public Library North Branch moved to a new building at N. 28th and Ames Ave.
1946 – The Druid Hall was operated by an American Legion Post. Learn more here »
1950: Covenant Presbyterian Church moved from Saratoga. Learn more here »
1950: The Third Church Christ Scientist opened at 2118 Browne St.
1950: The North Star Theater (12) reopened as the Ames Theater. Learn more here »
1957: Omaha Fire Department Station #15 (22) was integrated.
1960: The Ames Theater (12) closed permanently and became a grocery store. Learn more here »
1964: White flight from Saratoga begins after the passage of the first Civil Rights Act. Learn more here »
1964: Metropolitan Loan and Building Association moved away from 24th and Ames Ave. Learn more here »
1964: The John F. Kennedy Recreation Center was opened at 4514 N. 24th St. by Beverly Blackburn. Learn more here »
1965: The Druid Hall was bought by the Prince Hall Masons of Nebraska. Learn more here »
1969: The John F. Kennedy Recreation Center was closed by City of Omaha. Learn more here »
1970: Lane’s Drug Store on the northwest corner of N. 24th and Ames Ave. was closed by Harry Lane’s daughter. Learn more here »
1970: King Solomon’s Mines, a nightclub, opens in the former Shaver’s Grocery, which was Ames Theater. Learn more here »
1971: Florence Tower was built on the site of the Stroud Mansion. Learn more here »
1973: Run Johnny Run Youth Club was opened by North Omaha football legend Johnny Roger in the former King Solomon’s Mines building. Learn more here »
1976: The former North Star Theater (12) became a warehouse and continues as that today.Learn more here »
1982: Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway Barn (13) on the southeast corner of 24th and Ames, which closed in 1955 and was converted to a warehouse, burned down.
1983: Omaha Fire Department Station #15 (22) was closed by the Omaha Fire Department. Today it is a storage facility. Learn more here »
1984: The Belt Line Railway (14) was completely abandoned and rails are removed from near 24th and Ames Ave. Learn more here »
1993: The former Saratoga Hotel/ Johnson Hardware/ Lane Drug building (4) on the northwest corner of 24th and Ames Ave.
2014: The Druid Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today it houses the 3-5-7 Club and the Prince Hall Masons of Nebraska. Learn more here »
2018: J.F. Bloom and Company (15) moved away from Saratoga. Learn more here »
2019: Saratoga School closed by OPS. Learn more here »