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This is a 1950 image of the George J. Hunt Mansion in Florence. It was located at N. 31st and State Street until 1964.
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A History of the Hunt Mansion in Florence

The George J. Hunt Mansion was located at N. 31st and State Street in Florence, Nebraska, until 1964.

Adam Fletcher Sasse
4 minutes

Florence once had wealthy upperclass people living over the town in large mansions. Bankers, landowners, businesspeople and others looked over the town as they devised ways to grow their wealth. One of these was a wealthy man who built his large home next to a big church. This is the story of the Hunt Mansion.

George Julius Hunt (1857-1920) was an early lawyer who came to Florence from Baltimore, Maryland to Florence as a lawyer after earning his degree back east. Hunt started his first Nebraska law partnership in the firm of Richardson and Hunt, and then left that to work with Joseph R. Clarkson in 1880. In 1883, Isaac E. Congdon joined that firm, and they were called Congdon, Clarkston and Hunt. That same year in 1883, he married Margaret Bouldin, and together they had three children. The family were members of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Florence.

After moving to Florence in 1885, Hunt built his crowning mansion at 8406 North 31st Street in Florence in 1887. Designed in the Queen Anne style, it was a three-story with fine woodwork on the interior and exterior.

Demonstrating his importance, in 1888 Hunt was a charter member of the Douglas County Bar, later known as the Omaha Bar Association. In 1891, Hunt was involved in a scandalous case against the City of Florence. Apparently, he bought his land before a formal survey of the city’s streets and sidewalks was conducted, and when City officials and the City Marshall came to rip out his fences and shrubbery, Hunt secured an injunction in the courts to force the City to stop damaging his property. Upset at the city and feeling put out, Hunt and his family moved from Florence in the 1890s. By 1913 the family left for Sidney, Nebraska, where Hunt became active in building infrastructure and other industries, accumulating more fortune and founding the town of Bridgeport in western Nebraska. A few years later, in 1916, George Hunt unsuccessfully ran for Nebraska Supreme Court. He served in a local court, and was referred to as Judge Hunt until he died in 1920.

Judge Hunt sold the mansion in Florence in 1913 to a local banker. The additional land from his estate on North 31st Street was sold to a builder who developed homes on them. Wall told the newspapers he was going to fix up the mansion and live there.

William R. Wall (1865-1951) and his wife Sarah M. Wall (1874-1947) bought the house from Judge Hunt. Wall was president of the Farmer’s State Bank in Florence who eventually served as the City’s mayor before it was annexed by Omaha. Working with Frank Parker, Wall was responsible for funding much of the growth in Florence during its second generation. He was a member of the first fire department started there, and later served in several civic capacities, including as a mayor of the City of Florence and as a Nebraska State Representative. As a member of the Odd Fellows, too, Wall was involved in building their hall at North 30th and Tucker. In the 1910s, the Wall family became active in fundraising for the new St. Phillip Neri School located near their home. The Wall children included Francis, Mary, Ruth and Peggie. Wall was a history buff who was noted for having a complete collection of the old Florence newspapers, the Courier and the Tribune, as well as having strong knowledge about the location of the hard-to-find Fort Lisa. In the late 1920s, the family sold the mansion and moved into a new house at North 32nd and Hamilton Street.

Between 1929 and 1963, the Hunt Mansion in Florence was rented out as apartments. There was a four bedroom flat on the first floor, a three-bedroom unit on the second floor, and by all accounts the top floor was not rented out.

The mansion stood until 1963, when it was demolished and replaced with a brick apartment building. That building stands today. There is no historical marker or any recognition of the role Hunt played in building, boosting and supporting Florence.

Adam’s note: Do you have any pics or other info about the George J. Hunt Mansion in Florence? Please share in the comments below or by emailing me at info@northomahahistory.com. Thanks!

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MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE HISTORY OF FLORENCE
Public Places: Florence Main Street | Florence Ferry | Florence High School | The Mormon Tree | Florence Water Works | Mormon Bridge | Florence Boulevard | River Drive | J.J. Pershing Drive and Monument | Potter’s Field
Businesses: Bank of Florence | Florence Mill | Zesto
Houses: Parker Mansion | Brandeis Country Home | Lantry-Thompson Mansion | Mitchell House | Hunt Mansion
Other Historic Places: Cutler’s Park | Winter Quarters | Vennelyst Park | Florence Depot | Florence Home | Florence Building
People: James M. Parker | James Comey Mitchell | Florence Kilborn | Jacob Weber Sr.
Neighborhoods: Winter Quarters | Florence Field | Wyman Heights | High Point
Other: Directory of Florence Historic Places

MY ARTICLES ON THE HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE IN NORTH OMAHA

GENERAL: Architectural Gems | The Oldest House | The Oldest Places
PLACES: Mansions and Estates | Apartments | Churches | Public Housing | Houses | Commercial Buildings | Hotels | Victorian Houses
PEOPLE: ‘Cap’ Clarence Wigington | Everett S. Dodds | Jacob Maag | George F. Shepard | John F. Bloom
HISTORIC HOUSES: Mergen House | Hoyer House | North Omaha’s Sod House | James C. Mitchell House | Charles Storz House | George F. Shepard House | 2902 N. 25th St. | 6327 Florence Blvd. | 1618 Emmet St. | John E. Reagan House
PUBLIC HOUSING: Logan Fontenelle | Spencer Street | Hilltop | Pleasantview | Myott Park aka Wintergreen
NORMAL HOUSES: 3155 Meredith Ave. | 5815 Florence Blvd. | 2936 N. 24th St. | 6711 N. 31st Ave. | 3210 N. 21st St. | 4517 Browne St. | 5833 Florence Blvd. | 1922 Wirt St. | 3467 N. 42nd St. | 5504 Kansas Ave. | Lost Blue Windows House | House of Tomorrow | 2003 Pinkney Street
HISTORIC APARTMENTS: Historic Apartments | Ernie Chambers Court, aka Strehlow Terrace | The Sherman Apartments | Logan Fontenelle Housing Projects | Spencer Street Projects | Hilltop Projects | Pleasantview Projects | Memmen Apartments | The Sherman | The Climmie | University Apartments | Campion House
MANSIONS & ESTATES: Hillcrest Mansion | Burkenroad House aka Broadview Hotel aka Trimble Castle | McCreary Mansion | Parker Estate | J. J. Brown Mansion | Poppleton Estate | Rome Miller Mansion | Redick Mansion | Thomas Mansion | John E. Reagan House | Brandeis Country Home | Bailey Residence | Lantry – Thompson Mansion | McLain Mansion | Stroud Mansion | Anna Wilson’s Mansion | Zabriskie Mansion | The Governor’s Estate | Count Creighton House | John P. Bay House | Mercer Mansion | Hunt Mansion
COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS: 4426 Florence Blvd. | 2410 Lake St. | 26th and Lake Streetcar Shop | 1324 N. 24th St. | 2936 N. 24th St. | 5901 N. 30th St. | 4402 Florence Blvd. | 4225 Florence Blvd. | 3702 N. 16th St. | House of Hope | Drive-In Restaurants
RELATED: Redlining | Neighborhoods | Streets | Streetcars | Churches | Schools

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One response to “A History of the Hunt Mansion in Florence”

  1. Mary T Minturn Avatar
    Mary T Minturn

    Yes , the Hunt house was still standing when my family moved to 3120 State St in 1956. I was 3 years old at the time. I am pretty sure it was a rental by that time. I remember as I was a bit older,going there for trick or treat but only to the door where I could see a long staircase going up. I remember when they tore it down and put up the apartment building. I and most of my siblings went to Florence school for kindergarten in an out building on the same property as the main school at 31st and Willit Sts. one block north of State St. ( I remember when they tore that beautiful building down too and put up the apartment buildings). Our kindergarten teacher was Peggy (Peggie?)Wall , she taught at Florence School for many years. We loved her! Every year my mother would have her over for coffee . I don’t know who initiated that but possibly Miss Wall visited many families in their home. I am wondering if this is the same Peggie Wall that you mentioned as a child of the Walls that bought the Hunt House. We all went to St. Philip Neri for 1st through 8th grade. We had 1st grade on the stage in the church basement until the old school was torn down and the new one built.
    I am wondering if you have any information/photos of the beautiful house that was on the northeast corner of 31st and Willit. It was demolished to make room for the bank that is there today. Another demolished house of interest was the house up a long flight of stairs on the MUD property in Florence. My brother and I used to deliver the OWH to that house .We would take the newspaper up that long flight of stairs. A nice older woman always met us at the door. Thanks for the research you share!

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