A History of the Intersection of North 24th and Pratt Streets

Demolished buildings, Grocery store, Hospitals, Intersections, North 24th Street, North Omaha, University of Omaha

A History of the Intersection of North 24th and Pratt Streets

This is a history of the intersection of 24th and Pratt, home to important institutions and businesses throughout the life of North Omaha. It was written by Adam Fletcher Sasse for NorthOmahaHistory.com.

Adam Fletcher Sasse

January 24

13 minutes

To look at it today, you wouldn’t know that there have been important intersections up and down North 24th Street far beyond what’s there now. However, starting more than a century ago there were as many as a dozen important places along the Deuce that go largely unseen today. This is a history about one of those once-bustling, once-robust places that was popular for 50 years, the intersection of North 24th and Pratt Street.

Suburban North Omaha??

Redick Mansion, aka the Mayne Mansion, aka Omaha University Redick Hall, 3612 North 24th Street, North Omaha, Nebraska — This was the Mayne Mansion at North 24th and Pratt Streets in North Omaha. It was later owned by John Redick and then Omaha University before being removed.

Once upon a time, the intersection of 24th and Pratt Streets was the suburbs of Omaha.

Until the 1870s, there wasn’t a lot going on along North 24th Street, which was originally referred to as Saunders Street. However, for 20 years after Omaha City was founded there were farmhouses and farms, orchards and a few businesses, as well as wagons shot along Saunders Street regularly carrying freight and passengers to and from Omaha to the old towns of Saratoga and Florence.

At some point in the late 1870s, a real estate mogul named Clifton E. Mayne (1855-1919) bought a farmhouse on the corner of present-day 24th and Pratt. He immediately rebuilt it as a grand Queen Anne style mansion that featured a steep roof with large dormers, an asymmetrical front façade, and an expansive porch with decorative wood trim. There was a round front corner tower with a conical roof featuring small dormers, turrets and a multicolored palette for the exterior paint. The interior was as grand, including 15 rooms. The mansion sat in a grove of maple trees, and was surrounded by fruit tree orchards planted by the old farmer who lived there.

McCreary Mansion, N. 24th and Pratt Streets, North Omaha, Nebraska — This was the John McCreary Mansion at North 24th and Pratt Streets around 1880.

At the same time, located just north of the Mayne Mansion was the McCreary Mansion. John McCreary (1832-1908) was a businessman in downtown Omaha with a small family and a lot of money. His brick home was Italianate, like the houses at Fort Omaha, and had 12 rooms on two floors. The interior was lined with luscious woodwork, the finest fixtures and other tasteful touches to indicate the McCreary family’s status.

There were farms and orchards lining the rest of North 24th north of Lake Street, but around Pratt Street there were only those two large homes and their estates for several blocks. As a matter of fact, until 1900 North 24th Street didn’t even reach Pratt Street. Instead, beyond Maple Street there were four large blocks that cut off the street from going all the way through. Some street names were different then, too. Riding in their wagons north, visitors went up the old Florence Road and turned west on Pratt Street. In 1890 though, Redick’s estate still reached east to North 16th Street and down to the Missouri River.

However, after local banker Herman Kountze bought a large section of Redick’s estate and laid it out for development in 1888, everything started to change in this region of North Omaha. Laying out large lots, installing sidewalks, curbs and gas street lamps, and selling lots cheaply to churches, Kountze’s development began to fill-in. When the streetcar company reached the new neighborhood called Kountze Place, middle-class and upper-middle class business owners, managers, doctors and other professionals moved in, building fine homes in the most exquisite styles.

That’s when everything took off.

In the next 20 years, the intersection of North 24th and Pratt Streets came to host a growing hospital and a university and all of the infrastructure needed to support those institutions, including multiple grocery stores, cafes, and more. The 24th Street streetcar stopped to serve the intersection and the surrounding neighborhood with mixed upperclass and working class families along with several apartment buildings in the area. It was a booming area.

The Neighborhood Develops

Jacobs Hall, University of Omaha, North Omaha, Nebraska — These are the University Apartments at North 24th and Pratt Streets in the early 1940s. Notice the streetcar

At the turn of the 20th century, the intersection of 24th and Pratt began developing in earnest. The Trans-Mississippi Exposition of 1898 abutted the corner and real estate speculators had bought up all the housing lots around it. Soon after more houses were built, and within about 20 years the entire neighborhood surrounding the intersection was built up. Several institutions and businesses opened at 24th and Pratt in the first decade of the new century, too.

Omaha Swedish Mission Hospital

The Swedish Mission Hospital was opened in 1906 by a group of religious leaders from Omaha’s Scandinavian immigrant community. Buying the McCreary Mansion just before John McCreary’s death in 1908, they immediately renovated the 15-room home into a state-of-the-art hospital with Swedish doctors practicing the most modern medicine.

In 1924, the hospital changed its name to Evangelical Covenant Hospital and continued its work. Expanding throughout the years, in 1931 the hospital was added onto and renovated again. However, the Great Depression was not kind to the institution and in 1938 it closed permanently. The facility was a teaching hospital too, and during its 30+ years there were exactly 269 nursing school graduates.

After the hospital closed, the Salvation Army bought the property. They operated a hospital for unwed mothers there, along with a senior living facility. When the hospital moved to west Omaha in the early 1960s, the building fell into disrepair. It was demolished in the 1970s. Replaced with the current building on the site, today the Salvation Army continues to operate there.

Omaha University

University of Omaha, North Omaha, Nebraska — This is the original general conceptual plan for the University of Omaha, from 1908. It was a “General plan of grounds and buildings” designed by prolific Omaha architects Fischer and Lawrie.

After deciding the city needed a non-secular institution of higher education, a group of Presbyterians opened the Omaha University at North 24th and Pratt in 1908. In the next 30 years, they were donated enough money to construct four new buildings, moved into three more, and had thousands of students. The two main buildings at the intersection were the Joslyn Hall and Jacobs Hall.

Developing a massive vision to expand their original campus, they envisioned more than 20 buildings covering 10 acres abutting Kountze Park and dissected by North 24th Street. Alas, the growth of the campus was hampered by unsuccessful fundraising early on in the university’s lifespan, and by 1930 there was talking of moving from North Omaha. Toward the end of the Great Depression, in 1938 some major donors and the federal government enabled them to move to the furthest west reaches of Omaha along Dodge Street where the University of Nebraska at Omaha continues today.

After Omaha University moved away, the campus changed uses to become an apartment building and community center. Both of these buildings torn down in the 1960s.

More on the Corner

3713 N. 24th Street, North Omaha, Nebraska

This is 3701 N 24th, built in 1915 at the corner of 24th and Pratt Streets.

There were several businesses at the intersection that supported the institutions there. They included a cafe, a few grocery stores and more.

“Mama Mac” was a lively character who operated the University Cafe near 24th and Pratt. From 1922 to 1937, she provided students, faculty, doctors and nurses with the best in home cooking at her little dinner at 3713 North 24th Street. After she moved out the space several other businesses, including the Live Wire Cafe. There were apartments on the second floor from the time it was built.

Looking to serve the university’s student population and nurses at the hospital, in 1924 popular North Omaha architect Joseph Guth designed the apartment building at 3709-11 North 24th Street.

Safeway Store, 3603 N. 24th St., North Omaha, Nebraska — This is the Safeway that opened at North 24th and Evans in 1935. It closed by 1960.

A Safeway Store was located at 3601 24th Street on the corner of Evans Street for more than twenty years. Opening in 1935, it was moved in 1951. Between those dates though, it was the dominate commercial force near 24th and Pratt, serving the neighborhood’s needs as it transitioned from a white enclave to an integrated community, and then to a nearly-exclusively Black neighborhood. Safeway was gone by then, and the building was used as a laundromat and church before becoming storage for a construction company for decades. It fell down in 2021, and today the lot continues serving as outdoor storage for the business.

This is a circa 1920 ghost sign on the side of 3701 N. 30th St. It advertises the Kountze Park Grocery, located there from 1920 to 1933, and Butternut Coffee, an Omaha staple for decades.

Located on the northeast corner of 24th and Pratt, there was a grocery store at 3701 North 24th Street for more than 80 years. In 1913, a man named Louis P. Deutsch opened a grocery store on the corner. Two years later he built a two-floor brick St. Louis flat, meaning that there was a storefront on the first floor and apartments on the second floor. Katleman and Son ran the store in the late 1910s, and by the 1920s, Morris Frieden bought the business. When he went bankrupt in 1926, his grocery stock was sold. The Kountze Park Grocery ran the corner store next, with the E.C. Smith Pharmacy located next door starting in 1929. The grocery store stayed there from 1920 through 1933, and in the 1950s and 1960s, Peggy’s Variety Store was open there. In the 1970s, the Community Health Association of Omaha (CHAO) was located there. In the same decade, the University of Nebraska Community Design Center offered “free architectural services to the North Side area of Omaha” from that location. Donaldson Beauty Supply moved in during the 1980s, and after operating there for almost 20 years, in 2002, sold the storefront to Troy Johnson. Soon he opened Johnson’s Corner Store there. It operated for more than a decade before closing. There were apartments above the storefronts the entire time.

Evans Tower, 3600 N. 24th St, Omaha, NE 68110 — This is the Evans Tower at 3600 N. 24th Street in North Omaha, Nebraska

In 1964, the City of Omaha succeeded in clearing out the former campus of Omaha University by demolishing the University Apartments, formerly Joslyn Hall, and wrecking the community center, formerly Jacobs Hall. In their place a twelve story tower was built by the Omaha Housing Authority to house low-income seniors. Meeting an intense need throughout the community, this facility continues occupying the space.

Althouse School of Beauty, 3617 North 24th Street, North Omaha, Nebraska — This was the Althouse School of Beauty at 3617 North 24th Street. Originally opened in 1919, it was closed in the 1980s.

Another iconic business once at this intersection was the Althouse Beauty School at 3617 North 24th Street. In 1951, the Safeway Store on 24th and Evans constructed a larger store on the southeast corner of 24th and Pratt. It operated there until 1965 when the company opened a larger store at North 24th and Lake Streets. The building then became home to the Althouse Beauty School, a longtime institution in North Omaha. They operated there until after 2000, and the building was demolished in 2018.

Today and Tomorrow at 24th & Pratt

St. Louis Style Flats at 3713 N. 24th Street — This is 3713 North 24th Street in 2016 and in 2023. Located near the intersection of 24th and Pratt, it was completely renovated in 2018-2019 and sparked other investments on the corner. It continues as the successful Grown Folks Social Club today.

This is the Grown Folks Social Club at 3713 North 24th Street. Completely renovated in the 2010s, it is a successful business operating today. — This is 3713 North 24th Street in 2016 and in 2023. Located near the intersection of 24th and Pratt, it was completely renovated in 2018-2019 and sparked other investments on the corner. It continues as the successful Grown Folks Social Club today.

As the image at the top of this article shows, during the sixty years between 1961 and 2023 this intersection changed tremendously. The University Apartments, community center, Salvation Army Hospital, the Immanuel Baptist Church and the Safeway grocery store were all demolished. In their places came the Salvation Army Worship Center, the Omaha Housing Authority’s Evans Tower offering senior housing, and local champion boxer Terrence “Bud” Crawford’s facility. A new business took over the diner spot.

Today the building at 3713 North 24th Street is home to the Grown Folks Social Club, whose owner saved the building and restored it. The business is been an anchor for improving the intersection in modern times. George Robinson, the owner and operator of Grown Folks, was responsible for restoring the appearance of his corner. “I paid to cut down the trees, I sweep the sidewalks regularly and I’m doing what others aren’t to improve this corner,” Robinson told me recently. He says the City of Omaha hasn’t invested a dime in the intersection, and as part of his investment in his business Robinson has lit up the alleyway and encouraged others to upgrade their buildings too.

After languishing for decades, the apartments at 3709 North 24th Street were renovated in the late 2010s. Today they are in good condition and contribute to the rising economic viability of the intersection.

Another great development at the intersection was the renovation 3701 North 24th Street on the northeast corner into the Terence “Bud” Crawford Shop. Crawford, a world boxing champion from the neighborhood, has made the store into a popular draw in the neighborhood. By opening the brick-and-mortar location he offered a great motivation to neighbors and beyond to invest in the surrounding neighborhood. Today the store sells Terence “Bud” Crawford gear and more. Remembering the corner store located there when he was young, Crawford was quoted saying, “I remember going to the store and buying chips, pops and candy on my way to play basketball. It was the neighborhood store… When the building came up for sale, I thought I want to buy that building. I want to leave a legacy and help my community.” The apartments above the storefronts have been converted into offices for Crawford’s operation.

Up and down the Deuce, starting a few years ago the North 24th Street Business Improvement District is working to transform the strip in order to foster positive economic growth in the community. It continues as of 2024.

With all of these changes, it is hard to know exactly what the future brings. However, with the past as a guide, we can see that the intersection of North 24th and Pratt Streets was once a great place and hopefully in the future it will be great once more, bursting with positive possibilities and bustling with good energy. There is a large open half-block on North 24th Street between Evans and Pratt that begs to be built into something productive. Maybe that’s next?

Only the future knows what’s ahead! There are no historical markers at this intersection to highlight the positive history here and point the way towards future growth and its potential. Maybe in the future?

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BONUS

University Lunch, 3713 North 24th Street, North Omaha, Nebraska — Mama Mac’s Hash House was at 3713 North 24th Street from 1922 to 1937.

This is the exterior of the Jacobs Gymnasium at the University of Omaha, built in 1910 near North 24th and Evans Street. — This is the Jacobs Hall at the University of Omaha, built in 1910 near North 24th and Evans Street.

This was the Joslyn Hall at the University of Omaha at North 24th and Pratt Streets in North Omaha for 30 years.

This is the signage on the northeast corner of 24th and Pratt, highlighting the TBC Shop sign behind the street signs.

This flyer is from the opening day of the TBC Shop at 24th and Pratt in 2019.

The Wee Speedy Washette Laundry was located at N. 24th and Pratt Streets in the 1940s and 1950s.

The Speedy Wee-Washette Laundry was located at N. 24th and Pratt Streets in the 1940s and 1950s.

The Speedy Wee-Washette Laundry was located at 3707 N. 24th Streets in the 1940s and 1950s. Today this address is home to the Fraternity Barbershop.

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A History of the Intersection of North 24th and Pratt Streets

Suburban North Omaha??