A History of Walnut Hill School

In the 1880s, the neighborhood around North 40th and Hamilton Streets was booming with residential construction, commercial growth and a lively civic spirit. Wealthy land speculators had developed prospects in the surrounding neighborhoods and everyone wanted the amenities that made neighborhoods successful, including a school. This is a history of the Walnut Hill School, originally built in 1888 and still operating today.

Opening the Old School

1883 Walnut Hill School program, North Omaha, Nebraska — This is a program from an 1893 event at Walnut Hill School. Pic from the author’s collection.

Dr. Samuel Mercer, the owner of the Walnut Hill subdivision and an important leader in Omaha, donated the land for the building including the large grove of black walnut trees the hill was named for. Located at North 43rd and Hamilton soon after the neighborhood was established, the first Walnut Hill School building was a wood frame structure built in 1886. Its permanent building was built in 1888.

The original Walnut Hill School was a red brick, two-story building with a tower in the center. There were 10 rooms and two wooden frame annexes. When it was formally opened in November 1888, the building was called “one of the finest school buildings in the city” by the Omaha Bee, with “the interior finish being particularly noticeable.” There were “extensive playgrounds, one for the boys and the other for the girls,” and a bell was promised to be installed in the tower soon. The first year the school had 225 students and was winning awards in citywide competitions of drawing and handwriting.

While it was under construction in September 1888, the Omaha Bee remarked, “The Walnut Hill building, which is as barren of ornamentation as a barn, in two or three weeks will be ready for the children. Meanwhile, the former quarters, though somewhat crowded, will be utilized.” A Council Bluffs architect named Stiles E. Maxon (1849-1914) designed the building.

Building a New School

In 1925, the Walnut Hill School PTA protested at the Omaha School Board for a new building. Pic is from the November 03, 1925 edition of the Omaha Daily News.

The residents of the Walnut Hill, Orchard Hill, and Bemis Park neighborhoods collected signatures in 1925, and that year presented their case for a new school to Superintendent John H. Beveridge (1869-1932). Showing up with 300 fellow protesters arranged by the school’s PTA, the marching picketers went through the board meeting and included students, parents and community supporters. Agreeing with their case, the Omaha School Board approved the construction of a new structure but didn’t commit to a timeline or location.

Controversies arose in the site selection and design of the 1888 building. A group of “North Dundee” residents wanted the school to be located nearer to their neighborhood instead of the original location at North 44th and Hamilton. Pulling for it to belocated near North 53rd and Charles Streets, more than 350 residents’ signatures were collected from that neighborhood and given to the district. However, the school board complied with the Walnut Hill residents’ wishes and kept the school in its original location.

Walnut Hill School 4383 Hamilton Street North Omaha Nebraska — This is a design and construction photo of the Walnut Hill School as it appeared in 1926.

Built in 1926, the new Walnut Hill Elementary School at 4355 Charles Street was seen as a vital institution for the neighborhood that reflected its important place in the city’s culture. Designed by Omaha architect Norman R. Brigham (1887-1972), When the new building was finished, it had 15 classrooms, an auditorium, teachers’ room, nurse’s office, a small science room and a principal’s office.

Walnut Hill’s new building brought other changes to the school too. The PTA was organized at the school in 1924, and the principal was awarded a massive check by an old-time alumni the year the building was opened. In 1941, the Omaha World-Herald said “Walnut Hill’s library was one of the first elementary school libraries to be organized in Omaha.

According to the Durham Museum, this was the Walnut Hill School gymnasium at 4355 Charles Street under construction in 1926. Pic courtesy of the Durham. — According to the Durham Museum, this was the Walnut Hill School gymnasium at 4355 Charles Street under construction in 1926. Pic courtesy of Durham Museum.

The building has been renovated at least five times since it was opened. The first time was 1936, when architect Charles W. Steinbaugh (1877-1958) designed an addition. More construction happened in 1953, again in 1964, 1985 and again in 2004. Ten new classrooms were added in 2004, and in 2015 the building has 405 students.

The School Today

This is the entrance to Walnut Hill School in 2024, facing the north instead of Hamilton Street. Pic from Google Images.

Today, the school is racially diverse, and there is a large program for English language learners. The percentage of students qualifying for and receiving free and reduced lunch is 98%.

However, the building has not been acknowledged as a historical landmark in Omaha or listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its original building seems lost to time, as few people remember it ever existed. Maybe in the future, the history of this important neighborhood institution won’t be neglected, ignored or denied.

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Elsewhere Online

Walnut Hill Elementary School official OPS website