There are churches tucked away and upfront throughout North Omaha. One of the congregations that is most visible has been active throughout their neighborhood for a century. This is a history of Parkside Baptist Church in North Omaha.
Very Humble Beginnings
In 1920, a so-called “chapel car” was brought to 30th and Newport Avenue. Located next to a cornfield, the railcar was called “Evangel” and was planted to serve as a temporary home for a new Baptist congregation. Located next to the new neighborhoods of Minne Lusa and Florence Field, the Belvedere and Miller Park neighborhoods were nearby too.
The chapel car was moved out in 1921 when it was replaced. With no place to meet, the congregation talked about merging with Immanuel Baptist Church at North 24th and Pratt Streets. When those talks failed, services were held in the open air of Miller Park. Miller Park Presbyterian hosted the church until they built a temporary chapel on the railcar site. The next year ground was broke for a permanent building.
Growing Big
In 1923, popular Omaha architect John McDonald designed a new church and it was built that year. Parkside has served the neighborhoods around the area since, and was named in honor of its proximity to the Miller Park. The church has had worship services, Bible studies, choir and other church activities since its establishment, as well as sports teams, scouts and other community activities since it was founded.
Parkside was the beneficiary of early white flight in Omaha when former white residents in the Kountze Place neighborhood fled to the Florence Field neighborhood. According to the newspaper, Immanuel Baptist Church‘s minister moved to Parkside and took more than 100 families with him to his new church, nearly doubling the size of the congregation overnight.
In 1961, a new sanctuary was dedicated after a decade of steady growth. Featuring a Mid-Century Modern design, it had many features that were more common in west Omaha churches at the time. Throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, the congregation maintained its size and stature in the community.
However, starting in the 1980s when white flight started severely depleting the surrounding neighborhoods of young families, Parkside’s congregation started dwindling.
The church celebrated its centennial in 2021. However, after decades of decline in 2023 the congregation sold the building to a new congregation called Nazarene Karen Baptist Church. Parkside was a member of American Baptist Churches of Nebraska, and so is Nazarene Karen.
While the church is closed now, its history lives on. Perhaps someday the building will be recognized by the City of Omaha as an official Omaha Landmark or listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Please share your memories in the comments section!
You Might Like…
- A History of the Minne Lusa Historic District in North Omaha
- A History of Florence Field in North Omaha
Elsewhere Online
MY ARTICLES ABOUT HISTORIC CHURCHES IN NORTH OMAHA
GENERAL: Directory | Black Churches | Florence Churches
METHODIST: 17th Street | Pearl Memorial UMC | St. John’s AME | Bethel AME | Cleaves Temple | Ames Avenue | Trinity | Walnut Hill | 18th Street |
BAPTIST: Mount Moriah | Zion | Immanuel | Second | Rising Star | Paradise | Parkside
CATHOLIC: Holy Family | St. Benedict the Moor | St. John’s | Holy Angels | Sacred Heart | St. Cecilia | St. Therese
PRESBYTERIAN: Calvin Memorial | Hillside | First United | Covenant | St. Paul
EPISCOPALIAN: St. Phillips |
COGIC: New Bethel | Faith | Greater St. Paul
LUTHERAN: Hope | St. Paul | Mount Olive
OTHERS: Mt. Calvary |
RELATED: St. Clare’s Monastery | Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary | North Omaha Catholic Schools | Black Churches | Florence Churches | Kountze Place Churches
BONUS
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