Category Archives: parks

A History of the Charles Street Bicycle Park in North Omaha by Ryan Roenfeld

Tucked away in the Near North Side was the Charles Bicycle Track. This is its history as told by Ryan Roenfeld.

A History of Sand Point Beach and Lakeview Amusement Park

A lost amusement park haunts nobody’s memories, and some even deny it ever existed. This is Lakeview Amusement Park and the Sand Point Beach.

A History of the Demolition of the Trans-Mississippi Expo

This is a history of the demolition of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition of 1898 and the Greater America Exposition of 1899.

A History of North Omaha’s Kountze Park, Once Called Malcolm X Park

Malcolm X Memorial Park sits in the heart of North Omaha’s Kountze Place. Discover why you don’t hear about it anymore.

A History of North Omaha’s Pries Lake

Here’s Pries Lake from a 1910s postcard.  The hills around North Omaha’s Florence neighborhood have kept their share of wealthy country homes, fancy gentlemen’s farms and old settlements hidden since the 1840s. However, one of the most popular places that ever existed in the area was a picnic resort that’s completely forgotten today. Its not […]

A History of North Omaha’s Miller Park

The Miller Park in North Omaha has a long history. There is no single right way to write about it, and if, after you’re done reading this entire article, you disagree with the way I’ve written this history, I invite you to write your own version.     To start with, it is important to […]

A History of North Omaha’s Walnut Hill Reservoir

Located immediately north of Mercer Park, the Walnut Hill Reservoir is bound by Hamilton Street and the Walnut Hill neighborhood on the west, North 38th Street on the east, Nicholas Street on the south, and Mercer Park Drive on the east. Walnut Hill is cut in half by the curvy Park Road, which extends from Mercer Boulevard and Lincoln Boulevard. “Walnut Hill Reservoir” is chiseled into a concrete panel between the steps at North 38th Street.

A History of North Omaha’s Kellom Pool

The Near North Side neighborhood was packed with people for more than a century. People need places to hang out and cool off in Omaha’s hot summers, and in the late 1940s the City of Omaha Parks Department decided to build a swimming pool to serve the community. By this point, the Logan Fontenelle Housing […]

A History of the 1899 Greater America Exposition in North Omaha

OMAHANS HAVE BEEN MISINFORMED!   We like history. We want to be proud of the past. Sometimes, in order to be proud, we intentionally forget, ignore, or otherwise let go of the parts of the past that we’re not proud of. For years, the people of Omaha have been told that all of the buildings […]

A History of the River Drive in Omaha

An Art Deco tree taken from the 1919 report where the majority of this article was drawn from. Imagine a smooth, easy drive on a Saturday afternoon in the fall all of it weaving along nineteen miles of the city’s waterfront. There are long, calm curves and tall, stately oaks lining the boulevard, with walkers […]