- Kountze Park (Omaha, Nebraska)
Infobox park
park=Kountze Park
image size=
caption=
type=Municipal (Omaha)
location=North Omaha
coordinates=
size=11 acres
opened=1889
operator=
annual visitors=
status=Open all yearKountze Park is an urban
public park located at 1920 Pinkney Street in theKountze Place neighborhood ofNorth Omaha, Nebraska , and is historically significant as the site of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition of 1898.About
Kountze Park is bordered by 19th Street on the east & 20th Street on the west, Pinkney Street on the north and Pratt Street on the south. The park is the location of a water park, playground, basketball and tennis courts, and a pavilion. It is also home to a summer program operated by the City of Omaha Parks and Recreation Department. [(n.d.) [http://www.ci.omaha.ne.us/parks/Sun%20Dawgs/kuntze.htm Kountze Park] from the Omaha Parks Department website.]
History
Once on a broad, flat plain midway between the
Nebraska Territory towns of Omaha and Saratoga, Kountze Park was part of a plat belonging to bankerHerman Kountze .Trans-Mississippi Exposition Site
The Grand Court of the
Trans-Mississippi Exposition was located in Kountze Park in 1898. When the search committee sought to acquire a large parcel of land to locate the city's highlight attraction, Kountze's generous offer of 11 acres of land for $15,000.00, plus a donation of $5000 worth of land for this future park, was ideal [(n.d.) [http://www.earthstation9.com/index.html?1898_oma.htm World's Fair and Exposition Information Guide] Earth Station Nine website.] . The site was soon covered with buildings, boulevards, and a beautiful lagoon almost 1/2 mile long, lit by the latest technology of the times, electrical lights.The Greater America Exposition was held at the same location in many of the same buildings the following year. By the end of 1899, all of the buildings were demolished or removed. In the several years after the Exposition, the lagoon was filled in and the area was graded to form Kountze Park. Around the park a middle- and upper-class community grew, eventually forming a connection between
Near North Omaha and Saratoga.A scenic pond remained at the park as a remnant of the original lagoon; it was filled with dirt in 1953.
Modern times
In 1980, while excavating for a new sewer in Kountze Park, a construction foreman uncovered several pieces of a building from the Exposition. An attempt to recover more artifacts was unsuccessful. Today only there are only a few pieces of plaster from Exposition buildings that remain as tangible historical artifacts.
In 1998 many improvements to Kountze Park were made, including new playground equipment, tree plantings and a historical marker that pays homage to the Exposition. Kountze Park has been a repeated crime location in recent years [(2006) [http://www.ketv.com/news/8616414/detail.html Man arrested after shootout at Kountze Park] . KETV.com] .
External links
* [http://www.historicomaha.com/kountze.jpg1920s postcard]
* [http://www.memories.ne.gov/cgi-bin/getimage.exe?CISOROOT=/opl&CISOPTR=171&DMSCALE=100.00000&DMWIDTH=600&DMHEIGHT=600&DMX=0&DMY=0&DMTEXT=post205&REC=17&DMTHUMB=1&DMROTATE=0 Historic postcard] from the Omaha Public Library website.
* [http://www.memories.ne.gov/cgi-bin/getimage.exe?CISOROOT=/opl&CISOPTR=471&DMSCALE=100.00000&DMWIDTH=600&DMHEIGHT=376&DMX=0&DMY=0&DMTEXT=Kountze&REC=1&DMTHUMB=0&DMROTATE=0 Historic postcard of the pond] from the Omaha Public Library website.
* [http://www.historicomaha.com/mark15.jpgPicture of Nebraska State Historical Marker] at Kountze Park.
* [http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/markers/texts/trans-miss_international_2.htm Text of Nebraska State Historical Marker] at Kountze Park.References
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