- Kountze Place
The Kountze Place neighborhood of
Omaha ,Nebraska is a historically significant community on the city's north end. Today the neighborhood is home to several buildings and homes listed on theNational Register of Historic Places . It is located between North 16th Avenue on the east to North 30th Street on the west; Locust Street on the south to Pratt Street on the north. Kountze Place was annexed into Omaha in 1887. [(nd) [http://www2.ops.org/OOE/annexation.htm "Annexation-Growth Page,"] Omaha Public Schools. Retrieved 7/16/07.]About
Bordered by the historic neighborhoods of the Near North Side, Saratoga and
East Omaha , Kountze Place was an earlyupper middle class residentialsuburb developed by Omaha bankerHerman Kountze in 1883. [(nd) [http://www.ci.omaha.ne.us/landmarks/designated_landmarks/landmarks/52/Default.htm John P. Bay House] . City of Omaha Landmark Historical Preservation Commission. Retrieved 5/29/07.] It was originally accessible only via streetcar.In 1898 Kountze Place was home to the
Trans-Mississippi Exposition , a showcase for Nebraska's agricultural and Omaha's urban lifestyles. In 1899 some of the land that the Expo occupied was developed intoKountze Park . The area around the Park was filled in with housing afterwards, with some Exposition buildings being converted into grand houses. [(nd) [http://www.civilwarmuseumnc.org/TMopening.html 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition Opening to Closing] . Transcription from original notes. Retrieved 5/29/07.]Much of Kountze Place was devastated in the
Easter Sunday Tornado of 1913, with landmarks such as Trinity Methodist Church to be rebuilt in other parts of the city. [Sing, T. (2003) "Omaha's Easter Tornado of 1913." Arcadia Publishing.] Additionally around this time, many of Kountze Place's richer residents were lured to areas such asBemis Park and Gold Coast with promises of higher land values. [Larsen, L. and Cottrell, B. (1997) "The Gate City: A History of Omaha." University of Nebraska Press.]Landmarks
Several buildings and homes in Kountze Place are listed on the
National Register of Historic Places and designated asOmaha Landmarks by the City of Omaha. Former landmarks in the area included thePresbyterian Theological Seminary , built in 1902 at 3303 North 21st Place. It was closed in 1943. [(nd) [http://www.memories.ne.gov/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/opl&CISOPTR=287&REC=3 Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Omaha, Neb.] Nebraska Memories website. Retrieved 5/29/07.]Omaha University
Omaha University , now called the University of Nebraska at Omaha, was once located on one city block at 24th and Pratt Streets on the Redick estate. Their proposed "magnificent campus" was slated to be placed between 21st and 25th Avenues, bounded by Kountze Park and the Carter Lake Park. Original faculty came from the aforementioned Seminary, as well asBellevue College . The first class meetings occurred at the Redick Mansion at 24th and Pratt. [(1993) [http://www.unoalumni.org/wfdata/frame2813-74/UNO_History_Chapter_1.pdf A History of UNO] . University of Nebraska at Omaha. Retrieved 5/29/07.]In 1927 businessmen formed the North Omaha Activities Association in order to redevelop Saratoga School's playing field into a football field for
Omaha University 's football team. At that time the University was located just south in the poshKountze Place suburb. With new bleachers built to accommodate a crowd of a thousand, the Saratoga Field was home to OU's team until 1951. [(n.d.) [http://www.unoalumni.org/About_Us/Flashback/Archive/238/index.asp Saratoga Field] University of Nebraska at Omaha website.]UNO moved to its present location in 1929.
ee also
*
History of North Omaha References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
