Lincoln Boulevard (Omaha)

Infobox_road
highway_name = Lincoln Boulevard
marker_

alternate_name =
length =
direction = South-North, then east-west
starting_terminus = Dodge Street and Turner Blvd
North 28 Street
ending_terminus = Mercer Boulevard
cities = Omaha
established = 1891
system =

Lincoln Boulevard in Omaha, Nebraska was built in the early 1890s as part of the city's boulevard system under control of the Board of Park Commissioners. It runs through the Bemis Park neighborhood west-east from Mercer Boulevard to its end at North 29 Street; it then reemerges immediately north of Dodge Street, where it intersects with Turner Boulevard.

History

When the Bemis Land Company platted the Bemis Park subdivision in 1889 it donated convert|6|acre|m2|sing=on tract to the Omaha Board of Park Commissioners. As part of the city's boulevard and parks plan designed by Horace Cleveland that same year, Mayor George Bemis was convinced to create a strolling boulevard that started at his park and meandered east towards Creighton University. The boulevard was developed to Cleveland's plans, which preserved the natural features of the area's undulating hillsides.

Many homes along Lincoln Boulevard were demolished by the Easter Sunday Tornado of 1913. Striking the boulevard at about North 35 Street, it uprooted trees and obliterated houses littered the roadway, damage from which much of the area never recovered. [Russell, T. (1913) [http://usroots.org/~genranch/disaster/omaha.htm Chapter 21: The Omaha Tornado.] "The Story of Great Flood and Cyclone Disasters. Retrieved 5/29/07.]

In the 1960s a large portion of Lincoln Boulevard was lost during the construction of Interstate 480. Today the only segment of significant length lies between 30th Street and Mercer Boulevard. [Mead & Hunt, Inc. (2003) " [http://www.nebraskahistory.org/histpres/reports/omaha_central.pdf Reconnaissance Survey of Selected Neighborhoods in Central Omaha, Nebraska: Nebraska Historic Buildings Survey] ." Prepared from the City of Omaha, Omaha City Planning Department, Omaha Certified Local Government, and Nebraska State Historical Society. p 13. Retrieved 5/29/07.]

ee also

* Boulevards in Omaha
* History of Omaha

References