Levi Carter Park

Infobox park
park=Levi Carter Park


image size=
caption=
type=Municipal (Omaha)
location=East Omaha
coordinates=
size= convert|519.5|acre|km2
opened=1908
operator=
annual visitors=
status=Open all year

Levi Carter Park is located at 3100 Abbott Drive in East Omaha, Nebraska. It was named after one of Omaha's original industrialists, Levi Carter, who ran a white lead smelter in the area.

History

As recently as 1876, Levi Carter Park was the west bank of the Missouri River. The next year flooding caused the river to jump its banks and shorten the main stream, with the long meander becoming an oxbow lake. Residents on both sides of the river now found themselves on the west bank, attached to Nebraska. Because of this their lake was originally called "Cut-Off Lake."

The name was first changed in the late 1900s to Lake Nicoma for the fabled Omaha wife of early Nebraska settler Peter A. Sarpy. Around that time the lake was a popular resort area. The surrounding park was home to sailing events, Bungalow City, the Omaha Gun Club [ [http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ne/douglas/postcards/gunclb.jpgHistorical postcard from the Omaha Gun Club] ] , and a YMCA Camp as late as the 1930s. [ [http://www.ci.omaha.ne.us/parks/parks/levicarterpark.htm Carter Lake Park] City of Omaha Parks, Recreation, and Arts Department. Retrieved 9/24/07.] The area around the lake included "a boathouse at the foot of Locust street, hotels and club houses were numerous and the lake was the scene of many a pleasant rowing and fishing party." [1890. " [http://libtextcenter.unl.edu/birds_of_nebraska/articles.php?id=DJ.00735 The Rise and Fall of Cut-Off Lake] " from the "Omaha Bee". Retrieved 9/24/07.]

In the early 1890s the city of Omaha renamed the lake in honor of Levi Carter after his widow donated $1,000,000 to the City of Omaha for upgrades to the area around the lake, which the city named Levi Carter Park. [ [http://www.cityofcarterlake.com/history_forming.html Carter Lake History] . Retrieved 9/24/07.]

In 1896 the United States Supreme Court ruled that the neighboring town of Carter Lake belonged to the State of Iowa [(n.d.) [http://www.omahahistory.org/Education_Timeline6.htm Omaha Timeline 1880-1889] Douglas County Historical Society. Retrieved 9/24/07.] .

Levi Carter Park was the home of radio station Z-92's now defunct annual Z-bash from 1997 to 2005.

Currently

The Carter Lake provides opportunities for water-skiing, fishing, and boating. The park has baseball fields, football fields, and basketball courts, as well as paths, picnic areas, shelters, restrooms, a pavilion and open space.

ee also

* Parks in Omaha

References