History Book

Beginnings

The first mayor of Omaha was Jesse Lowe. He was also the owner of the Gifford Park area. He was a commissary officer in the Mexican War of 1849, became a paymaster, a land owner, an Indian negotiator, a banker, a real estate broker, a school board member, and more. It is rumored that he was captain of a robber band in Texas, lived dangerously, and received numerous cuts, scars and gunshot wounds. It is also rumored that he had four wives and that he didn’t have a divorce from the first one before marrying the others.

Jesse looked like one of the Smith Brothers pictured on the old cough drop box. He was born in Raleigh, NC, on March 11, 1814, into a Quaker family. He studied law at Indiana State University and was admitted to the bar in Nebraska but never practiced. He came to Council Bluffs (old Kanesville) in 1853 with his brother Enos. One day Jesse and Enos, realizing the potential of the land to the west, decided to cross the Missouri River. The river was very wide and shallow and full of marshes and snags. The boat in which they were attempting the crossing became mired in the mud and they had to wade the rest of the way. They staked out a claim and built a cabin on the land west of the river. The first claim was a quarter section of land at what was then the western end of Cuming street.

Later purchases added three other quarter sections making in all 640 acres. Within a week of the first claim, Jesse had a man with a mule team working on the land. He called his ranch “Oak Grove Farm.” It stretched west beyond 40th Street, south to about Dodge, east to about 25th Street, and at least as far north as Hamilton Street.. Many Gifford Park people can find the name of Lowe on their land abstracts. The city of Omaha was surveyed and platted early in 1854, and in 1857 Jesse became the first mayor and it is said gave Omaha its name.

Jesse’s land contained pastures and timber. Most of the timber was sold to the Mormons when they were building their winter quarters in Florence. Jesse built his own home at 33rd and Izard (not standing today) close to present day Bemis Park and beside a spring of pure cold water. By 1880 this district was developing into a high-class residential addition. George Bemis, who also became an Omaha mayor, was the developer.

Jesse built the first bank in Omaha, essentially the first brick building in town. His bank later evolved into the old U. S. National Bank. Jesse died on April 3, 1868 at the age of 54. He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery even though, among his other businesses, he sold lots at Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Jesse’s widow, Sophie, moved downtown to the Paxton Hotel after his death. In an interview in the World-Herald in 1904 she talks about her old neighborhood and about her first days in Omaha. She came in 1854 and was one of the first white  women to settle in the area. One of her early recollections of Omaha was riding in a buggy with her husband and seeing a white child playing in the street. The sight of a white child was so rare during this time period that Jesse stopped the buggy to stare at the child. Jesse and Sophie had four children, Frederick, Charlotte, Jesse and Howard. Mrs. Lowe also tells of the Orchard Hill Improvement Association, a forerunner of present day neighborhood associations. This organization worked for paved streets, boulevards, trees, flowers and one-family homes, particularly discouraging land speculators. Mrs. Lowe died February 8, 1906.

Source:

Omaha World-Herald, May 1, 1904.
Savage, James W. and Bell, John T., History of the City of Omaha, Nebraska.

Our Namesake

Gifford Park takes its name from Dr. Harold Gifford, Sr. who donated the property to the City of Omaha in 1912 and added to it in 1916. He was an ophthalmologist, amateur naturalist, hotel builder, socialist, agnostic, and philanthropist. He was born in Milwaukee in 1859 and came to Omaha in 1886 to marry his college roommate’s sister, Mary Louise Millard.

The roommate was Alfred Millard, son of Ezra Millard, a land developer and banker for whom the town of Millard was named. Dr. Gifford received degrees from Cornell University and the University of Michigan. He studied abroad in Erlangen, Heidelberg, and Zurich.

Dr. Gifford was a founder of the Methodist Hospital and among the organizers of the Omaha Medical College, a forerunner of the Nebraska Medical Center. He was dean of the school and head of the Medical College’s Department of Ophthalmology for 25 years. He did eye research, wrote scientific articles in both French and German and developed surgical techniques which brought worldwide recognition. Dr. Gifford’s son, Hal, also an ophthalmologist, said his father wouldn’t tolerate idleness. He would say, “Why don’t you do something with your time.”

Indeed, Dr. Giffford, Sr. did something with his time. Besides his medical work, he loved nature and the whole outdoors. His first Omaha home was at 420 South 36th Street, but in 1925 Mrs. Gifford designed the home at 3636 Burt and the family moved into our neighborhood. The Giffords spent their summers at their farm ten miles north of Omaha near Nashville. The farm was accessible by a Chicago and North Western train, which could be boarded in downtown Omaha. Occasionally, the doctor would drive his Stanley Steamer to Nashville.

Dr. Gifford foresaw the need for preserving natural areas. He was one of the founders of Fontenelle Forest and donated much of the land. He invented the method of rip-rapping to control erosion along the Missouri River. He worked to develop a riverfront drive, and although the road wasn’t built, the effort resulted in the present Mandan Park and Mt. Vernon Gardens. His interest in parks extended to the gift of land for Gifford Park at 33rd and Cass Streets.

As a businessman, Dr. Gifford invested in hotels and property. He built the Castle Hotel at 16th and Jones and the Sanford, later called the Conant, at 19th and Farnam.

Mrs. Gifford was socially minded. She worked with the Social Settlement in South Omaha, and she and her husband aided the Red Cross, raised money for Serbian relief and gave to many charitable and civic organizations. There were four children in the family. Dr. Gifford died of a heart attack in 1929 at age 71.

Source:
Omaha World Herald, May 8, 1975

The Neighborhood of Yesterday

In the 1920s and 30s the area of 33rd and California was a lively shopping and service center. Few people owned cars so shopping was necessarily done close to home.

On 33rd street, starting from Cass north on the west side, there were at one time or another a grocery store, upholstery shop, dentist, delicatessen, tavern, bakery, theatre, barber shop, and a variety store. On the east side of 33rd street, starting at Cass, was a filling station, ice house, several homes, the California Beauty School, garage, butcher shop, and drug store.

Wohlners Grocery Store on California Street east of 33rd was wrapped around the drug store and connected to the butcher shop on 33rd. A shoe  shop, beauty parlor, and the Master Pastry Shop were east of the grocery store. Beyond that stood St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. The north side of California Street east of 33rd at one time contained the Nelson-Anderson Grocery Store, beauty shop, shoe repair shop, and barber shop. In the late 30s the Hinky-Dinky grocery store opened on the southwest corner of 33rd and California.

California Street west of 33rd was not paved (according to former resident Joe Lightfoot) until about 1905. Until then, it was dirt , and a big hump existed between 33rd and 34th Streets. This can be seen by the height of the lots on both sides of the Street today. The hill was cut down and a brick paving installed. A creek ran from 36th Street east on the north side of California and crossed under a wooden bridge west of 34th. It then flowed south into Gifford Park where it formed a lake. Mr. Lightfoot said that as a boy he swam in and ice-skated on this lake. A glance at the lay of the land readily shows how a lake was natural in the park.

A streetcar running on a single pair of tracks first ran to 33rd and California from the east. It ran just west of 33rd, then backed around the corner onto 33rd to the north to turn around for the return trip. Later the line was extended to 33rd and Parker. Buses replaced the streetcars in the early 40s.

The Bogard Drug Store had a full-fledged soda fountain that was a favorite gathering place for high school students.

This was the early neighborhood shopping area. The following chapters will elaborate on some of the shops and businesses.

The California Pharmacy

The cornerstone, both literally and figuratively, of  he 33rd and California Street area was and is, the California Pharmacy building owned by members of the Bogard family. The father, Jules (known as Frank) Bogard, immigrated from Belgium in about 1904. He was an engineer at the old Nicholas Senn Hospital. He returned to Belgium in 1910 to claim his bride, Emily. They were married in Paris and for their honeymoon took the trip back across the Atlantic to the U. S. and Omaha. Prominently displayed on the north side of the building is the date, “1914,” the year in which Frank built the pharmacy. The original store occupied only half the present area. It was expanded to its present size when Wohlner’s Grocery to the east moved to its Leavenworth site in 1940.

Frank and Emily had nine children. They lived at 325 North 35th Avenue. The five boys: George, Joseph, Frank, Paul and Thomas all graduated from the Creighton School of Pharmacy. Of the four girls: Mary, Alice, Elva and Marjorie, two attended Creighton. Frank, Sr. died in 1933 leaving his large family on their own, but he had provided well. The pharmacy business kept them employed in one way or another. Tom Bogard tells of being helped to sit on a high stool at age 10 and taught to fill and weigh powder papers for the required prescriptions. Emily Bogard lived in the Gifford Park area until her death in 1985.

They made lime fizzes; chocolate fudge nut sundaes; malted milk shakes; a drink called “Green River” which was a mix of lime syrup, soda water, and a squirt of lactic acid; and many other soft drinks and sundaes.

Just plain carbonated water was 2 cents a glass and was popular with older members of the community. The soda fountain enjoyed its popularity partly because the old icebox used in most homes would not keep ice cream: they weren’t cold enough. People appreciated the availability of cold things at the corner store.

At the end of WW II, and as the electric refrigerator became a part of everyone’s household, the old soda fountain became obsolete and the pharmacy lost its big attraction. The space gave way to a greater assortment of drug store items such as cards, magazines, cosmetics, small appliances, knick-knacks, etc.

The drugstore business was not without it’s hazards. There were many break-ins. Tom recalls that he was summoned to the California store many nights with the report that someone had broken through the roof of the store attempting to steal money or drugs.  Frank Bogard, who owned the store before Tom, was tragically shot in March of 1976 in an attempted hold-up. He sustained a spinal cord injury and spent the rest of his life in a wheel chair. Although he did not continue in the pharmacy, he became prominent in Omaha as a member of the Omaha School Board, serving from 1978 to 1990, and was President in 1981. He became an advocate for handicapped people and an actor, playing the leading role in “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” produced by the Grande Olde Players. Frank died in 1990.

The California Pharmacy was a pioneer and a model for drug stores. It was the first store to use florescent lights, the first air conditioned pharmacy, the first to have a complete terrazzo floor, and the first to use a computer to record prescriptions. The California Pharmacy closed in 1987, BUT, the name of Bogard continues on 33rd and California as Tom’s son, Brad, opened the store again as “The California Tacos & More” in 1996.

Source:
Bogard, Tom, Interview October 1995

Grocery Stores

A small “L” shaped grocery store just east of the pharmacy at 3225 California had the reputation of having the finest meat-market in Omaha. People came from all over town to shop at Wohlner’s California Grocery. Actually, most people shopped by phone for a home delivery. Albert Wohlner, an immigrant from Poland, opened the store when he returned from service in the Navy in World War I. He began in the grocery business as early as age 14 and had been a partner with a cousin, Sam Frohm, before the war. The store at 33rd and California opened about 1921 and relocated to 52nd and Leavenworth in about 1940.

Albert Wohlner was married in 1924, and he and his wife, Mollie, lived for a while in the Shirley apartments between 33rd and 34th and California. They had two daughters. One daughter, Phyllis, married Sidney Swartz who went into the grocery business with his father-in-law. Now the grandson of Albert Wohlner, Mike Swartz, owns and operates the Wohlner Grocery at 52nd & Leavenworth. Three generations of grocers and still going strong when nearly all other independently owned stores have closed. This says a lot about the quality of the groceries and the integrity of the owners.

The Piggly-Wiggly store was located at 530 N. 33rd. Its tenure was 1927-1936 and was one of the first self-service stores. Clarence Saunders started the Piggly-Wiggly chain. He conceived the idea of a self-service store while working in the billing department of a wholesale grocery firm in Omaha as a $4 a month clerk. He returned to Memphis, Tennessee, where he was born, and piloted the Piggly-Wiggly chain to a 7 million dollar business which he lost in 1923 on Wall Street. The store on 33rd street sold pork chops for 27 cents a pound, ham for 32 cents a pound, leg of lamb for 29 cents a pound, coffee for 46 cents a pound, eggs for 34 cents a dozen, and Post Toasties or Kellogg’s Corn Flakes for 7 1/2 cents a package. Butter was 43 cents a pound, rye bread 10 cents a loaf, and potatoes were 36 cents a pack. Eggs and potatoes were purchased in huge quantities in Omaha for the 2,300-store chain. Although these stores are gone in the Nebraska area, the name is still carried on the West Coast.

A Spic and Span Store was located in the area about 1927. It was one of a chain of seven in Omaha. At the grand opening each customer who purchased $1 worth of groceries received a Free bottle of Gingerale and a half-pound of Spic and Span Coffee. Gesundheit Malt was sold at 49 cents per can.

A Hinky-Dinky grocery store, part of a large chain of stores in Nebraska and the Midwest, was located at 502 N. 33 in 1929. In 1935 it moved to the corner, the site of today’s J-N-J Grocery store. Three brothers, J. M., Albert, and Harry Newman and their cousin, Ben Silver, all of Omaha, founded the Hinky- Dinky chain. They sought a name with the same ring as “Piggly-Wiggly” and came up with “Hinky-Dinky” from the WW I song, “Hinky Dinky Parlay Voo.” In 1933 an ad for the store featured “Airy-Fairy Cake Flour” for 21 cents a package, Doggie Dinner at 10 cents a can and Gold Brick Butter for 24 cents a pound. The store closed on 33rd street in 1960. The Newman family sold their chain to the Cullum Companies in 1972.

After the Hinky-Dinky store closed, the building was occupied by Ideal Hardware and then the Apostolic and Pentacostal Assembly Church. In June 1989, Loren Johnson opened the J-N-J grocery store on the northeast corner of 33rd & California, and J-N-J moved across the street. to its present location in May 1992. A “grand opening” was held in June of 1992.

Sources:

• Benson Times, September 1, 1922
• Iversen, Wes, Omaha Sun, December 20, 1973
• Olofson, Darwin, Omaha World-Herald, August 8, 1974
  Omaha World-Herald: March 22, 1923, January 20, 1927, November 7, 1928, October
  15, 1953, October 1, 1965, August 8, 1974, January 16, 1985
• Schwid, Honor, grandaughter of Carl Thorson
• Swartz, Mike, grandson of Albert Wohlner, Interview, November 1995
• Various grocery advertisements appearing in the daily newspapers.

The California Bar

Another time a very nice couple was served at the bar and the man asked Joe if he knew who they were. Joe might have recognized them had they been TV stars, but these folks were radio stars — Fibber McGee and Molly Jordan.

The Bar was a popular place for politicians to gather and talk. Wayne particularly remembers John Cavanaugh and Red Munnelly. Joe Hill once ran for a political office, but he was defeated. Sometimes jazz artists playing in the auditorium of the old Tech High would patronize the Bar on their breaks. In May of 1987 the California Bar celebrated its 50th anniversary. Wayne and Peggy sent letters to as many old customers as could be found, inviting them to a special week of celebration. The week turned out to be a busy one with hundreds of old and new patrons coming in for the occasion.

Wayne is a great volunteer around town. He was honored by Keep Omaha Beautiful (KOB) for his volunteer efforts with the Bakers/KOB Charity Gold Classic.

Source:

Hill, Peggy, Interview, March 1996

The Bakery & The Shoe Shop

For the Siracusano’s it was a family affair in the 33rd and California business district from about 1912 to 1973. Both Mr. and Mrs. Joe Siracusano were born in Sicily but met and married in Omaha. Joseph was a shoemaker by trade. Lucia was a baker, and in Sicily she mixed her bread at home, baked it in the village ovens and sold it to the store. Joe and Lucia never returned to their homeland believing that since they had made their mark as Americans; America was the place to stay.

In Omaha, Joseph set up his shoe repair shop, Eagle Shoe Shop, at 3222 1/2 California with an apartment in the rear for the family. There were five children: Carl, an artist; Al, the barber; Sam and Jim, the bakers; and their sister, Virginia, who helped in the bakery.

Sam and Jim learned the baking trade at Technical High School and, together with their mother, opened the bakery on the south side of California at 3225. It was called the Nebraska Bakery. Sam and Jim would come to work at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning seven days a week to make the day’s Vienna bread, their specialty; pan bread; sweet rolls; cake; and more. Mrs. Siracusana ran the store in the front part of the building. Al studied barbering at Tech High and had his own barbershop on 33rd street.

Meanwhile Joseph repaired shoes and custom-made shoes for special patrons. Business was good, since nearly everyone at that time had to have his or her shoes repaired many times. On the side, Joe invested in real estate, buying the Melrose apartments and other duplexes in the area.

When World War II came, Sam and Jim went to war and Mrs. Siracusano kept the bakery going by buying her baked goods from Ortman Baking Co. When the boys came home from the war they expanded the bakery into the adjoining building and renamed the store, “Master Pastry Shoppe.” They continued baking until early 1973 when they decided it was time to quit and help their dad with his properties.

Mrs. Siracusano died in 1967 and Mr. Siracusano died in 1973. They had 17 grandchildren. Their legacy to the 33rd and California business district is their example of hard, honest, and determined work. They started with nothing but determination, and made a success of their lives and that of their family members.

Source:

Interview with James Siracusano, August 1995

The Variety Store

The Variety Store was located on the west side of 33rd Street just south of the Hinky Dinky grocery store. A Jewish couple by the name of Cohen were the proprieters. With an unfailing courtesy and a desire to please, they responded immediately when a customer came in the door. If they did not have the item you were looking for, they always offered to order it and have it in the next day or two.

The store had an amazing variety of items for sale: housewares, sewing supplies, hardware, stick on soles and heels for shoes, beauty supplies, figurines, model airplanes, candy, a few little drugs like aspirin, and much more. It was an interesting place to visit. In the days when kids got lots of assignments to “Go to the store,” children were sent to buy a loaf of bread, 4 bananas, a small box of cheese, and stop at the Variety  Store for a spool of number 3 white thread.

The Variety Store was a valuable asset to the neighborhood. But one day a sign was posted: “Close Out Sale.” Upon asking Mr. Cohen the reason, he said that he and his wife had made their “fortune” and were retiring. He was going to be an inventor and just then was working on a framework to be mounted under automobiles. Its purpose was to stop the car under icy conditions by being lowered to the street where special cleats would hold the car. Obviously, the idea didn’t take hold. but the Cohens sold out anyway. The people in the neighborhood sorely missed them and their “Variety Store”.

Source:

Wilwerding, Leo, The Variety Store, GPNA Pride, June 1996

The Circle Theater

Many of the “flicks,” so called because in early days of the movies the projection was jumpy or fuzzy, were B-westerns, but such goodies as Freddie Bartholomew in “Little Lord Fountleroy,” Claudette Cobert in “Manslaughter,” Gary Cooper in “The Virginian” or the Four Marx Brothers in “Animal Crackers,” were also shown. If you were lucky you might catch Clara Bow, William Powell, Lillian Gish, Monty Astor, Myrna Loy, Zazu Pitts, or Mary Pickford.

This was the heyday of the neighborhood movie house. Other theaters were close by such as The Hamilton, The Dundee, The Military, and later, The Admiral. Nearly all are gone now, except for the Dundee which still draws patrons. The old Circle building with its memories of adventure, intrigue and glamour was finally razed in October 1997 after many requests by the GPNA.

Source:

Schwartz, Donald Ray, The Neighborhood Movies, Omaha Magazine, July 1982

The Ice House

In the early 1900s till about 1940 an old, very small, ice station was located next to the alley by the present Kum & Go store. Ice, “natures gift to man,” was a boon to home refrigeration. A large, or small, oak icebox was a part of most kitchens. Ice in 25-50-70-100 lb. blocks was sold from horsedrawn wagons and later from trucks. The iceman stopped at each house and delivered the required number of pounds right into the icebox. Housewives could buy coupons for ice and put a card in the front window showing the amount needed. Ice blocks cost 35-40 cents for 100 lbs. The iceman was as popular then as the ice cream man is today. Shouts of “Here comes the iceman” heralded his coming, and children gathered around to scramble for chips of ice. A friendly iceman would deliberately shave off pieces of ice for the youngsters.

Sometimes on a hot summer day more ice was needed. Many children were dispatched with their little red wagons to buy ice at the ice house. This was also handy if extra ice was needed to cool the watermelon, homemade ice cream, or beverages.

Ice was cut during the winter from the Missouri River, Carter Lake and Seymore Lake in Ralston and was stored in big wooden barns under an insulating blanket of sawdust and burlap. A 1929 advertisement for ice read: “Ice is not only the most economical form of refrigeration—it is the ONLY form of refrigeration that is absolutely safe and dependable at all times. You KNOW that a block of ice will never get out of order. SAFE, SOUND, SILENT.”

Yes, the old icebox was safe, sound and silent, but who would trade their present
refrigerators or freezers for an icebox today? However, if you do own an old icebox, don’t throw it away because it may be a valuable antique.

Source:

The Omaha World-Herald, May 2, 1954
Various newspaper advertisements

The Garage

“Way back when, “ the auto repair shop known today as Robinson’s Garage on 33rd street was a Blacksmith Shop, doing a good business with the horses of that day. Borg’s Garage was established about 1925 in that same location and was the second oldest general auto repair garage in Omaha according to Ray Borg, son of Carl Borg, the operator of Borg’s Garage. The oldest repair shop was located downtown about 29th and Douglas.

Robinson’s Garage Borg’s Garage began as the Montclair Garage on Cuming Street where Borg was in partnership with Ray Keaton. After the move to 33rd and after Borg bought out Keaton it was called Borg’s Montclair Garage and later just Borg’s. Borg employed several mechanics, and when his sons Ray, Charles and Carl were old enough they also worked in their father’s shop. They worked on Model T’s and A’s, and occasionally a Willy’s Knight, a Pierce-Arrow, a Marquette, a LaSalle, and a Cord. At that time oil was about 25 cents a quart and gasoline was 17 cents a gallon.

Carl Borg died in March 1943, and since his sons were then in the Air Force in WW II, the garage was sold to Virgil Johnson who operated it under Borg’s name until Bill Robinson took over in the spring of 1958. Robinson, with sons Dale and Doug, operated the garage until fall of 1987 when Bill retired and Dale Robinson took over as owner and operator. Bill and his wife, Lorna, enjoyed several years traveling the country in their motor home. Bill died in 1994 and Lorna is living in Omaha. Dale Robinson works on all makes of cars and trucks and provides excellent computer car work and general repair work having attended GM School to keep up-to-date on the latest models. Dale’s son, Gabe, is now working in the shop with his father. The price of oil has risen to $1.54 and Robinson’s no longer sell gasoline.

Source:

Borg, Raymond, Interview, February 1995
Robinson, Dale, Interview, February 1995, September 2000

The California Beauty School

The area of 33rd and California had the best coifed women in Omaha from about 1916 to 1952 because 521 North 33rd was the home of Mrs. Kathryn (Katie) Wilson’s California Beauty School. Young and not-so young ladies of that time sported tight finger waves and lovely marcels courtesy of the students at the school. Classes of 35-40 students, both men and women, attended Beauty School for nine months. Tuition in the ’30s was $100 and included white uniforms. Many of the students were from Omaha, but some were from other cities in Nebraska and other states as well. Some worked for their room and board in Omaha homes. They practiced on each other as well as the neighborhood ladies.

The California Beauty School was advertised as the “oldest beauty school west of Chicago.” (Capital Beauty School was not established until 1923.) Mrs. Wilson was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, April 1, 1870, married Alphonso Wilson in 1896, and died in Omaha in 1952. In 1925 she published a textbook, The Successful Hairdresser. She was a petite African-American woman. To have reached the status of owner and operator of such a prestigious beauty school serving mostly white students was an exceptional accomplishment. Graduates of her school included some of Omaha’s finest beauticians. It is recorded that at least one student went to Hollywood.

The days of 35 cent shampoos and waves, 50 cent marcels, and $2.50 permanents (using those awful machines) have come and gone, but Mrs. Kathryn Wilson’s California Beauty School deserves a place in the history of Omaha and in particular, the history of 33rd and California.

Source:

The Great Plains Black Museum and Bertha Calloway, March 1995

American Radio and TV

Clarence was a highly qualified auto and motor mechanic and an amateur photographer. From out of this background Howard Bolin honed his skill and knowledge of radio and, eventually, TV, until he was able to open his own store on 33rd Street—American Radio and TV. He first located on the west side of 33rd next to the Hinky Dinky store, and then in about 1951, he moved across the street to 529 N. 33rd. Howard was blessed with the knack of “fixing things”. His expertise was radio repair and this developed into TV repair. He also sold radios and television sets. His shop was a popular place to view programs in the days before every home had a TV. These viewers became customers for Howard’s radios and TVs. Business was good, Howard was married, had two daughters, and bought a home at 35th and California, but his health failed and he died in October of 1959.

Source:

Bolin, Emily (Mrs. Richard), interview February 1996

The Grass Shack

The Grass Shack was one of the first Japanese restaurants in the Omaha area. Hawaiian and other oriental students at Creighton were some of the best customers. These men and women lived in rooming houses and apartments in the area and depended on Jack and Alice Kaya for cooking to their tastes and pocket books. Mrs. Kaya recalls that many times the students would have to put their very modest meal checks on the “cuff” until their loans or money from home would come in. She said that without fail they paid up as soon as they could.

The Grass Shack served breakfast, lunch and dinner, using a lot of rice. This was relatively inexpensive and, in fact, many of their dinners cost only 55 cents. In spite of very small profits and with the help of Alice’s sewing they routinely closed for two weeks each summer so the Kaya family could drive to a lake in Minnesota for a week of fishing and relaxation and, on their return, a week of cleaning and preparation for the next season. They made a change of location to Countryside Village where they opened as the Mt. Fuji Inn in about 1964. They later moved to 7215 Blondo where it is still in operation. The Kayas had four children and now have four grandchildren and six great granddaughters. Mr. Jack Kaya died in 1982 and now a daughter, Jackie Shindo, is the manager with help from her mother, Alice.

Source:

Kaya, Alice and Shindo, Jackie, interview, February 1996

The Episcopal Church and Its Vicar

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, a mission of the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska, stood at 3205 California. It was founded at the turn of the century and closed around 1938 or ‘39, a victim of the Great Depression and of internal stresses. The Rev. Canon George St. George Tyner was the Vicar. He was an evangelistic preacher and his congregation was basically a conservative neighborhood group.

In response to a request for information about the church and it’s vicar, Mr. Arthur Tyner, son of the Rev. Canon Tyner, now living in Beaver Falls, Wisconsin, wrote:

“The house at 3201 California Street was the vicarage for St. Paul’s. My parents lived there from 1928 to 1948. I was on the scene from 1928 until 1942. I enjoyed meeting my parents’ frequent dinner and houseguests. Father liked to bring people home for dinner. Sometimes the guest was a member of St. Paul’s, sometimes a spiritual leader or a neighboring clergyman. The spiritual leader might be an Indian Sadhu or a visiting preacher. My mother dutifully set a place for the guest. She worked on a tight budget for groceries stretched with the help of a neighboring grocer, Al Wohlner, who took a relaxed view about bills and their payment. Wholesome meals and best china and silver were standard.

“My mother, Ethel Katherine Holmquist, was born in Oakland, Nebraska in 1889, daughter of James and Anna Holmquist. After high school in Oakland she attended Brownell Hall in Omaha for a year and met my father at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.

“Father was a native Canadian who arrived in Omaha in 1914 as a YMCA employee. He began his priestly career in York,  Nebraska, and continued at Episcopal churches in Western Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. He spent his final years in Omaha at St. Pauls and then as Assistant Dean and later, Canon, at Trinity Cathedral in Omaha.

“He was an evangelistic preacher and a dramatic performer. He delivered thunder in his sermons on Biblical subjects and, most memorably, on the evils of liquor. He liked also to mimic politicians like FDR and Al Smith, or to recite lines of poetry from Tennyson.

“Mother played it straight, set a good table and supported my father in whatever he wanted to do, be it a joke or a church project. Her final act of devotion was to bring up an orange to his attic studio and find him collapsed on the floor (1952). She survived him another 28 years (1980).”

Note: Arthur Tyner and family lived just west of Gifford Park on 35th Avenue before moving to Connecticut. St. Paul’s church was razed and the site is vacant.

Source:

Tyner, Arthur, letter August 20, 1985

The Streetcar

At the turn of the century until the early 1940’s a streetcar rattled up and down California Street and turned on 33rd street. It was similar to the old car on display at the Western Heritage Museum. The big trams had 14 forward seats, two in the very back, and two long seats in front. They were covered with durable rattan and there were standee straps toward the front. The cars were painted light yellow on the outside and the decor inside the tall cars was yellow and brown with space for ads much like on buses of today.

A streetcar stalled after the 1913 tornado Around 1870 the cars were painted different colors and were pulled by horses or mules, but by 1900 they were powered by electricity. The electricity came from wires which were suspended over the tracks in the streets. A long pole with a rolling trolley wheel was forced upward by powerful springs so that the trolley wheel rode along the underside of the overhead wire. The electricity was in this way transferred to the motors under the cars. Coal-fired power stations furnished the electricity. The motorman sat at the front with his left hand on the controller, his right foot near the brakes and his right hand ready to use the handle to open or close the front doors or to give change. Before 1931 there was a conductor who collected the fares, and during WW II the company hired women drivers.

A car equipped with rail grinders kept the rails smooth. In winter, sweeper cars and salt cars cleared the area of the tracks.  Many of the maintenance cars were older and smaller model streetcars. Fares were four for a quarter in 1919, but by 1930 a cash fare was 10 cents or tokens, three for a quarter. Special high school fares were 5 cents between 7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. In 1949 the fare rose to 10 cents with no tokens and in 1950 you could buy two tokens for a quarter.

Young neighborhood boys were the bane of the motorman. The boys would approach the back of the streetcar stopped to load passengers and pull the cord attached to the power pole. This cut off the electricity and forced the motorman to disembark, walk to the rear of the car and re-engage the trolley wheel. Of course the boys were long gone by then, but sometimes they would sneak back and detach the wheel again.

During the heyday of streetcars in Omaha a favorite outing for many was the ride to Lake Manawa in Council Bluffs. There the Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway Company ran the Lake Manawa Amusement Park. For the special round trip fare of 25 cents passengers were admitted to the park where there was a roller coaster, a dance hall, hot dog stands, and the opportunity to take the ferry to the other side of the lake for swimming. The last streetcar in Omaha made it’s run in 1955. Many lines had been converted to buses by 1952 and earlier. Some of the old cars were sold to a Bible camp for $325 apiece.

Not all of the streetcar era was tranquil. There were three strikes in the mid-1930’s. One began April 16, 1934, and a second one started on July 26 of that year, but lasted only five days. The big strike began April 11, 1935 after the company turned down a tram union demand. With the strike still on, the firm began operation of three trams on April 24 with police cars preceding and following each car and with police officers on board. The first disaster came on April 29 when two trams were attacked and one motorman beaten. Later, streetcars and at least one home (at 38th & California) were bombed as violence grew. Two people were killed, scores injured, and several streetcars were burned in a major disorder on June 14, 1935. The next day martial law was declared in Omaha and all beer taverns were told to close from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. On June 20, more than two months after it began, the strike ended.

Source:

Orr, Richard, Streetcars of Omaha and Council Bluffs, 1996
Wilwerding, Leo (one of the neighborhood boys)

Yates Elementary School

Yates Alternative School, formerly Yates Elementary School, was named for Henry Whitefield Yates who was an early resident of our neighborhood and a pioneer Omaha banker and businessman. He was born in Maryland on January 1, 1837. His formal education consisted of only three years in public school, and then he worked for ten years as a clerk in a small  store in Washington. At the age of 21 Henry took his savings and headed west. He obtained a bookkeeper position with Nave McCord & Co., a wholesale grocery company based in St. Joseph Missouri. In 1861, Nave McCord decided to establish a branch in Omaha. The steamer, “Omaha,” was chartered and loaded with goods needed by overland immigrants, and with Henry in charge, sailed on the Missouri river to Omaha, a journey which took 11 days. The new store was located at 14th and Farnam Streets. In 1862 Henry resigned his position and returned to St. Joseph where he married Eliza Samuel. Eliza was a second cousin to Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln. The Yates visited in Washington several times during  Lincoln’s presidency.

Yates returned to Omaha in 1863 as assistant cashier for the First National Bank, located at 12th and Farnam Streets. Most of the business of the day was conducted using gold dust. In 1882 Yates resigned from this position, and with the financial help of his father-in-law, founded the Nebraska National Bank, where he served as president until his death in 1916 at the age of 78.

In addition to his career in banking Yates had many other business and civic interests. He was vice-president of the Omaha Electric Light and Power Company, a director of the Nebraska Telephone Company, and had interests in several smaller businesses. He was one of the original incorporators of the Omaha Library Association, was a member of the first Board of Trustees of the Brownell Hall School, and served as senior warden for Trinity Episcopal Church for 48 years. He also served as a trustee for Clarkson Hospital.

In 1887, Yates purchased a 2-½ acre plot bounded by Davenport and Chicago Streets on the south and north and by 33rd Street and 31st Avenue on the west and east. A large mansion named “Hillside” was built on the site. After Henry’s death Mrs. Yates sold a portion of the Hillside land to the Omaha School Board for the sum of one dollar. It was to be used for a school named after her late husband. Mrs. Yates retained the rest of the property and the house that she occupied until her death in 1929 at the age of 89. Mr. and Mrs. Yates are buried in the Prospect Hill Cemetery.

Henry W. Yates Elementary School became Yates Alternative School in 1999. “Hillside” was razed in 1944.

Source:

Caban, Judi, article in Gifford Park’s Pride, September 1992
Root, Bob, 1940 picture

Technical High School

Before 1920 the area between Cuming and Burt Streets and 30th and 33rd was undeveloped. There was mostly brush and small growth with a creek running into a larger pond where a man or boy could go fishing. The area was available and Omaha needed a new high school.

The Omaha School Board began negotiations for the purchase of the property. A Bond Issue provided the needed money for the construction of a building to be called Technical High School. From a story in the Omaha Daily Bee of April 3, 1922, comes this description: “A building as massive and imposing as any of those that rose when Aladdin rubbed his magic lamp is being pushed toward completion.

“Already, —the walls are up to the second story. As the sightseer comes up the Cuming hill he is struck by the vastness of the project. Behind the concrete wall towers the red-painted steel frame of the school auditorium, four stories tall. Reaching the top of the hill, one looks down into the excavation for the boiler room, 50 feet deep.

“The building sprawls over two blocks of land, in five wings. It stretches 600 feet long and about 300 feet wide. There will be eight acres of floor space. When it is completed in September, 1923, it will have cost taxpayers $3,500,000 according to the official estimate.

“This splendid high school building will belong to the people of Omaha, but there will be a mortgage on it, bonds one day to be paid off by taxes. That is why some of those who go out and look the structure over can’t decide whether to point with pride or view with alarm.”

The Sunday Omaha World-Herald, May 13, 1923, said that Technical High was the most complete and well planned technical school in the United States. The new school opened on October 15, 1923, with nearly 2,400 pupils. By 1940 enrollment had reached 3,684. The building was touted as the first air conditioned building in Omaha. Unfortunately, the air conditioning system was not efficient and it eventually disintegrated and was abandoned. The auditorium in the new school proved to be a fine site for famous and not-so-famous artists. John Philip Sousa and his marching band appeared in October 1928.

Cornelia Ottis Skinner made her first high school appearance at Tech in January of 1930. In November of 1926 the  Metropolitan Opera Company of New York gave a performance. Other greats who performed at the school auditorium were Helen Hayes and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. In its 72 years (61 at 33rd street) Tech graduated at least 25,000 young people. Famous Tech students include Senator Roman Hruska; Mayor Johnny Rosenblatt; Mayor James Dworak; Police Chief C. Harold Ostler, former president of Northwest Bell. A.F. Jacobson; and Eugene Skinner, Omaha District’s first black teacher who rose to the position of Asst. Superintendent.

Many grads were outstanding athletes and an unusually high number went on to stardom in college and professional sports. Among the football players were Les Webster (’63), who played at Iowa State and with the Cincinnati Bengals; Phil Wise (’67) a UNO star who played for the New York Jets; Johnny Rodgers (’69), who earned the Heisman Trophy, and All-American football honors at Nebraska; and Preston Love (’62), who played with the Cornhuskers.

Basketball stars included Bob Boozer (’55), who became an All-American at Kansas State and an Olympic Gold Medallist in 1960 before playing in the National Basketball Association; Ron Boone (’64), who retired from pro basketball after establishing a durability record of 1,041 consecutive American Basketball Association and NBA games.

Bob Gibson (’53), a basketball and baseball star at Tech, became a Hall of Fame pitcher and World Series hero with the St.  Louis Cardinals; Jim Houston (’59), became a national rodeo champion, and Lucille Wilson (’30), three times coached the United States women’ s track team in the Olympics.

The first principal was L. R. Rusmisel. In 1917 Dr. Dwight E. Porter succeeded him and organized the school on a standard four-year high school basis. Dr. Carl Hansen became principal at Tech in March 1945, followed by Carl Linn in 1947, Lloyd W. Ashby in 1947, Carl Palmquist in 1950, and Dr. Odra Bradley in 1971-1984. Tech faced its most difficult days in the ’60s and ’70s when housing patterns and school policies turned it into the “black school” and the center for the educable mentally handicapped.

During the summer of 1972 the Board of Education approved extensive renovation of the school, including new science labs, a radio/television center, painting and carpeting in the classrooms and halls, new light fixtures and new classroom furniture. The magnet program was in place and the school was beginning to recruit students from outside the area. Then, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ integration order came in 1975, and further voluntary recruitment began to attract white students to the school. Student enrollment had declined, but rose from 503 in 1974 to more than 1,500 in 1978 and the percentage of black to white students became 30-35 percent.

However, Tech High was still a casualty of shrinking enrollment and the school board decided to close it down at the end of the 1984 school year, renovate the building inside and out and use it as the central administrative building for the Omaha School System. Today we know it as the Omaha Public School Teacher and Administrative Building. Some vocational classes continue. The yellow school buses bring students for such special courses as telecommunications, printing, auto body, auto mechanics and photography.

The old is new again after the $5,500,000 renovation. But the old 2,200 seat auditorium remains as it was when the school closed — its silent stage and empty seats gathering dust. It is waiting for money from somewhere, perhaps Aladdin and his lamp, so that it can be used again for musicals and dramas, graduations and speeches.

Source:

Omaha Daily Bee, April 3, 1922
Omaha World-Herald, May 3, 1923, February 23, 1983, February 26, 1984, June 28,
1990.
Technical High School, A Brief History, 1972

Duschene Academy

From the Nebraska Historical Marker on the Duchesne grounds:

“In October 1881, Mother Margaret Dunne and three religious of the Sacred Heart opened a boarding school for girls at a temporary location on Ninth and Howard in Omaha. On September 1, 1882, Bishop James O’ Connor sold Park Place, a 12-acre site “west of town,” to the sisters for one dollar. Building construction commenced in February, and in November the Academy of the Sacred Heart opened to seventeen boarders. On Easter Sunday, March 23, 1913, a devastating tornado demolished the north wing of the school. Reconstruction took a full year and changed the front entrance to the present circle drive.

“The school was approved for college courses in 1916, and in 1920 the Academy became Duchesne College and Convent of the Sacred Heart. Both college and grade school closed in the 1960’s having educated thousands of students, pre-school through college. Today Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart continues as a Catholic, four-year, college preparatory, high school for women. It exemplifies a tradition of religious commitment and builds on the educational excellence of the women religious who first came to this “frontier post in the far west.”

This marker was placed in 1981. Since then there have been many changes on the campus. The area bordering 38th Street has been revamped into tennis courts and a soccer field. Many old trees were removed; Mathews Hall, an unused dormitory, was razed; and the land excavated to provide a flat playing field. New trees were planted along 38th Street and the view of the city from there is outstanding. The interior courts of the campus have also been developed. The most notable are the concrete arch in the center, the wrought-iron arch over the entrance steps, and the corner markers. The former science building on California Street was home for the Nebraska Business College for a number of years, but has been vacated.

The modern, yet traditional, Academy building itself contains airy classrooms, a spacious auditorium; wide halls; a beautiful chapel with stained glass windows; lecture halls; a gymnasium; a dining hall, student lounges; faculty rooms and more. Duchesne counts many outstanding alumni among whom are Letitia Baldrige, author and newspaper columnist, who was Social Secretary to Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy; Gail Yanney, Omaha philanthropist; Diane Nelson, wife of the former Nebraska Governor; and Mary Daub, wife of Omaha Mayor Hal Daub. Enrollment is around 200 with a total of 46 faculty members and administrative personnel.

Source:

Nebraska Historical Marker, 1981
Haggas, Shiela, Head of School, interview September 1996
Omaha World-Herald, November 7, 1996
Duchesne: One Hundred Years of Growth in Love and Learning, 1981
Duchesne Academy website, http://duchesne.creighton.edu/

The 1913 Tornado

Many may remember the devastating 1975 tornado. It tore a path of devastation from about 92nd and Q Streets to 70th and Maple Streets. Due however to excellent warning, only three people died. Much more serious in loss of life was the 1913 tornado, which hit our neighborhood. Over 100 people died and 600 homes were destroyed as the storm spanned from Yutan, Nebraska into Iowa. The western edge of Omaha was 42nd Street and the path was from 42nd and Center  northeastward until crossing the river at Carter Lake.

  Duchesne Academy, March 23, 1913

The day was pleasantly warm when storm clouds began to gather about 5 p.m. The tornado struck with great suddenness and fury. It crossed our neighborhood, striking Joslyn Castle, wrecking the 38th and California to Chicago area, almost annihilating the hillside from 36th to 38th and Cass, tearing off the north end of Duchesne Academy, sweeping down through Bemis Park, while smashing all the houses on Cuming Street from 33rd to 35th. It then passed 28th and Parker and 24th and Lake. It was at 24th and Lake that more than 30 people were killed as brick buildings were smashed and several burned with victims inside.

Looking toward 38th St.
Notice the pile of coal on the right.

With no warning sirens and well before the advent of radio, there was no way to alert people of the tornado’s approach. Persons living only a few blocks from the path of the storm were in some cases unaware for hours of the destruction that had occurred. Following its passing, temperatures dropped quickly and it began to rain and then snow, further increasing the distress of those affected. Debris from the tornado was found as far as 75 miles away in Iowa. The accompanying pictures were taken by Carl Balbach who lived at 39th and Nicholas.

   Burt St., 35th to 36th

   34th & Cuming, looking west

Source:

Wilwerding, Leo, Gifford Park’s Pride, September, 1996.

Street Names

Dodge Street
Dodge Street bears the name of Augustus C. Dodge. He was the U.S. Senator who introduced the bill that resulted in the organization of the Territory of Nebraska in 1854.

Davenport Street
Named by a group of bankers from Davenport, Iowa, who opened a branch-banking house in Florence. The street was named in honor of their hometown and also honors a
leading family of that city.

Chicago Street
Chicago, Illinois. “Chicago, Davenport, and Omaha” were on the direct line of travel to the gold fields.

Cass Street
Named in honor of Lewis Cass, Secretary of State in President Buchanan’s cabinet. He ran for President of the U.S. in 1848 but was defeated by Zachary Taylor.

California Street
Said to have been named because the gold seekers of the early 1850’s landed near the foot of this street. They crossed the Missouri River on the “Lone Tree” ferry and continued their way west via “California” Street.

Webster Street
Named in honor of Colonel E. Daniel Webster, private secretary to Marlin H. Seward, the Secretary of State. Col. Webster was instrumental in organizing the Republican Party. He died in 1852, two years before Omaha was platted. The street led to and from the Webster Street depot.

Burt Street
Named in honor of Francis Burt, first territorial governor of Nebraska. He died of colitis in Bellevue on October 18, 1854, only 12 days after his arrival in the territory.

Cuming Street
Named in honor of Thomas B. Cuming, second territorial governor of Nebraska, who succeeded Francis Burt.

Source:

Omaha Public Library

Gifford Park Neighborhood Association (GPNA)

In 1988 a group of people saw the need for improvements in Gifford Park and in the business section on 33rd Street between California and Cass and decided to do something about it. The group held a meeting at the home of Dave and Marge Hawkins on North 32nd Street. Those attending were Jim and Ruth Windorski, Marge and Dave Hawkins, Charles Kilgore, Bernie Sunberg and Ron Yates. Jim Windorski was elected president; Dave Hawkins, vice president; Marge Hawkins, treasurer; and Ruth Windorski, recording secretary of what would be called the Gifford Park Neighborhood Association (GPNA).

An event named “The Great Yates Debate of ’88,” organized by Jim Windorski, had piqued the interest of the neighborhood. This was a City Council candidates debate held at Yates Elementary School. Chuck Kilgore was moderator and Subby Anzaldo was a first-time candidate along with John Lindsey and Mark Holzafel. About 75 people were in attendance. Early developers of the GPNA besides the founders were: Denise Hall, Jean Cameron, Ed Hendershot and family, Jeanette Martin, Hubert and Edna Reuss, John and Diane Reuss, Smokey and Elaine Stober, Gloria Wecher, Terry and Sue Wilwerding, Keith and Dottie Munhall, Mike and Judi Caban, Tom and Kathy Rose, John and Jackie Lynch, Rich Liddick, Barb Schroeder, Cynde Yates, Leo Wilwerding, and Whitney Johnson. Most are still active members and supporters.

In March 1989 the first newsletter was published detailing the mission and boundaries. The following mission statement was established: “To raise the standards and quality of life in the community, to bring into closer relationship the person and the community, so that our persons and our institutions may cooperate intelligently in the redevelopment and preservation of our community; to develop between public officials and the community such united efforts as will secure for all a better environment in which to live, learn, work and play; to promote the unique assets of the Gifford Park area as an inner-city blend of residential, educational, commercial and recreational opportunity.” Boundaries were established as approximately 30th Street on the east, 36th-37th Street on the west, Dodge Street on the south and Cuming Street on the north.

Cox Cable of Omaha, in an effort to recognize organizations such as the GPNA established their “Neighborhood Salute” in the summer of 1989. The contest invited Omaha groups to describe why their neighborhoods were special places to live. John and Jackie Lynch wrote the winning entry. A panel of five judges awarded the top prize of $1,000 to the Gifford Park Neighborhood Association. We were off and running!

Presidents of the GPNA:

• Jim Windorski – 1988-1990
• Ron Yates – 1990-1993 and 1994-1996
• John Lynch – 1993-1994
• Leo Wilwerding – 1996-1997
• Jim Wilwerding – 1997-1999
• Chris Foster – 1999-present

Many more people have been active in the association but, regretfully; we could not name each and every one. The Gifford Park Neighborhood Association has been a ]tremendous force in the preservation of our area and deserves everyone’s thanks and appreciation for the ongoing well being of our neighborhood life.

Sources:

Foster, Chris, chronological list of events
Gifford Park’s Pride, issues from 1989 to 2000.
The GPNA Scrapbook