An Old Neighborhood (and more) in Omaha NE

Our Omaha family, David II, his wife Amy and our grandsons David III and Emmett Lee, are quite supportive when it comes to my blogging efforts.  They always set me up with historical areas or actual museums that I can post blogs about when I return home.  The question is…when will we run out of new blog worthy material?

It wasn’t during this visit, that’s for sure.  Off we went to visit a historic neighborhood in Omaha…

Although Florence is now part of Omaha’s north end, it was also one of the oldest cities in Nebraska.  It was incorporated by the Nebraska Territorial Legislature in March of 1857.  With a high concentration of historic places in the area, Florence is considered to be “the historic front door to both Omaha and Nebraska.

This is the Florence Mill, aka the Weber Mill, Mormon Mill, Grist Mill and the Old Pink Mill.  It was built and rebuilt in 1846, 1847 and 1856.  Jacob Weber bought the Mill ca. 1960 and he replaced the water-powered machinery with steam-powered equipment.  The Weber family operated the Florence Mill for over 104 years.

Brigham Young, the second President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, supervised construction of the Mormon pioneers winter quarters here in 1846.  The Florence Mill is the only surviving building to have been built by the Mormons.  It now serves as the Winter Quarters Mill Museum and Art Loft Gallery.

Brigham Young continued west with his Mormon followers after this stopover in Florence, subsequently founding Salt Lake City and serving as the first governor of the Utah Territory.

This horse sculpture is located right next to the Florence Mill.  It is apparently one of two similar sculptures by a local artist, this one made with metal.  The other version is located in downtown Omaha.

‘Suffolk War Horse’ ties together the area’s agricultural and western heritage with the war in Iraq.  It was inspired by the Suffolk horse, a heavy draft horse usually used in farming but it also has served in war and it is a prominent figure used in religion, mythology and art.  The work provides a metaphor for the price of war…

I was disappointed that I couldn’t get closer to the Florence Railway Depot for better photos.  It was constructed ca. 1888 as part of a train line that ran from Omaha to Sioux City South Dakota.  The depot was moved to its current location in 1971 and it’s served as a historical railroad museum since 1976.  That caboose next to the depot dates back to 1890.

Starting in 1870, the Omaha and Northwestern Railroad Company, (now part of the Union Pacific Railroad), passed through Florence via its route from Omaha to Blair and beyond.  The Florence Depot was built by the Omaha Belt Line Railway, which in turn was owned by the Missouri Pacific Railroad. (Confused…me too!)

The OBLR basically was a 15-mile long railroad that circumnavigated the city of Omaha.  It was part of a strategy to out-compete the Union Pacific Railroad, as set in motion by Jay Gould, a railroad magnate and financial speculator who is generally identified as a ‘villain’ and one of the ‘robber barons’ of the Gilded Age.

This sign had me scratching my head as I didn’t relate it to the nearby twin cantilever bridges that carry I-680 cross the Missouri River from Nebraska to Iowa.  The bridge got its name because the Mormon Trail passed nearby and the Mormons operated a ferry here in 1846. 

If you read this historic plaque, you’ll note that a lot of American history happened here!

Emmett Lee decided to ‘chill’ on one of historic Florence’s benches.  Must be nice to be young!  It’s getting harder to remember what it was like…

The town of Florence was founded in and around the remnants of the Mormon’s Winter Quarters.  Dozens of small buildings from the Winter Quarters were still intact from that short-term pioneer settlement so it was a land speculator’s dream.  The town was quickly built.

The Greek revival style Bank of Florence was built in 1856.  It was what is called an early ‘wildcat bank’, (basically unregulated or monitored by government entities), so the speculators could make an easy profit.  The bank is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and it’s the oldest building in Omaha.

 

After closing following the Financial Panic of 1857, the bank building remained vacant for more than 30 years, reopening in 1890 as a bank.  That bank survived until 1936 when it closed.  After that closing, the building was used as office space, a grocery store, antique shop, laundry and dry cleaners, an apartment and even as offices with a switchboard for the Florence Telephone Company.

This beauty is a $1.00 bill issued by the Bank of Florence.  Back when this bank was built, it would be another decade before Nebraska would become a state.  So, the unregulated ‘wildcat’ bank issued its own money in denominations of $1.oo, $2.00, $3.00 and $5.00.  This bill and others issued by similar institutions during this banking ‘era’ were designed to impress.  ‘Wildcat currency’ was secured by loans…which works OK until those loans become worthless. 

We 'had to' take some photos so we all jammed together on a bench.  I was stuck in the middle and as you can tell by the 2 ‘skinny’ photos above, I didn’t like the results as pertained to yours truly.  David II and David III as well as Amy and Emmett look great although David II does look a little uncomfortable…

Fortunately Amy saved the day and she took this photo of Laurie and me with our son and grandsons…

This big colorful mural on the side of a building in the center of the old Florence neighborhood is certainly eye-catching.  It also give me the chance or excuse to provide a little more history!

As stated previously, Florence was founded on the site of the Mormon’s Winter Quarters.  Located on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River, this temporary settlement included roughly 2,500 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  They stopped here on their westward trek to wait for better weather before moving on.  They built over 800 cabins here.

The Mormon Battalion, which was the only religion-based unit in US military history, served during the Mexican-American War.  This volunteer unit of about 550 men, led by Mormon officers and commanded by US Army Officers, marched from nearby Council Bluffs Iowa all the way to San Diego California.

Another reminder of the Mormon’s brief time in and around Florence is the Mormon Pioneer Cemetery.  It’s the burial site of about 359 Mormon pioneers.  Remnants of 3 of these graves are visible today…uncovered when a commemorative monument was erected in 1936.  Local residents also used this cemetery after the Mormons moved west.  Prior to the Mormon’s burials, the same space was an American Indian burial ground.  If the cemetery could talk, it would have a lot of stories to tell!

Following our cold and cloudy stopover in Florence, Amy had one other destination she wanted to visit.  This is the Brownie Bar in Omaha.  It was a new business at the time we visited and heck, who doesn’t like brownies!?  David III was holding the door for me...

I took this photo of the owner (I think) of the Brownie Bar.  This retail establishment offers tea, coffee, milk and brownies!  Free Naked Brownies are offered for birthday visits to the store.  You could check out the Friday Night Brownie Bar.  On January 22, they are celebrating Blonde Brownie Day with $2.00 brownies!

So how does this retailer operate?  From what I learned, it seems to be the tasty brownie version of Build-A-Bear.  Customers pick traditional, blonde or dark chocolate brownies, then they can select their toppings.  Options include peanut butter, butter cream, butter mint or chocolate mocha frosting, fudge sauce, dulce de leche, raspberry or strawberry compote and powdered sugar.  I could have OD’d here!

The Brownie Bar in Omaha is located at 1217 Leavenworth Street.  Phone: 402-506-4337.  If you’d like to learn more about the Brownie Bar, including franchising opportunities, go to https://www.browniebaromaha.com/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave