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OMAHA CLUB

This is the old Omaha Club building on the northwest corner of 20th and Douglas.

The Omaha Club was established in 1883 and moved from one location to another during the first decade of its existence. Construction of this building began in 1893 and was completed in January 1895.

Here is a description of the building from the Federal Writers' Project's Omaha: A Guide to the City and Environs:

"Erected in 1893, the building is Italian Renaissance in style and consists of three stories and a basement. It is constructed of light granite rock and buff brick, trimmed with terra cotta. The entrance is formed by an arcade of three arches, and over it, on the third floor, is a recessed balcony. The interior is distinguished by an air of quiet elegance rather than ornamental grandeur. Of special note is the mantel in the hall, finished in embossed tile, having carved seats on each side. Among furnishings considered heirlooms at the club are four quaint card tables, two escritoires, the original parlor set, a carved oak hat-rack, several paintings dating back to 1880, and engravings and tapestries donated by wealthy patrons of the club."

The building stood until 1965, when it was razed and replaced by a new structure at the same location. During the seventy years of its existence five presidents spent the night in the building: McKinley (during the Trans-Mississippi Exposition), the first Roosevelt, Taft, Coolidge, and Ford.

Federal Writers' Project. Omaha: A Guide to the City and Environs. Originally published sometime in the late 1930s. Edited and Indexed by Omaha Public Library History Librarian Linda Miller in 1981. Page 102.

Kountze, Denman, Jr. "It Has Ties to the 'Beautiful Times'." Omaha World Herald Magazine of the Midlands 10 April 1983: Pages 10, 12, 14