The General George Crook House Museum is located in
Fort Omaha
Fort Omaha, originally known as Sherman Barracks and then Omaha Barracks, is an Indian War-era United States Army supply installation. Located at 5730 North 30th Street, with the entrance at North 30th and Fort Streets in modern-day North Omaha, ...
. The Fort is located in the
Miller Park
American Family Field is a retractable roof stadium used primarily for baseball. It is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, just southwest of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Brewers Boulevard. It is the home of Major League Baseball's Milwauk ...
neighborhood of
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north ...
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...
, United States. The house was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1969, and is a contributing property to the
Fort Omaha Historic District
Fort Omaha, originally known as Sherman Barracks and then Omaha Barracks, is an American Indian Wars, Indian War-era United States Army supply installation. Located at 5730 North 30th Street, with the entrance at North 30th and Fort Streets in mo ...
.
History
In 1878, General
George Crook moved headquarters for the
Department of the Platte
The Department of the Platte was a military administrative district established by the U.S. Army on March 5, 1866, with boundaries encompassing Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota Territory, Utah Territory and a small portion of Idaho. With headquarters in Om ...
from downtown Omaha to Fort Omaha. The General Crook home was built in 1879 to be the residence of the commander. Constructed in an
Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...
design, the building consists of two stories with a grand garden surrounding it. Crowned by hipped roofs, the building is asymmetrical in plan and is in good condition. A long one-story porch projects from its eastern facade.
General George Crook was the only commander to occupy the home, as the department was disbanded after his tenure. In November, 1879, Crook and his wife entertained General and Mrs.
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
at the home. In September 1880, President
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governo ...
stayed there while he was reviewing the troops at the Fort.
After Crook left Fort Omaha, the house served as a home to each of the subsequent commanders of the Fort. In 1905, the house was used as an
officer's club
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises ...
and
mess hall
The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...
. In 1930, it was converted back to a post commander's residence, serving until the Fort was closed in 1973.
The Crook House is the oldest structure built as a private residence in Omaha.
The building was named a Nebraska State Historical Site in 1970.
Currently
The
Douglas County Historical Society The Douglas County Historical Society, or DCHS, is located at 5730 North 30th Street in the General Crook House at Fort Omaha in north Omaha, Nebraska. The mission of the DCHS is to collect, preserve and present to the public the history of Douglas ...
restored the house in the 1980s, refurbishing it with period furniture and restoring its heirloom
Victorian gardens. Today, it is open to the public for tours and for special events.
[(nd]
About Us
. Douglas County Historical Society. Retrieved 7/7/07.
See also
*
History of Omaha
The history of Omaha, Nebraska, began before the settlement of the city, with speculators from neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa staking land across the Missouri River illegally as early as the 1840s. When it was legal to claim land in Indian Co ...
*
Landmarks in Omaha, Nebraska
References
External links
Douglas County Historical Society- official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crook House
Historic house museums in Nebraska
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Omaha, Nebraska
Landmarks in North Omaha, Nebraska
Military and war museums in Nebraska
Museums in Omaha, Nebraska