Hanscom Park is a historic neighborhood in Midtown

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 ...

. Its namesake public park is one of the oldest parks in Omaha, donated to the City in 1872. U.S. President

Gerald R. Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

was born in a house in the Hanscom Park neighborhood. Its boundaries are Woolworth Street on the north, South 32nd on the west, Interstate 480 on the east and I-80 on the south.

History

Hanscom Park is one of the oldest residential subdivisions in Omaha. Andrew J. Hanscom and James Megeath donated the park in October 1872. Hanscom bought the land from Colonel Sam Bayliss, one of the original homesteaders in Omaha City in 1854. When the community was developed through the 1890s, it was on the western fringe of Omaha. The site was ideal for an upscale development because of its access to a new electric trolley line connecting it with downtown. The neighborhood is home to several notable houses. One of them, the George N. Hicks House, has been designated an

Omaha Landmark This article covers Omaha Landmarks designated by the City of Omaha Landmark Heritage Preservation Commission. In addition, it includes structures or buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places and those few designated as Nation ...

. In 1913, U.S. President Gerald Ford was born in his grandfather's mansion at 3202 Woolworth Avenue in the Hanscom Park neighborhood. Today the

Gerald R. Ford Birthsite and Gardens The Gerald R. Ford Birthsite and Gardens in Omaha, Nebraska marks the location of the house at 3202 Woolworth Avenue where U.S. President Gerald R. Ford lived for a couple of weeks after his birth in July 1913. It was the home of his paternal ...

celebrates this location. Hanscom Park (Omaha) pavilion 1

Hanscom Park

Hanscom Park, located at 1899 South 32nd Avenue, was developed by the City of Omaha in 1889 as one of the first by the newly formed Park Commission. After paying a landscape architect $913.30 for plans to improve the rough tract of land, the Commission reported the park was, "radically changed in plan and very greatly improved... Two lakes, a cascade, extensive flower beds, two and one-half miles of

macadamized Macadam is a type of road construction, pioneered by Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam around 1820, in which crushed stone is placed in shallow, convex layers and compacted thoroughly. A binding layer of stone dust (crushed stone from the o ...

roadway, fountains and a magnificent growth of forest trees makes this the only finished park in the city." Design elements from that time have survived. The Brandeis Indoor Tennis Courts facility is also located within the park property. The park is bordered on the East by Park Ave and the West border is 32nd Ave. The North border for the park is Woolworth Ave and the South border is Ed Creighton Ave.

Present

After years of historical houses in the neighborhood being converted into apartments, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of properties that have been returned to single family homes during the past few years.(nd
Resources
. Restore Omaha. Retrieved 6/25/07.

References

External links

Hanscom Park Neighborhood AssociationHistoric photos and postcards
- Nebraska Memories {{Community areas of Omaha Historic districts in Omaha, Nebraska Neighborhoods in Omaha, Nebraska Parks in Omaha, Nebraska Landmarks in South Omaha, Nebraska Midtown Omaha, Nebraska Populated places established in 1899

History

Hanscom Park

Present

See also

References

External links