Lincoln Boulevard in
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
was built in the early 1890s as part of the city's
boulevard system under control of the
Board of Park Commissioners. It runs through the
Bemis Park
The Bemis Park Landmark Heritage District is located in North Omaha, Nebraska. Situated from Cuming Street to Hawthorne Avenue, Glenwood Avenue to 33rd Street, Bemis Park was annexed into Omaha in 1887, and developed from 1889 to 1922. The dist ...
neighborhood west-east from Mercer Boulevard to its end at North 29 Street; it then reemerges immediately north of
Dodge Street
Dodge Street is the main east–west street in Omaha, Nebraska. Numbered as U.S. Route 6 (US 6) for most of its length, the street starts in Downtown Omaha and connects to West Dodge Road just west of 78th Street. From there, it conti ...
, where it intersects with
Turner Boulevard.
History
When the Bemis Land Company platted the Bemis Park subdivision in 1889 it donated tract to the Omaha Board of Park Commissioners. As part of the city's boulevard and parks plan designed by
Horace Cleveland that same year, Mayor
George Bemis was convinced to create a strolling boulevard that started at his park and meandered east towards
Creighton University
Creighton University () is a private research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate ...
. The boulevard was developed to Cleveland's plans, which preserved the natural features of the area's undulating hillsides.
Many homes along Lincoln Boulevard were demolished by the
Easter Sunday Tornado of 1913. Striking the boulevard at about North 35 Street, it uprooted trees and obliterated houses littered the roadway, damage from which much of the area never recovered.
In the 1960s a large portion of Lincoln Boulevard was lost during the construction of
I-480
Interstate 480 may refer to:
*Interstate 480 (Nebraska–Iowa), a loop through Omaha, Nebraska into Council Bluffs, Iowa
*Interstate 480 (Ohio), a loop through Cleveland, Ohio
*Interstate 480 (California), the former Embarcadero Freeway in San Fran ...
. Today the only segment of significant length lies between 30th Street and Mercer Boulevard.
[Mead & Hunt, Inc. (2003) ''.'' Prepared from the City of Omaha, Omaha City Planning Department, Omaha Certified Local Government, and Nebraska State Historical Society. p 13. Retrieved 5/29/07.]
See also
*
Boulevards in Omaha
A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway or wide road in a commercial district.
In Europe, boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former c ...
*
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 Coun ...
References
Streets in Omaha, Nebraska
{{Nebraska-road-stub