The Redick Mansion, also known as the Mayne Mansion and Redick Hall, was located at 3612 North 24th Street in

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 (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

Omaha 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 ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. It served as the first home of Omaha University, now known as the

University of Nebraska at Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) is a public university, public research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Presbyterian Theological Seminary (Omaha, Nebraska), Omaha Presbyterian Theological ...

, from 1909 through 1917. A five-story

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

on the front of the mansion was a notable landmark throughout the area.

Early history

Henry and Mary Meyers built a simple wooden

farmhouse FarmHouse (FH) is a men's social fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 34 active chapters in the United States and Canada.FarmHouse Fraternity New Memb ...

along rural North 24th Street in 1875. In 1885, Clifton E. Mayne, a local real estate developer and businessman, bought the house, which was now located in a new suburb called

Kountze Place The Kountze Place neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska is a historically significant community on the city's north end. Today the neighborhood is home to several buildings and homes listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located ...

. Using profits from his recent development called Orchard Hill, Mayne grew the house into a 20-room

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

, with a five-story tower and a wide veranda encircling the entire first floor. A large

parlor A parlour (or parlor) is a reception room or public space. In medieval Christian Europe, the "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery and the "inner parlour" was used for necessary ...

, a dining room and a spacious entry hall greeted guests, along with tall

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typical ...

s, exotic woodwork and elegant fixtures throughout the house. In 1889, John I. Redick bought the residence after Mayne fell into financial difficulty. In 1898, the mansion was located across the street from the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition. John Redick's son, Oak C. Redick, sold the house for $30,000 to the newly formed Municipal University of Omaha in 1907.

Omaha University

In 1909, Omaha University paid for the building and moved in, renaming it Redick Hall. The first classes were held there on September 14, 1909, for twenty-six students, nineteen of them graduates of Omaha High School. The building was used for classes and offices, and the adjacent

carriage house A ''carriage house'', also called a ''remise'' or ''coach house'', is a term used in North America to describe an outbuilding that was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and their related tack. Carriage houses were often two ...

was used as the science laboratory. The parlor was converted into a chapel and a resting room made available for female students. Faculty for the fledgling university came from the nearby Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary. The campus developed quickly with the addition of Jacobs Gymnasium and Joslyn Hall, as well as a College of Law, all on the original Redick Mansion property. In 1917, the building was sold to a local grain dealer who had it disassembled and moved by

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

to a resort on Keeley Island on Lake Shetek near Currie, Minnesota, where it became the Valhalla Dance Pavilion and Cafe until it burnt down on March 3, 1928.Gerber, K. and Spencer, J.C. (2003) ''Building for the Ages: Omaha's Architectural Landmarks.'' Omaha, NE: Landmarks, Inc. p 14. Omaha University moved to its Dodge Street location starting in 1936.

References

{{North Omaha History of North Omaha, Nebraska Houses completed in 1875 University of Nebraska Omaha Demolished buildings and structures in Omaha, Nebraska Houses in Omaha, Nebraska Towers in Nebraska University and college residential buildings in Nebraska Buildings and structures demolished in 1917

Early history

Omaha University

See also

References