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daily nebraskan
Wednesday, december 10, 1930
'Reflected growing city9
Downtown district offers a lesson in history
By Patti Gallagher
A 20-block radius in downtown Lincon is a eome
alive history book of Nebraska.
Within a few minutes, a stroll could take you past the
homes and the histories of turn-of-the-century governors,
mayors, legislators, business owners and other community
leaders.
The area, called Mount Emerald and Capitol Additions,
was named a National Historical District last June. Be
cause of a listing in the National Register of Historic
Places, the area is eligible for federal funds and protection.
But more important than a listing and federal support
is the Nebraska history and culture the area offers.
According to Daniel Kidd of the State Historical
Society, the area, built during the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, "reflected the governmental, educational and
commercial character of the growing city."
The area now includes 228 dwellings. It is bordered by
17th and A streets, the alley between 20th and 21st
streets, E Street and 18th Street. Although almost exclu
sively residential, the district includes two churches, five
apartment building, a former fraternity house, three du
plexes and a combination dentist office-residence.
Value is history
The value of the district, however, lies not only in what
it is today, but in what it used to be.
It used to be the home of Gov. Charles Bryan, 1923-25
and 1931-35. Bryan was the brother of William Jennings
Bryan, remembered by native Nebraskans as a great orator
and three-time presidential candidate.
The district used to be the home of nine state legisla
tors, a secretary of state, a state treasurer, a state congress
man, five mayors and several attorneys.
The university population also was well represented in
the district. In it are the original homes of six past UNL
jeans, three members of the NU Board of Regents and
many past faculty members.
Former homeowners also included Don L. Love, for
whom UNL's Love Library is named, and Willard Kimball,
who owned Kimball Recital Hall until it was purchased by
UNL in 1930.
The areas of banking, insurance and commerce also
were represented because many founders of Lincoln
businesses owned homes in the district. The founder of
Beatrice Foods Co., Morris Friend and the founder of the
National Bank of Commerce, Morris Weil, had homes in
the area.
According to Kidd, the houses themselves their ages
and structure also are a major factor in being named as
an historical district.
Design is sign of the times
Kidd said the neo-classical style of architecture and the
period revival style are frequent in the district. The struc
tures are fairly consistent, he said, in that about 80 per
cent are not more then two-stories high.
Although no rules specify what may be included within
a district, Kidd said, it would be inappropriate to erect
new structures in the area. The area remains unique be
cause no building is less than 50-years-old, he said.
The Mount Emerald and Capitol Additions area is the
first historical district in Lincoln, according to Kidd. Lin
coln's Haymarket, however, recently has been approved
on the state level as an historical district.
At least nine other areas across the state, including
Omaha's Old Market and the towns of Brownville, Ne
braska City and Tecumseh previously were named as his
torical districts.
The first step in becoming an historical district is a
nomination by the historical society. The society sub
mits the nomination-in this case more than 50 pages of
detailed descriptions about the area-to the U.S. Depart
ment of the interior. That department then decides if the
district should be placed in the Register of Historical
Places.
Prominence not important
Being in the National Register does not require a place
to be nationally prominent, Kidd said. The register will
accept places that are important to the history of a speci
fic place, he said.
Kidd said the Federal Grant-in-aid program has been
cut drastically in recent years. Three years ago, his office
had $600,000 from the Department of Interior to distri
bute to historical places around the state. Last year, the
office had only $ 100,000.
If a homeowner applies to the historical society for a
preservation grant-in-aid and is accepted, then federal
funds will be matched by the state.
In addition, a listing in the register provides present
residents with the history of their homes. Kidd said.
He said the historical society often gets calls from resi
dents in the district about who owned their houses. The
society gets this information from the Who's Who publica
tions, county records, news clippings and interviews.
Census figures show
states western growth
-Preliminary census fig- western Nebraska gained
ures indicate increasing stab- portion of the population
ility and growth in western they lost from 1960 to
1970.
During the 1960-1970
decade, western Nebraska
lost 9.497 people (a loss of
9.1 percent), whereas for
the 1970-1980 interval,
western Nebraska gaines
Nebraska
According to Anne Rals
ton, research associate at
the Bureau of Business Re
search at UNL's College of
Business Administration,
preliminary 1980 census
counts released by the U.S. 3,205 people.
Bureau of the Census indi
cate that during the decade
1970-1980, counties in
H' rv 3
I c-pn. nn
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The more rapidly grow
ing counties in the 11
county western area since
1970' were Box, Butte
(35.6perceni), Morrill (5.5
percent), Scotts Bluff (4.7
percent) and Sheridan (3.8
percent).
Of the seven western
-area counties experiencing
population declines since
1970, four (Banner, Deuel,
Garden and Sioux) appear
to be repeating their 1960
to 1970 trends, but at slow
er rates of decline. The
remaining three declining
counties (Dawes, Kimball
and Cheyenne) have been
affected by special circum
stances. Dawe's county's
population has been influ
enced by a declining insti
tutional (college) populat
ion since 1970. Kimball
County's population, which
had shown growth in the
earlier years of this decade,
may now reflect the wind
ing down of major con
struction projects. In Chey
enne County, as well, the
completion of construction
on Interstate 80 may have
conticuted to the decline in
population.
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