Good
Historic
Fun
Photos by Therrese Goodlett
Top: Val Didrichsons works at The Mill, 800 P
St., in the Haymarket. The business special
izes in selling and brewing gourmet coffees.
Left:The Haymarket crawls with Lincolnites
on the weekends. Lazio’s, an eatery and beer
brewery, is one of the most popular restau
rants downtown.
Right: Jerry Lewis escorts patrons by horse
and carriage through downtown Lincoln on
Friday and Saturday nights for Four Seasons
Carriage. Jerry and his wife Jean, who drives
the other carriage, have been giving tours for
more than a year.
Haymarket link&old, new for unique atmosphere
iBy Ingrid Youngquist
Staff Reporter
A (though the Haymarket
/A District may be one of the
^ oldest places to gather in
Lincoln, it is also one of the newest.
In the latter part of the 1800s, the
Haymarket was a busy meeting
place. It served as a camping
ground for immigrants and an open
air market for produce and livestock
that bustled with people, animals
and wagons.
This slowly deteriorated in the
mid- 1960s, as several warehouses
left the district and many buildings
stood empty. The most significant
departure came in 1979, when
Russel Stover moved out and
consequently left seven buildings
empty.
But in 1985, the Historic
Haymarket Association formed and
began a process of restoration and
rebirth that has turned the
Haymarket into a hot and happen
ing place for people to enjoy once
again.
Located a couple of blocks away
from the western edge of the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s
city campus, this area is especially
attractive to college students.
One of the most unique and
attractive things about tnc district is
the atmosphere, said Sally Oglesby,
program assistant for the Historic
Haymarket Association.
“The people down here arc really
friendly, and the area has a commu
nity feel,”Oglesby said.
The community feel is reinforced
by the 150 people who dwell in the
two Haymarket housing projects, the
Hardy and the Grainger.
Just stepping into the district,
which runs from O to R streets and
7th to 9th streets, gives people a
sense of being in another place and
time, Oglesby said.
“It is an adventurous area with
historic buildings, interesting shops
and lots of nooks and crannies to
explore,” Oglesby said. “There is no
other place like it in Lincoln.”
Perhaps the best part of the
district is the wide variety of things
to see and do, ranging from dining
to taking a ride in a Clydesdale
pulled carriage.
The carriage rides arc given by
Four Season Carriage Service, and
owners Jerry and Jean Lewis have
been giving rides in the Haymarkct
for about a year and a half.
The rides are available Thursday
through Saturday, weather permit
ting, along two routes. The short
route carries sightseers 12 blocks
and costs $5 a person with a
minimum charge of $15. The long
route runs 23 blocks and costs $10 a
person with a minimum charge of
$30.
Jerry Lewis said the rides arc
enjoyable because of the slow travel.
The short ride takes 20 to 25
minutes and the long ride takes at
least 45 minutes.
“People have time to look around
and talk and they sec things that
they don’t normally notice,” he said.
“It’s relaxing.”
While carriage rides are one
form of entertainment Haymarket
visitors can enjoy, dinning out is
another.
In the area of dining, Oglesby
said, the Haymarkct has something
I for every budget — be it feasting on
Indian cuisine at The Oven, 201 N.
8th St., or enjoying a sandwich and
a soda at the Haymarkct General
Store, 816 P St.
Although there are many places
to dine in the Haymarkct, Lazio’s
Brewery & Grill, 710 P St., is a
popular place among the college
crowd.
Co-owner Scott Boles said
Lazio’s is Nebraska’s oldest and
largest brewery, and he said the
most unique thing about Lazio’s is
that the food is cooked over a live
fire of hickory wood.
“We work hard to serve great
food and great beer at a great price,”
Boles said.
Lazio’s menu includes every
thing from hamburgers to fillets and
chicken to salads. Prices start at
$4.25 for a hamburger.
Another unique offering of the
district is The Tubbery, 814 P St.,
Lincoln’s only private in-house hot
tub rental establishment.
In addition to the four private hot
tub rooms which arc furnished with
showers, restrooms, towels and a
radio. The Tubbery also has two
tanning beds.
The Tubbery is open from 10
a.m. to midnight Monday through
Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. on
Friday and Saturday and 4 to 11
p.m. on Sunday.
Oglesby said that the Haymarkct
also has a lot to offer for shoppers.
The Haymarkct has everything
from antiques, gifts, books, cloth
ing, collectibles, flowers to fine
coffees and teas, Oglesby said.
Also, she said, on Saturday
mornings from mid-May to mid
October, the district has a farmers
market, complete with ethnic foods,
baked goods, fresh produce and live
entertainment and demonstrations.
Because of its community .
atmosphere and historical surround
ings, the Haymarket is home to
many artists and art galleries,
Oglesby said.
The Burkholder Project, 719 P
St., is an artist community that
houses studios for a number of
artists who work in a variety of
mediums, from watercolors and
sculptures to furniture and fabrics.
The Project is open to the public
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday
through Saturday.
Other art galleries in the district
include the Haydon Art Gallery, 335
N. 8th St., the Haymarket Art
Gallery, 119 S. 9th St. and the
Surya Art Gallery, 227 N. 9lh St.
The Haymarket even has a place
to fix hair, Oglesby said, at both the
Hair Market Junction, 700 P St. and
the Haymarket Hair Studio, 824 P.
St.
In addition to shopping in the
beautifully restored buildings,
visitors may also want to check out
Iron Horse Park, located on the
north end of Lincoln Station,
Oglesby said. The park features a
world-class mural in brick relief
depicting the first locomotive to
cross the prairies into Lincoln as
well as “Old 710,” a restored steam
engine parked neitfby.
Oglesby said these are just a few
of the many activities that make the
Haymarket special.
"With people bustling about day
and night, the area is a safe and fun
place to visit,” Oglesby said.