OMAHA; SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 23. 1918.
Officials of the Progressive City of Omaha
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1 0maha at the Time The Bee First
Made Its Bow to the Public in 1871
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J. Dean Ringer
City Commissioner
Supt. Police,
Sanitation
and Public Safety
DAN B. BUTLER
City Commissioner
Supt. of Street Cleaning
and Maintenance
THOS. B. FALCONER
City Commissioner
Supt. Parks and Public Property
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City Commissioner
imman
Commissioner
SUPT. FIRE
PROTECTION
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.CUR
Superintendent of
Accounts and Finance
Up and Down Old
Far nam Street
With Visions
of the Past
Article from a Previous Anniver
sary Number Reprinted by Request
At the time The Bee made its
itial bow before the local public as a
little two-page evening paper Omaha
had outgrown the village stage. As
the gateway to the far west through
which the great horde of transcon
tinental pioneers, settlers and tourists
made their way to the mountains and
the Pacific coast Omaha had achieved
a recognized place on the map and
was enjoying the results of an in
creasing trade, fostered by its
Farnam Street West from' Fifteenth in 1871
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geographical position and the recent
opening up of new transportation
routes of which it was the terminus.
The traveler who came to Omaha in
1871 would therefore have found a
thriving, hustling little town of about
17,000 inhabitants. The census of
1870 had given it a population of 16,
083, and the whole state of Nebraska
a trifle less than 125,000.
Our traveler might have made his
way up the river by steamboat, as the
steamboat lines had not yet been
abandoned. During the season of
navigation, so we are told, it was by
no means an unusual thing to see
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D.P.SMITH !
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MAYOR
CITY OF OMAHA 1
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each day at the landing several boats
receiving their freight for the moun
tains and others the products of the
state for consumption at the south.
He would, however, likely have made
use of the new built railroads which
had thrown their iron tracks about
Omaha like spokes in a wheel. Stim
ulated by the construction of the
Union Pacific, finally completed in
1869, four roads constituting through
connections with the east had rapid
ly pushed their way up to the Missouri
river. The Chicago & Northwestern
had been the first completed, then the
Hannibal & St. Joseph, then the
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, and
next the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy. Even at that time the project
for the Omaha & Southwestern was
afoot, soon to be carried into success
ful execution. The controversy over
the use of the Union Pacific bridge
at this point was just at its height
and the business men of the town
were energetically engaged in a fight
to prevent the threatened location of
in
the Union Pacific terminals on the
Council Bluffs side of the river.
Bird's-Eye View of the Town.
The first impulse of our traveler
would naturally have been to take a
brief survey of the place. The whole
area of the town in 1871 was but a
shadow of what it is now. The streets
had been laid out only from Twenty
third street on the west to the river
on the east, and from Nicholas on
the north to Pierce on the south. The
inhabited portion was, of course. .iuch
smaller. For administrative conven
ience the town had been divided into
six wards, the First ward comprising
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the district south of Farnam (then
spelled Farnham) and east : of
Twelfth; the Second, that south of
Farnam and west of Twelfth; th
Third, that between Farnam and
Davenport; the Fourth, that between
the same streets and west of Four
teenth; the Fifth, that north of Daven
port and east of Sixteenth, and the
Sixth, the remainder.
The streets, even in the business'
center, were unpaved. The sidewalks
and cross walks consisted, for the
most part, of wooden planks, though
the pedestrian esteemed himself for
tunate to find continuous sidewalks at
all. There was no street railway, no
electric lights, no telephones, no sew
ers, no water works. The people drew
their water from wells and cis
terns, and water for fire protection
was stored in public cisterns at the
intersections of certain streets. In
one thing the town pointed to an up-to-dateness
that placed it head and
shoulders above its competitors that
was its gas works and gas lamps.
which had been introduced two yean
before. Still the use of gas fo
illuminating stores and dwellings wa
a luxury afforded by exceeding few
Panorama from Capitol Hill.
Let me quote a pen picture written
shortly before this very time:
"Commencing near the river on the
south attention is attracted by several
substantial brick buildings used as
breweries, while the heights which
bound the city in this direction are
crowned by handsome private resi- ,
dences. Passing west we notice in
succession the gas works, Brownell
Hall and the Nunnery; thence cross
ing to the north we reach the old
capitol, now redeeded to the city for
educational purposes. An ascent to
tte ninr1;i will w11 r.natf ttlj. fatimi
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imposed. Immediately below lies the
city, with its wide, regular streets,
its loity ranges ot business nouses in
terrupted here and there by churche .
and lines of pleasant trees; beyond
rolls the Missouri with its regal porno ;
of waters, while in the distant east
sleeps Council Bluffs at the foot of
the picturesque hills from which it
takes its name. Before one four or
five busy lines of railroad carry the
through traffic of the continent, and a ;
valley unsurpassed for fertility as it
beauty can be traced for miles as it
stretches away to the north.
"Coming down into the city and
reaching Farnam street we notice the
Congregational . church, military :
headquarters and the court house;
east of these Kountze's bank; next
Shoaf Brothers' billiard hall and the
offices of the Chicago, Rock Island
& Pacific railroad. At the foot of the
street are several hotels and the of
fices of the Union Pacific railroad.
Passing up Douglas street, th '
Metropolitan hotel is the first objeel
of interest; then on Twelfth, but
few steps from the main thorough
fare, the rooms of the Young Men'i
Christian association, a credit to thi
zeal and devotion of the young men
of Omaha. Just beyond Twelfth, th :
Emanuel Evansrelical Lutheran
church and Visscher's block. Next
comes the Omaha National banll
and the offices of the Herald and Re.
publican. On Seventeenth we see th
new Presbyterian church with its con
spicuous spire and the Methodist
church, but partly built. On the cor
ner of Fifteenth and Davenport the
new Baptist church is approaching
completion and promises to be one oi
the fairest architectural additions to
the city. Following east on Daven
port we reach an open space over
looking the river bottom, and the
eye is at once arrested by the ex
tensive shops of the Union Pacific
railroad. The barracks to the north
of the city also will repay a visit,
though at present the Indian troubles
west have drawn away most of the
troops."
City Government la 18711 :
If our traveler should have hap
pened in at the council rooms in Hell
man's block some evening when the
council was in session, he would
have found advising that body as
mayor Smith S. Caldwell one of th
leading bankers and most prominent
citizens. In front of him he wouH
have seen ranged as councilmen E. A.
Allen and W. J. McKelligan from the
First ward, G. W. Homan and J. S.
Gibson from the Second ward, Henry
Luhens and John Campbell from the
Third wardr John A. Horbach and
Byron Reed from the" Fourth ward,
James Creighton and J. B. Bartlett
from the . Fifth ward, and George
Smith and Thomas Martin from the
Sixth ward. The other city officers
were: C L. Bristol, city clerk; John
Steen, treasurer; John R. Porter, -po-
j"BCi i-wiurcw ivoscwater, city
engineer; Jerry Dee, street commis
sioner, and G. .W. Gratton, gai in
spector. " . -
At the head of the police depart"
ment was William G. Hollins, cUr
marshal and chief, assisted by Rg&
(Coatiaod o mnt pt4
