OBVIOUSLY OMAHA
omaha magazine
J. P. Cooke Buildings, 1885 to 1889 Now: J. P. Cooke Buildings, 1307 to 1315 Howard Street
Historic Buildings of the Old Market
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maha’s first municipal
swimming pool, “The New Natatorium,” was located in the basement of the westernmost of these three buildings. Vestiges of it can still be seen there. The cast-iron façade is considered a classic, and the immense windows suggest the then-contemporary development of the curtain wall and skyscraper in Chicago. In the early 1960s, J. P. Cooke & Co., makers of a variety of rubber and metal stamps, moved to this location.
A walking tour
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maha’s Old Market is
door-to-door history, with nearly every building telling its own unique story from the early days of America’s push west. Here you’ll find most every architectural style popular in the decades before and after the turn of the last century. And here, you’ll see the headquarters of many of the companies that made Omaha one of the major gateways to the West. Following is the second installment of our walking tour of the Old Market. From the old Omaha Firehouse to the Skinner Macaroni Building, we think you’ll enjoy this stroll through the city’s fascinating past and vibrant present. Next issue Look forward to the Omaha Magazine January/February issue where Union Station (now The Durham Museum), Windsor Hotel (now Windsor Square Apartments, Curb Appeal Salon, and The Tavern), The Overland Hotel (now Ashley’s Collectibles), Poppleton Block (now Omaha Visitors Center), and Aquila Court (now Magnolia Hotel) will be featured in “Obviously Omaha.” Old Market Historic Tour The Old Market is filled with historic sites and buildings. Several of these have been specifically identified and researched. As a result, an Old Market Historic Walking Tour, with plaques identifying points of interest, was created in 2003. Audio Walking Tour Download Download the podcast for the Old Market audio tour by searching “Omaha’s Old Market Walking Tour” on iTunes. 26
omaha magazine • november/december 2014
Millard Block, 1880 to 1881 Now: Rock Bottom Brewery, 1101 to 1107 Harney Street
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maha capitalist Ezra Millard, a former mayor of Omaha and the man for whom a western suburb was named, erected the four-story Millard Block in 1880-81. The busy factory of the F. P. Kirkendall Boot Company arrived in the early 1900s. Kirkendall was once the world’s largest producer of riding boots, serving such prestigious customers as King Gustav V of Sweden and Emperor Yoshohito of Japan, as well as working cowboys everywhere. The Kirkendall factory shut down in the 1950s. In 1995, Rubin Distributing Company left the building to make way for new, upscale apartments as well as Austin’s, a regional steakhouse chain, which was replaced by Famous Dave’s and later, Rock Bottom Brewery.