STORY #2: Omaha Country Club Purchases Land “In the Country”
According to the 2017 Omaha Country Club history book, in 1899 a group of prominent Omahans purchased about 80 acres south and east of the terminus of the Benson trolley line at 56th and Military Avenue to establish the Omaha Country Club and its golf course. The golf course was the first club of its kind in Omaha and one of the earliest in Nebraska.
At the time, this land truly felt “out in the country.” An article in the Omaha Bee newspaper said it was an hour’s ride from Omaha although the article did not specify if that was by horse and carriage or trolley. Many club members lived downtown or in the Blackstone-Gold Coast area and came to relax, socialize and enjoy time away from the city.
This investment in open landscape and recreation would later play a defining role in how the neighborhood developed.
So…an hour to get “out in the country”…by horse and carriage, trolley or both? What’s your guess?
Photo credits
Left photo: A September 1925 photo of the Omaha Country Club golf course. St. Cecilia’s Cathedral is seen in the distance. Photo from The Durham Museum archives (BF51-113).
Right photo: An 1889 Street Railways of Omaha and Environs map from Richard Orr, in his book O & CB: Streetcars of Omaha and Council Bluffs.