STORY #20 - Lighting the Country Club Neighborhood
On Sept. 10, 1927, the Country Club neighborhood quite literally shined.
That evening, the district’s artistically designed streetlights glowed for the first time — marking the final touch in completing Omaha’s newest premier residential addition. The Omaha World-Herald proudly reported that every street was paved and that water, gas and electricity had been brought to every lot.
Planning the lighting system was no small task. The Nebraska Power Company spent considerable time designing what it called one of the most efficient and up-to-date lighting systems in any Midwestern city. Omaha’s E. C. Bennett Electric Company designed and installed the ornamental electrolier system — decorative cast-iron posts topped with glowing globes meant to symbolize modernity, beauty and civic pride.
Nearly a century later, many of those original streetlights are still in use — a rare example of infrastructure designed to last generations. Their classical forms complement the neighborhood’s Tudor Revival and brick homes, creating the warm streetscape residents still enjoy today.
Maintained by OPPD, along with similar fixtures in neighboring Dundee, these lamps continue to illuminate not just the streets, but the vision of thoughtful neighborhood design that began in 1927. As bulbs wear out, OPPD upgrades them with modern LED lighting, preserving the historic character of the fixtures while bringing them into the present.
Source: Omaha World-Herald Sept. 11, 1927 pg 47
Photo Captions:
Announcement in the Sept. 11, 1927 edition of the Omaha World-Herald congratulating Ted Metcalfe and the Metcalfe Co. on the installation of the Electrolier Lighting System.
Historic lamp post located on Parker Street.
