History · Omaha

Omaha has 186 places on the National Register, 3 of them National Historic Landmarks

More historic than 76% of U.S. towns · #13 of 57 in Nebraska. What drives it

Dated to 1854 (Wikidata), with 18% of its homes built before 1940 and 29 historic districts holding 4,555 contributing buildings. Below: 24 old photos and papers, maps from 1956 on, the census since 1860, and every listing on the Register.

1854founded

186on the National Register

18%homes built before 1940

24old photos & papers

37famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Omaha’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Omaha began

When was Omaha founded?

1854

Omaha dates its founding to 1854 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 1,883 in 18602020 census: 486,051172 years

How historic is Omaha?

A⁻

More historic than 76% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1854.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Omaha’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Omaha is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #13 of 57 in Nebraska. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A⁻

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Omaha’s overall grade.

Founding era1854, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 194017.8% of homes (±0.6) · typical NE town 17.8% · U.S. 8.4%B⁺National Register186 listings, 4,555 historic buildings, 93.2 per 10,000 residents · typical NE town 16.3 · U.S. 2.4A

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 76%

NewerOlder

Nebraska towns of 2,500+ (57)Ahead of 79%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Omaha ranks #143 on History.

Nebraska towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Nebraska town has 16.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Omaha’s 93.2 sits above most of its state (86% of Nebraska towns have fewer) while its 4,555 historic buildings outnumber those of 100% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1854.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Omaha’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A National Historic Landmark186 places on the National Register, 3 of them National Historic Landmarks.A historic districtThe Dundee-Happy Hollow Historic District takes in 2,100 historic buildings.Lost villages12 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Omaha, and 16 old place names are still on the map.A town in old photos24 old photos, postcards and papers, 1830–1869.

★ What stands out · On the National Register

186 listings protect 4,555 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 3 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed

186

National Historic Landmarks

USS HAZARD (AM-240) National Historic Landmark

historic buildings protected

4,555

each building in a district counts

first listed

1969

Gen. George Crook House

BuildingsDistrictsSitesStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Commercial12

Late Victorian11

Georgian Revival9

Second Renaissance Revival9

Richardsonian Romanesque9

Prairie School9

★ Landmark

USS HAZARD (AM-240) National Historic LandmarkMinesweeper

★ Landmark

Father Flanagan's Boys' HomeGeorgian Revival

Gen. George Crook HouseItalianate

Bank of FlorenceGreek Revival Commercial · Built 1856

Union Passenger TerminalUtilitarian · Built 1931

George A. Joslyn MansionVictorian

Omaha National Bank BuildingItalianate · Built 1856

City National Bank Building and Creighton Orpheum TheaterThree-part Vertical Block

All 189 listings

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Omaha’s post office has been open since 1871. 12 other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Omaha City

1854–1871

Winter Quarters

1854–1855

Florence

1855–1918

Elkhorn City

1857–1884

Saratoga

1857–1859

Omaha

1871–today

Douglas

1872–1884

Millard

1873–1967

Elkhorn

1884–today

South Omaha

1884–1912

18501940today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Aksarben Mobile Home ParkBeechwoodCaradon Mobile Home ParkConiglias Mobile Home ParkDeboltEast OmahaElkhornGarden Valley CourtsHome ParkLaneMaplewood EstatesMillardMillard Mobile Home ParkPonderosa Village Mobile Home ParkSkylineSouth Omaha

Gone or out of use

Cabannes Trading PostlocaleDebolt PlacelocaleDebolt Post Officepost officeDeerfield Post Officepost officeFlorence MillbuildingHorace Mann SchoolschoolMillard Post Officepost officeMillard SchoolschoolTechnical High SchoolschoolWillowood Airportairport

23cemeteries and burying grounds inside Omaha

Beth ElBohemianCalvaryEvergreen Memorial ParkFlower HillForest Lawn Memorial ParkGolden HillGraceland ParkHoly SepulchreLaurel HillMormon PioneerMount AuburnMount CalvaryMount HopeMount SinaiPleasant HillProspect HillProspect HillSaint MarySaint Mary MagdaleneSpringwell DanishTemple IsraelWestlawn - Hillcrest Memorial Park

See all 23

Beth El Cemetery · Bohemian Cemetery · Calvary Cemetery · Evergreen Memorial Park Cemetery · Flower Hill Cemetery · Forest Lawn Memorial Park · Golden Hill Cemetery · Graceland Park Cemetery · Holy Sepulchre Cemetery · Laurel Hill Cemetery · Mormon Pioneer Cemetery · Mount Auburn Cemetery · Mount Calvary Cemetery · Mount Hope Cemetery · Mount Sinai Cemetery · Pleasant Hill Cemetery · Prospect Hill Cemetery · Prospect Hill Cemetery · Saint Mary Cemetery · Saint Mary Magdalene Cemetery · Springwell Danish Cemetery · Temple Israel Cemetery · Westlawn - Hillcrest Memorial Park

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Omaha came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Omaha.

Read it all →

Various Native American tribes had lived in the land that became Omaha since the 17th century, including the Omaha and Ponca, Dhegihan-Siouan language people who had originated in the lower Ohio River valley and migrated west by the early 17th century; Pawnee, Otoe, Missouria, and Iowa. The word Omaha (Omaha–Ponca: Umoⁿhoⁿ or Umaⁿhaⁿ) in the Omaha language means 'Upstream People' or 'Against the Current'.

ChaptersPioneer Omaha 19th century 20th century 21st century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Omaha in 1888

Passages that mention Omaha, cut from the printed page as they were published.

and bej-ond into the rich Jim Ri\'cr Valley, is designed as an extension of Jay Gould's Missouri Pacific system, which now has a terminus in Omaha Tim Chicayo, Milwaukee and St. Paul has a line surveyed westward from Omaha, and intends to bridge the Missouri at this point, and thus extend its line … — **Omaha illustrated**1888Read the page →
Read the text
and bej-ond into the rich Jim Ri\'cr Valley, is designed as an extension of Jay Gould's Missouri Pacific system, which now has a terminus in Omaha Tim Chicayo, Milwaukee and St. Paul has a line surveyed westward from Omaha, and intends to bridge the Missouri at this point, and thus extend its line at present terminating here. The business men of the city are also
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

**Omaha illustrated**1888Read the page →
Read the text
of the bridge, but the location where the bridge now stands was finally agreed upon. Omaha voted $250,000 in bonds in consideration that it should have the main transfer depots, general offices, ma-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Omaha, 1830 to 1931

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1830In the archiveBank Note, 1830–60s
1850In the archiveWinter Quarters by C.C.A. Christensen
1854
FoundingOmaha is established
1854Post officeThe Omaha City post office opens
1854Post officeThe Winter Quarters post office opens
1855Post officeThe Winter Quarters post office closes
1855Post officeThe Florence post office opens
1856BuiltBank of Florence is built
1856BuiltOmaha National Bank Building is built
1862In the archiveFarnham Street, Omaha, Nebraska, looking East from near Court House, between 1862 and 1868
1871Post officeThe Omaha City post office closes
1899Born hereFred Astaire is born here
20th century
1918Post officeThe Florence post office closes
1923BuiltAquila Court Building is built
1924Born hereMarlon Brando is born here
1925Born hereMalcolm X is born here
1930Born hereWarren Buffett is born here
1931BuiltUnion Passenger Terminal is built

By decade

Omaha, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1830s to the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1830s–1860s24 items

1830Bank Note, 1830–60sDocument

1850Winter Quarters by C.C.A. Christensen

USA, Nebraska Territory, $1 City of Omaha 1857 Banknote II, obverse

1857USA, Nebraska Territory, $1 City of Omaha 1857 Bankno…

Farnham Street, Omaha, Nebraska, looking East from near Court House, between 1862 and 1868

1862Farnham Street, Omaha, Nebraska, looking East from ne…

Birds eye view of Omaha, Nebraska.Alternate Title: Views of Omaha - Scenery of the Union pacific Railroad

1865–1870Birds eye view of Omaha, Nebraska.Alternate Title: Vi…

Central Block, Farnham St.Alternate Title: Views of Omaha, no. 16

1865–1870Central Block, Farnham St.Alternate Title: Views of O…

1865–1870Coggins House, Omaha.Alternate Title: Views of Omaha

c. 1865Grand Central Hotel, Omaha

1865Letter from D.W. Middleton to Curtis and Scribner, EsqDocument

c. 1865Omaha, towards Capitol Hill

c. 1865Parlor at Grand Central Hotel

c. 1865The Post Office building, Omaha, Nebraska

1867Omaha, Nebraska 1867 looking north from Forest Hill

c. 1867State Depository

c. 1867View of Omaha Bridge

c. 1869Birds eye view of Omaha, Nebraska

On the map

Omaha on the map, 1956 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Omaha. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1956Omaha North sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Omaha.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewWinter Quarters by C.C.A. Christensen, 1850

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Omaha’s page.

Retake this view · +15

People over time

Omaha, census by census

Grew from 1,883 people in 1860 to 486,051 in 2020, more than tenfold.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Omaha’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

37 famous people were born in Omaha

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Marlon BrandoAmerican actor · b. 1924

Warren BuffettAmerican investor, entrepreneur and businessman · b. 1930

Malcolm XAmerican Black rights activist · b. 1925

Fred AstaireAmerican dancer, choreographer, actor, and sing… · b. 1899

Nick NolteAmerican actor · b. 1941

Andy RoddickAmerican tennis player · b. 1982

Help out

Finish Omaha’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewWinter Quarters by C.C.A. Christensen: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

RalstonIts storyD Bellevue6 historic placesB⁻

Questions about Omaha’s history

What year was Omaha founded?

In 1854, according to Wikidata. Omaha’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1860 counted 1,883 people here.

How does Omaha rank for history?

Omaha is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #13 of 57 in Nebraska. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Omaha?

186 listings, 3 of them National Historic Landmarks: 152 buildings, among them the Gen. George Crook House (listed 1969, the first), 30 historic districts with 4,043 contributing buildings, 3 sites, and 3 structures. 4,555 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Omaha?

18% of Omaha’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 18% for a Nebraska town; the median home was built in 1973.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (24), the National Register of Historic Places (189), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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