Published January 3, 2024 | Updated July 19, 2026

While Peony Park wasn’t the largest amusement park around, it was ours. Until it wasn’t. Its absence remains a sore spot in the minds of many to this day. Here’s its story.

The story of Peony Park starts with John Larson, who immigrated from Sweden at 14. He settled in Chicago for a time before making his way to Nebraska. By that time, he had changed his name to Rosenfield. A farmer by trade, he grew peonies on his acreage at West Point for more than 25 years before relocating to Omaha to be closer to the markets where he sold his flowers.

By 1909, John bought a farm from Claus Sievers and built a house at 8301 Davenport Street. It was on that farm that he planted a 25-acre peony garden. Located along the Lincoln Highway, his garden became a tourist attraction when the flowers bloomed each spring. He became known as the “Peony King,” and his claim to fame was developing the Karl Rosenfield Peony along with another two dozen varieties. At one point he had 250,000 peonies representing 700 different varieties.

John relocated to Indianapolis after selling his peony garden to Richard Caplis in 1917 at a profit of $1,100 per acre. Unfortunately for Richard, three consecutive harsh winters in the mid-1920s caused significant damage to the flowers. The Omaha World-Herald had referred to the peony farm as one of the most unique places in the United States. The garden was sold again in 1936.

Just north of the peony garden, Czech immigrant Joseph Malec bought a 10-acre cornfield from George McArdle near 78th and Cass Street. Joseph aspired to be a florist and intended to build a greenhouse on the property as well as a floral shop downtown. Instead, he built a filling station and ice cream parlor with his brothers Jerry and Godfrey in 1919.

The location of the Malec brothers’ businesses allowed them to capitalize on the popularity of the peony garden, which continued to draw visitors from all over. This allowed them to convert the ice cream parlor into a full-scale restaurant. To attract even more business, the Malecs built a dance hall in 1921. The property also featured a pavilion next to a pond where they offered canoe rentals. When a fire destroyed the pavilion in 1925, they replaced it with the larger Royal Terrace Ballroom. The ballroom had living quarters upstairs, allowing them to keep a watchful eye on the property at all hours.

They continued to add attractions, including a massive outdoor swimming pool and beach in place of the pond in 1926. The pool was built on top of an underground lake supplied by seven artesian wells and was even utilized by the Olympic swim team in 1930. They also built a large bathhouse that accommodated up to 5,000 people per day.

While a popular regional attraction in its own right, it didn’t hurt that the brothers added hidden compartments below the dining room tables that allowed guests to hide their whiskey bottles during Prohibition. This allowed the Malecs to quickly and easily mix it with bottles of 7-Up. 18 months before ban came to an end, the brothers constructed an even larger beer garden. Suspiciously, it burned to the ground the next morning.

The park, which they called “Omaha’s Family Country Club,” included athletic fields, a playground, picnic grounds, and the Royal Grove, which was large enough for 3,000 people to dance under the stars.

The Big Band era brought several notable musicians to the park. Attendees got to experience the talents of some of the world’s best, including Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway, both of whom performed there along with Louis Armstrong and Lawrence Welk, who lived nearby at 8009 Miami Street where he raised chickens.

The park remained a popular destination for soldiers returning home from World War II. During this time, it introduced popular events including Coca-Cola Date Nights and the televised Seven Swings.

Omaha didn’t get its amusement park until 1958 when the Malecs finally added rides. The children’s area, referred to as Wonderland, included the “Around the World in 18 Holes” miniature golf course and other favorites including a helicopter ride, merry-go-round, Ferris wheel, and a miniature roller coaster. Adult rides were added a few years later in 1964. Some of them included the beloved Galaxy roller coaster as well as the Skyrail, offering panoramic views of the park below. Other rides included the Scrambler, Paratrooper, Trabant, and Skydiver.

While the developing amusement park was a big hit, not everyone was welcome in its pool. It remained segregated even though African Americans had access to the rest of the park in the 1950s. That didn’t change until 1963, when several days of peaceful protest began after members of the NAACP Youth Council were denied entrance. The park went private for a time in response but ultimately relented.

As further proof of its importance, Peony Park hosted prominent politicians including future President Jimmy Carter in 1975 and former President Gerald Ford in 1978. Carter defeated the Omaha-born incumbent in the 1976 election. The park was handed down to a new generation following the death of Joe Malec Sr. His sons Charles and Joe Jr. ensured the park ran smoothly. It was during this time that it introduced the popular teen attraction Sprite Nights.

Despite increasing competition from newer and larger amusement parks like Adventureland, Worlds of Fun, and Oceans of Fun, Peony Park continued to add new rides while attracting big-time musical acts. Among them were Metallica, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins, and Pearl Jam. While entertaining from within the park, the music led to complaints of excessive noise from those living nearby.

Things began to unravel by the late 1980s as Peony Park’s debts mounted, its attendance fell, and property taxes increased. It wasn’t generating enough revenue to remain in business and, as a result, its owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991. Despite attempts to save it, the park’s rides were auctioned off to buyers across the country. At that point, there was little left to salvage and the land was sold to developers in 1994.

Travel to the area of 78th and Cass Street today and you’d be hard pressed to find any traces of the amusement park whose name was inspired by John Rosenfield’s famous peony gardens. In its place you’ll find supermarkets, strip malls, restaurants, retail stores, houses, apartments, and offices.

If you look closely, however, you will find remnants of the beloved amusement park: Big Red Keno, which started as Peony Park’s Plaza Theater; Lawrence Welk’s residence near 81st and Miami Street; and John Rosenfield’s old farmhouse near 80th and Davenport Street. As for the rest of the park, it lives on in memory only.

Special thanks to Jody Lovallo whose research on John Rosenfield in Omaha History Club in 2019 proved extremely useful.

Please feel free to comment to share your thoughts and memories.

Until next time, keep exploring!

Bonus pics

Sources

• Omaha World-Herald archives
• https://www.allaboutomaha.com/Omaha/LawrenceWelk.php
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46005684/john-f_-rosenfield
• https://www.nebraskalife.com/printpage/post/index/id/132#:~:text=It%20was%20an%20endless%20peony,bellies%20of%20hundreds%20of%20motorists.
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peony_Park
• https://theclio.com/entry/58177
• https://douglascohistory.org/9644-2/