The Ashton Building in Millwork Commons

February 26, 2024

North Downtown has long been neglected despite having what may be the best stock of historic warehouses remaining in the city. Starting with the Ashton Building, the area is beginning to see new life as Millwork Commons.

After its first bricks were laid in the 1880s, around the same time as Jobbers Canyon, the area in North Downtown became a bustling economic hub that served as the home to millworkers and furniture makers. One of those companies, Adams & Kelly Company, set up shop in a massive 190,000 sq ft building located on the corner of 12th and Nicholas Street. Founded in 1892, the company relocated from its original home at 1353 Sherman Avenue in 1902 to this building.

1908 photo from the Omaha Bee. It shows the two Adams & Kelly warehouses on the east and west with the building in the middle. This would become the Ashton Building.

The millwork company experienced rapid growth and after acquiring the surrounding lots, it constructed new buildings in 1906. The warehouse was on one end of the block while the factory was on the other end. By the time the third building was constructed which connected to the other two in 1910, the company employed 150 and was the largest manufacturing and jobbing firm in the sash and door business in the West.

1937 Durham Museum photo of a man working inside the Ashton Building. It was still operating as Adams & Kelly at this time.

Adams & Kelly provided a complete millwork service including economic modern stock designs, odd millwork and had a display room. Retailers entered the building to deliver raw materials and returned to pick up the finished products. As noted above, it was built in three separate parts with the warehouses on the east and west end first and then a building in the middle to connect them. The company advertised Bilt-Well Wood Work products starting in the 1950s before being purchased in 1961 by the O. W. Siebert Company of New York. Adams & Kelly manufacturing facilities shut down at some point afterwards and the building was used as a warehouse for a time.

February 2024 of the Ashton Building at the corner of 13th and Nicholas.

Ashton Wholesale Service, which was founded by John P. Ashton in 1950, originally operated out of 1750 Marcy Street until 1962, at which point they bought the building at 1218 Nicholas Street that had previously been occupied by Adams & Kelly for so long. Ashton provided building supplies including windows, doors, moldings, stair rails, prefabricated kitchen units and other interior trim to the lumber and building industry. The business remained owned by the Ashton family until 1994 when its shares were purchased by the firm’s 36 employees.

February 2024 photo of the Ashton Building looking towards the front from Millwork Park.

Surplus Sales of Nebraska moved its business from the Kimball Laundry building at 1502 Jones Street to the Ashton Building in 2003. The surplus electronics business dealt almost exclusively in obsolete and sometimes esoteric electronic parts. Within the large building were huge spools of coiled wire, capacitors, vacuum tubes, knobs and dials and other items that were sold online. The company remained there until at least 2011 before eventually relocating to Fort Calhoun.

February 2024 of the Ashton Building looking to the west from Millwork Ave.

In 2018, the Ashton Building found a new purpose as the anchor of Millwork Commons. The development is designed to breathe new life into the neighborhood by repurposing a number of large warehouses. These buildings in addition to new construction will add new jobs, business, and retail to an area that sits just north of Charles Schwab Field and the CHI Health Center.

February 2024 photos from inside the Ashton building. This shows the commons area, Sweet Magnolia Bake Shop, Archetype Coffee and some old equipment from the buildings former life.

Today the Ashton Building is home to a number of local businesses including Kros Strain Brewing, Archetype Coffee, Sweet Magnolias Bake Shop, Clean Slate Cafe, Coneflower Creamery, Dolomiti Pizza, Heirloom Fine Foods Market & Cafe and Hutch. The upper floors are home to office tenants including local startup Workshop, Habitat for Humanity, United Way of the Midlands and Google Fiber.

With the renovation completed in 2020, it serves as one of the more vibrant corners of the city.

Content written by Omaha Exploration – follow my page for more! Please also feel free to leave a comment. If there’s something you want to learn more about, let me know. In the meantime, keep exploring!