Omaha Exploration

South Omaha’s Spring Lake Park was formed by men associated with the stockyards, referred to as the syndicate.

Sometimes referred to as Syndicate Park, it was only created after the syndicate attempted to build a dam around a natural spring that would provide both its residents and animals with a good source of water. When the dam caused a large lake to form, they opened the park in 1884.

The green space offered by a park would help make the quickly growing city of South Omaha a more attractive place to prospective residents. They set aside 108 acres of land for the formation of Spring Lake, named, of course, for the newly spring-fed lake. Originally the syndicate had grand visions of making it their own version of New York’s Central Park but scaled back their plans once they received the cost estimate.

A favorite spot of parkgoers was located 40 feet above the lake, which was redesigned and divided into two separate dams that formed a succession of cascades. Over time, arbors, bridges, boathouses, and carriage drives were added to the park. The owners even hired two police officers to patrol the grounds and ensure that picnickers had the required permit. In 1888, the Omaha Bee wrote that this new park was superior to Omaha’s Hanscom Park.

While it was designed as a private park for employees of the stockyards, nearby residents were allowed in as long as they received the proper permit. When the company built a seven-foot fence around the park to prevent public use, it angered nearby residents who did not work for the stockyards. They eventually relented and reopened the park to the public in 1897, but only on Sundays.

The fence was removed after the park was purchased by the City of South Omaha in 1907. By 1914, a 40’x100′ swimming pool was installed in the park. While nearly two-thirds of the original parkland was sold for development, 36 acres were retained as a public park.

Omaha began looking for places to build a park of its own south of downtown as the area became more populated. It originally wanted to build one in this area but since this land sat within the city limits of South Omaha, they instead chose a spot overlooking the Missouri River and called it Riverview Park, which would later evolve into Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo.

After Omaha annexed South Omaha in 1915, they acquired Spring Lake Park and connected Hoctor Boulevard to the other parks via the boulevard system conceived by Horace W.S. Cleveland. By this point, the lake was no longer needed as a source of water as the city had extended water mains to the area. Even so, it remained a popular place to picnic, fish, boat, and swim. A new park pavilion and dance floor were installed in 1929.

By the 1930s, the lakes closed due to concerns over the polio epidemic. The swimming pool was closed in 1934, and some of the land was converted into a nine-hole golf course in 1935. Afterward, the park began to suffer from neglect. While there were plans to renovate it in 1939, they were never fully implemented due to the start of World War II. More remote areas of the park were used to dump trash, and in the 1960s, after the city acquired the area from the ravine to the south, they converted it into a dump. By this time, Interstate 80 was being constructed to the north and cut the park off from the rest of the boulevard system.

After the city closed the landfill, illegal dumping continued even as the park was expanded to its present size. There were plans to improve the park again in the 1990s by restoring at least one of the original ponds and creating a nature center, but those efforts stalled due to a lack of funding. The old pavilion that was installed in 1929 was destroyed by a fire in 1998. It was rebuilt as a community space and clubhouse for the golf course.

That same year, the Spring Lake Park Team was formed to maintain the park, discourage illegal dumping, and ensure it remained a refuge for wildlife. The park has seen a number of improvements in recent years to once again make it an attractive place for not only wildlife but for recreation as well. The lake was reestablished in 2016 as part of the city’s sewer separation project. The park also includes walking trails, a playground, a swimming pool, ball fields, a tennis court, picnic shelters, and the golf course.

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Sources

• Omaha World-Herald archives
• https://nlcblogs.nebraska.gov/nlcblog/2022/03/24/throwback-thursday-syndicate-park-south-omaha-neb/
• http://memories.ne.gov/cdm/ref/collection/opl/id/461
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Lake_(Omaha,_Nebraska)#:~:text=Early%20on%20the%20site%20that,city%20in%20its%20own%20right.
• https://www.kios.org/show/profiles/2023-08-23/omahas-parks-spring-lake-park
• https://www.ketv.com/article/lake-returns-to-spring-lake-park/10268936