Omaha Exploration

Omaha’s early growth was hindered by the large, steep hills just west of downtown along Farnam, Douglas, and Dodge Streets. The problem was so severe that it made it difficult for streetcars and later automobiles to reach the top of the hill at 24th Street. While Omaha had expanded both north and south in its early years, expanding west required solving this challenge.

Starting in the 1880s and continuing for nearly 40 years, city leaders embarked on a series of ambitious projects to do just that. Rather than cutting through the streets, they decided to lower them. The focus was primarily on three streets: Farnam, Dodge, and Douglas. Farnam Street was lowered 45 feet at 17th Street, and the dirt was used to raise the grade between 20th and 24th. Douglas Street was lowered from 16th to 20th, and Dodge Street from 17th to 22nd.

Construction crews worked day and night on the project, making it difficult for nearby residents to get any sleep. Those residents sued the contractors for keeping them awake and petitioned the judge to limit working hours. The judge ruled that work could not begin earlier than 6:45 a.m. and had to end by 9 p.m., but that restriction didn’t last long. Soon, two shifts were working from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. to complete the project as quickly as possible.

As you can imagine, a large number of homes and businesses were affected—some chose to close, while others relocated. Those that stood in the way of progress by refusing to sell had their buildings condemned and demolished. Of the buildings that remained, most were jacked up while the land beneath them was cut away and then lowered to the new street level.

Rather than lowering St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church at 19th and Dodge Streets, the church opted instead to expand by building downward nearly 20 feet to meet the new street level. Once completed, the original main floor became a balcony overlooking the new main floor. The original entrance, meanwhile, was converted into a fire escape. Across the street, El Beudor (later named the Hotel Logan) was significantly reconfigured, with its original entry filled in with windows and a new entrance created beneath it.

Central High School, one block west of the church, benefited from its hilltop location overlooking downtown and the Missouri River. When the grade was cut by five feet, the school chose to create a gradual slope down to the new street level.

When the grading was finally completed in 1920, the intersection of 20th and Dodge sat 36 feet lower than it had in 1880. It took another six months to complete the street paving and install sidewalks.

The project required a specialized railway, bridges, diggers, and mules—not to mention traffic officers and attorneys. Much of the 350,000 cubic yards of dirt that was removed was reused to fill ponds and an old creek bed along Dodge, Davenport, and Chicago Streets. This greatly improved the health of residents in what had once been called the “Diphtheria District.”

It remains one of the most complex projects the city has ever undertaken. The total cost to lower the streets exceeded $4 million, split between the city and private business owners. It’s estimated that the project ultimately saved the city more than ten times that amount by enabling expansion to the west.

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