Omaha Exploration

The name Mercer has been synonymous with the Old Market since Sam Mercer helped transform it from a dying produce hub into a thriving entertainment district starting in the late 1960s. For this exploration, however, we travel back a century earlier to when Sam’s grandfather arrived in town.

Dr Samuel Mercer was raised on a farm in Illinois in 1842. By the time he arrived in Omaha in 1866, he had finished medical school and served as an assistant surgeon in the 149th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteers during the Civil War.

He would find great success in Omaha where he would become the chief surgeon for the Union Pacific Railroad and the president of the board of Army Pension Examiners. Two years after his arrival he formed a committee to correspond with physicians from across the state and organized what would become the Nebraska Medical Association. He was also employed as a surgeon for Omaha Smelting Works and a local surgeon for the Burlington and Missouri Railroad.

By 1868 he founded Omaha’s first hospital at 11th and Harney Streets and the Omaha Medical College which would become the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 1881. At the college he was both a professor of clinical surgery and president of the board of trustees.

He left medicine in 1886 to pursue his other interests which included real estate and business. It was during this time that he purchased property in the Old Market. That included homes for his pharmaceutical company, Mercer Chemical Company, at 1112 Howard Street and the Mercer Hotel at the corner of 12th and Howard. He also found time to form a realty company, Mercer Management.

He turned his sights toward turning farmland in the area of 40th and Cuming Streets to the Walnut Hill neighborhood starting in 1885. Named after his hometown, was successful in getting 75 families to quickly purchase property by running his streetcar lines from the Omaha Street Railway Company of which he was the founder to the neighborhood in order to provide easy access downtown.

He held onto 3 ½ acres of land for himself where he decided to build a new home for he and his family which included his wife Elizabeth Hulst, sons George and Nelson as and daughter Caroline. He hired prominent architect Sidney Smith to design the 23-room Queen Anne-style mansion that would serve as the crown jewel of the new suburb at 3920 Cuming Street. Set back from the street, it was built atop a large hill while also being surrounded by trees and shrubs. Its location offered great views of the developing neighborhood to the north, farmland to the west, and the growing city to the south and east.

The Mercer mansion offered every modern convenience including lighting provided by a private on-site gas plant in addition to cold storage in an underground ice house that held blocks of ice chopped from the nearby reservoir. Perhaps the most notable feature of the house itself was the three-story square tower that rose from above the southern entrance.

1963 Durham Museum photos looking at the second floor woodwork in the Mercer Mansion.

The interior featured wall panel

The first floor included a library, den, dining room, breakfast room, music room, drawing room, kitchen, servants hall and a large entrance hall. The second floor included nine bedrooms. In addition to a romantic cupola, the third floor had a billiards room, five sleeping rooms.

Samuel Mercer remained in the house until his death in 1907 at the age of 66 – Caroline had passed away a few months earlier. For the next dozen or so years, the house seems to have been occupied by various individuals. In 1920, however, it was subdivided into apartments. At that time, attempts to modernize it resulted in its losing some of its original features including its gingerbread trim and its porches. There was also an addition built onto the house. The end result was seven apartments each with its own fireplace. By 1942 the apartments were renting for $50 to $150 per month.

Photo inside Mercer Mansion courtesy of Mark Volenec on Facebook.

His son, Nelson Mercer, had been living overseas in London but made frequent trips to his hometown to check on his family’s property. He returned for good in 1942 at which point he and his wife Anna Mulholland lived in and managed the Mercer Apartments. He remained there until his own death in 1963. His wife returned to England following his death.

Dr. Mercer’s grandson and Nelson’s son also named Sam was now in 40’s and became the heir to the Mercer family’s extensive real estate holdings which included the buildings in the Old Market and the mansion-turned-apartments. Sam was born in London and while he never lived in Omaha permanently, he had dedicated himself to preserving the old warehouses. That led to his real estate company, Mercer Management, purchasing many of the structures to prevent them from being demolished.

By the early 1970s he had considered selling the apartment complex which had become a financial liability. He even offered to donate to the Douglas County Historical Society and the Med Center both of which declined due to the cost in renovating the building. At one point there was a proposal to demolish it and build a Safeway on the property. With no takers, the family continued to hold onto the property and succeeded in getting it listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Like the Old Market buildings which are managed by Sam’s son, Mark, the mansion turned apartment complex remains in the family with the assessor showing it being owned by nephew, Nicholas Bonham-Carter.

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!

Omaha Exploration is sponsored by @Rockbrook Mortgage Inc.

Click here to learn about opportunities to sponsor Omaha Exploration!

More pictures

Contact me to learn more about M4K!