Omaha Exploration

Raised on a farm in Illinois, Dr. Samuel Mercer moved to Omaha in 1866 after completing medical school and serving in the Civil War. He worked as the chief surgeon for the Union Pacific Railroad and a surgeon for Omaha Smelting Works and the Burlington and Missouri Railroad.

Dr. Mercer left medicine in 1886 to pursue other interests, including real estate and business. During this time, he purchased property in the old produce hub (Old Market), including buildings for his pharmaceutical company, Mercer Chemical Company, at 1112 Howard Street, and the Mercer Hotel at the corner of 12th and Howard. He also formed a real estate firm known as Mercer Management.

Beginning in 1885, he turned his attention to developing farmland near 40th and Cuming Streets into what would become the Walnut Hill neighborhood. Named after his hometown, the development was successful in attracting 75 families in short order. Much of that success came from Mercer running streetcar lines from the Omaha Street Railway Company—of which he was the founder—directly to the neighborhood, providing easy access downtown.

He retained 3½ acres of land for himself, where he decided to build a new home for himself and his family, including his wife, Elizabeth Hulst; sons George and Nelson; and daughter Caroline. He hired prominent architect Sidney Smith to design a 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 road, the home was built atop a large hill and surrounded by trees and shrubs. Its location offered sweeping views of the developing neighborhood to the north, farmland to the west, and the growing city to the south and east.

The Mercer mansion featured every modern convenience, including lighting provided by a private on-site gas plant and cold storage in an underground icehouses that held blocks of ice cut from a nearby reservoir. Perhaps the most notable architectural feature was the three-story square tower rising above the southern entrance.

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 contained nine bedrooms. In addition to a cupola, the third floor featured a billiards room and five sleeping rooms.

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

Dr. Mercer remained in the house until his death in 1907 at the age of 66. His daughter Caroline had passed away just a few months earlier. For the next dozen or so years, the house appears to have been occupied by various individuals. In 1920, however, it was subdivided into apartments. Attempts to modernize the building resulted in the loss of several original features, including its gingerbread trim and porches, and an addition was constructed. The final configuration included seven apartments, each with its own fireplace. By 1942, rents ranged from $50 to $150 per month.

His son, Nelson, had been living in London but made frequent trips back to Omaha to oversee the family’s properties. He returned permanently in 1942, at which point he and his wife, Anna Mulholland, lived in and managed the Mercer Apartments. He remained there until his death in 1963. Following his passing, his wife returned to England.

Photo inside Mercer Mansion courtesy of Mark Volenec on Facebook.

Dr. Mercer’s grandson—and Nelson’s son—also named Sam, was now in his 40s and became the heir to the Mercer family’s extensive real estate holdings, which included both the Old Market buildings and the mansion-turned-apartments. Born in London, Sam never lived in Omaha permanently, but he dedicated himself to preserving the city’s historic warehouse district. Through his real estate company, Mercer Management, he purchased many structures to prevent their demolition.

By the early 1970s, Sam had considered selling the apartment complex, which had become a financial liability. He even offered to donate it to both the Douglas County Historical Society and the Medical Center, but each declined due to the high cost of renovation. At one point, there was even a proposal to demolish the building and construct a Safeway on the site. With no viable alternatives, the family retained ownership and successfully secured placement on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Like the Old Market buildings managed by Sam’s son Mark, the mansion—now an apartment complex—remains in the family, with the assessor listing it as owned by his nephew, Nicholas Bonham-Carter.

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