Published November 20, 2025 | Updated June 5, 2026

Surrounded by the developing Edge District, the ever-growing University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), and the expanded Child Saving Institute stands a turn-of-the-century building notable for its elaborate façade of patterned terracotta and brick.

This building, which features some of the best terra cotta ornamentation around, was built by and for John H. Harte. The son of Friedrich Harte of Germany and Johanna Roesink of the Netherlands, the two married in 1853 and gave birth to John while living in Kentucky in 1854. In 1865, Fred made plans to relocate the family to Omaha before passing away months later at the age of 44. Despite that, Johanna and their five children, John, William, Henry, August, and Amelia, followed through with his plans and settled in the frontier town.

By the time he was 12 years old, John worked on a farm in Douglas County to make a living. By 17, he found work as a carpenter, after which he took a job constructing the Sarpy mill under Thomas Wright. Once completed, he remained there for three years as he learned the miller’s trade. In 1883, he married Margaret Drexel Harte, and they started a family that included Frederick, Louis, Edwin, Lucy, John, Herman, and William.

He went on to become the head miller and remained in that position for seven years. For the rest of his career, he worked as a contractor, becoming one of the most successful in the city. During that time, he built some of Omaha’s best buildings, including the Omaha Public Library, J.L. Brandeis & Sons, Walnut Hill Pumping Station, and Central High School, not to mention the renovation of King Fong (then Cafe Beautiful) to add a Spanish Renaissance style with Flemish Gothic moldings to the facade.

In 1900, John purchased a lot that extended from Farnam Street on the south to Douglas Street on the north and from the Omaha Belt Line on the east to 46th Street on the west. On the property, he constructed a building commonly referred to as the Rathskeller Building at 4524 Farnam Street, as well as a second brick structure and several sheds. According to my research, he used it for the Omaha Litholite Stone Company, which he helped found the same year. The company crushed stone and mixed it with cement so that it could be molded into any shape. The business was later renamed the Cement Machinery and Supply Company.

The assessor shows the Rathskeller Building was constructed in 1900, which aligns with the date that Harte bought the property on which it sits. The newspaper archives show the building was expanded that same year, suggesting it was built even earlier. The address shows up as far back as 1891, when it operated as the Barnett & Wessel Meat Market. I suspect he originally constructed the building and leased it out until buying the surrounding property for his new business. It’s likely the original structure was rectangular, but the eastern side was later added to abut the belt line tracks. Its early neighbors, Omaha Steel Works and Updike Lumber, also strategically located themselves along the tracks.

The property remained in the hands of the Harte family even after John passed away in 1924 at 69. His son and business partner, Louis, continued the business while auctioning his father’s concrete mixer, electric hoist, tools, remaining lumber, brick, and even a Ford truck. By this time, Louis likely used the building as an office and the surrounding property as a storage yard. At some point, he even converted the 2,000-square-foot second floor into his personal residence. A fire in 1936, caused by sparks from a passing train on the nearby tracks, destroyed lumber, machinery, and two sheds on the property. Fortunately, this building remained standing.

After Louis passed away in 1944, the building was used by Clarence Harmon, who continued to operate Al Harmon & Son, the soda fountain and malt machinery business founded by his father. Clarence continued to live upstairs while the ground floor began its long run as a bar in the 1960s, starting with 3J’s, which lasted through the late 1970s. Once it closed, Dr. Bill Orr purchased the building with the intent of razing it to create parking for his nearby office. Upon discovering that it still had an active liquor license, he instead opened Recovery Room, a bar dedicated to the doctors and nurses who worked at the nearby hospital. Three Cheers followed, during which time Cutchall Management purchased the building and moved its headquarters into the former living space on the second floor, adding volleyball courts in the back. Next came The Exchange, a stock market-themed bar that operated for three years until a fire in 2000 caused extensive damage to the second floor and roof, resulting in its closure.

Its life as a bar was paused starting in 2001 with the opening of the beloved coffee shop Caffeine Dreams Roasting Company by Amber and Eric Goodenough. Popular among college and medical students and professionals, it was one of the few places in town that roast its own beans. The vegan-friendly shop also doubled as an art gallery, allowing local artists to display their work. During this time, the volleyball courts were replaced with a landscaped patio that The Gateway referred to as having a “Garden of Eden” setting.

After Caffeine Dreams closed in 2018, Rathskeller Bier Haus opened in its place. It featured a German-style biergarten with long wooden tables, German beer signs, a boar’s head, and a replica section of the Berlin Wall covered in graffiti. When Rathskeller closed in 2023, there were fears that the building would be razed as UNMC looked to expand its campus to the west of Saddle Creek.

Preservationists, including Preserve Omaha, mobilized to save the building that was featured in the 1977 landmark book Omaha City Architecture for its Sullivanesque style, an architectural approach inspired by Chicago architect Louis Sullivan. UNMC, which acquired the building in 2021, announced that it had no plans to demolish it and emphasized that it would be preserved and integrated into the design for the Edge District. That announcement, combined with the completion of the construction work that surrounded the building, led to the reopening of Rathskeller under new ownership earlier this year.

John Harte is not someone who is short of a legacy within his adopted home. Many of his most prominent structures still stand, including his namesake Harte Block in the heart of Dundee. Another, of course, flies under the radar, perhaps because it sits between two of the city’s most prominent neighborhoods: Dundee and Blackstone. That impressive terra cotta display, however, speaks for itself.

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Article Featured on Grow Omaha: Local History by Omaha Exploration | Grow Omaha

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More pictures

• Omaha World-Herald archives
• Omaha Bee archives
• Omaha: The Gate City, and Douglas County, Nebraska, Volume 2
• https://www.unothegateway.com/archives/caffeine-dreams-offers-variety-service-unmatched-by-competition/article_3710248d-e184-5788-838f-190f69476a39.html
• Friedrich Harte (1821-1865) – Find a Grave Memorial
• Johanna Roesink Harte (1835-1911) – Find a Grave Memorial
• John Henry Harte Sr. (1854-1924) – Find a Grave Memorial
• Louis Henry Harte (1885-1944) – Find a Grave Memorial
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