Minne Lusa

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The Minne Lusa neighborhood is located in North Omaha, Nebraska between Vane Street and Read Street on the north and Redick Avenue on the south; North 24th Street on the east and North 30th Street on the west.^[1] Platted in 1916, today it is located just north of the Miller Park neighborhood, and just south of Florence.

[edit] History

According to the Omaha Public Library, "Minne Lusa" comes from a Native American word of unknown origins that means "clear water".^[2] Local lore suggests that the name Minne Lusa is also thought to be the result of the local native americans trying to pronounce the name of Manuel Lisa, a fur trader who was the first U.S. settler in Nebraska. The Minne Lusa Pumping Station was built at the Florence Water Works north of the area in 1899.^[3] Presumably the neighborhood, established 17 years later, took its name from that.

The Minne Lusa neighborhood was first platted by Charles Martin in 1916, and by 1923 was a completed development.^[4] Southeast of the newly-annexed community of Florence, Minne Lusa was touted as the "largest addition ever platted in Omaha." It included 800 lots on 33 blocks. Lot prices ranged from $450 to $1,000. Minne Lusa Boulevard bisected the subdivision and meandered north from Miller Park. Most homes reflected craftsman bungalow and period revival architectural styles. In general, larger homes were constructed on lots fronting Minne Lusa Boulevard while more modest homes were constructed along cross streets.^[5]

The original Minne Lusa School was opened as Fort School in 1916. It was moved and rebuilt, opening in 1924 in its current location. The school was updated in 1955, and completed another renovation in 1997.^[6] Every original home in the neighborhood was built with a garage, and the first steel-frame house in the neighborhood was built by Henry Neef.^[7] The area was home to the Minne Lusa Theater, a one-screen neighborhood movie house that opened in the mid 1930s along North 30th Street. It seated 400. The theater closed sometime in the mid 50s.^[8]

A local landmark called the Viking Ship is, according to a local neighborhood group, "a building of distinctive architecture at the corner of Minne Lusa Boulevard and Redick Avenue... [it has] been known at different times as the Prettiest Mile Club, Hayden House, and the Birchwood Club."^[9] It is said to be the oldest building in the neighborhood.^[10] The Hayden House eventually took turns moving from the Viking Ship to Eppley Airfield^[11], and was to the Union Station in downtown Omaha. Today it is a fully-restored art deco icon that sits in the Durham Western Heritage Museum^[12].

Current Nebraska State Senator Lowen Kruse is a former president and current member of the Miller Park-Minne Lusa Neighborhood Association.^[13]

[edit] Minne Lusa Water Works

The Metropolitan Utilities District operates a huge system at the Florence Water Works to filter Missouri River water. The Minne Lusa Pumping Station, demolished by the city in the 1960s, was a massive building of Warrensburg sandstone with a central tower rising four stories over an arched entrance. Designed by Omaha architects, it was built in 1889 in a classical style reflecting the influence of the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition. This building contained the high service pump and boilers, and sent the filtered water to city water mains for the entire city of Omaha^[14][15]

[edit] See also

• History of Omaha

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Historic photo of the Minne Lusa Pumping Station.
• Historical postcards of the Minne Lusa Pumping Station.
• Another historic photo
• Miller Park Neighborhood Association website.