USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > History of the city of Omaha, Nebraska > Part 68
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Through the banking houses of Drexel & Company and Jolm Lowber Welsh, of Phila- delphia, the company has negotiated a loan of five million dollars. This money will be expended as needed in carrying out the pur- poses of the company.
Contracts have recently been let for the bridge, which is to be a doubled track steel structure with sufficient capacity for rail- roads, street cars, vehicles and foot passen- gers. It will be a low bridge, and therefore must be furnished with a draw. This draw is one of the longest, if not the longest in the world. It will be 520 feet long. But few
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAHA.
boats of any kind now navigate the Missouri River, therefore it will not be necessary to frequently open the draw, but as a boat may appear and demand passage at any time, the company must always be prepared to open the draw on short notice. To accomplish this at a mininum expense and a maximum speed, an electric motor has been devised, which will always be ready to begin opera- tions at a moment's notice, yet which, when not in operation, will not consume power and fuel. One span of the bridge will be 560 feet long. This is the longest fixed span in the world. Besides these unique charac- teristics, it is said that this bridge will be the heaviest, the largest, and the most ex- pensive bridge across the Missouri River. Four contractors are now actively at work in the construction of this bridge About two hundred men are employed by these contractors, pushing the work on both sides of the river as rapidly as possible. The false work, or temporary structure, is nearly completed, and a large force of men is en- gaged in sinking the heavy caisson for the pivot pier of the draw. A contract has been let, and the work is now in progress, for constructing a dyke on the Nebraska side from the bridge site 2,500 feet up the river, in order to permanently keep the channel under the draw. The character of all the work is of the most solid and enduring kind, indicating that the company is building for the future as well as the present.
Terminal lines of railroads will extend on both sides of the river, from either approach of the bridge, to connect with all the rail- roads now terminating in the cities of Omaha and Council Bluffs, and also to furnish con- nection and passage through the cities for any railroad which in the future may build to them. The Union Land and Improve- ment Company recently secured from the city council of Council Bluffs a franchise for a railroad right of way over the levee and certain streets and alleys in that city. Under
this franchise a railroad has been laid from the bridge site, connecting with all the rail- roads now entering Council Bluffs. This franchise and railroad has been purchased by the bridge company, and will give them excellent terminal facilities in that city. On the west or Omaha side of the river, there will be two distinct lines of road. One for freight and the other for passengers.
The freight line will run along the surface of the ground and into a union freight depot to be located in the vicinity of Thirteenth and Nicholas Streets, Omaha. About this depot site the company has secured some one hundred acres of land. This territory will afford ample room for tracks, yards and storage, also for the erection of private freight depots for any railroad companies which, though using the lines of the termi- nal company, may desire to have separate freight depots. The terminal grounds ac- quired by the company comprise a tract north of Nicholas street, in the city, extend- ing along the west side of Eleventh Street to a point north of Grace Street. From this point the tract extends forty rods on each side of Eleventh Street, north to Locust. In all, 99,24 acres of land have been deeded to Messrs. Anthony J. Drexel and Edward T. Stotesbury, for the terminal company. The sale of this tract of land constitutes the largest single transfer of real estate in the history of the city. the aggre- gate price paid being $674,100, as follows: The Byron Reed estate, $310,000; Sylvester Cunningham and William Thompson, $162,- 500; Chas. 11. Brown and John J. O'Con- nor, $48,000; Benj. S. Allison, $60,000; John 1. Horbach, $88,400; Clarence S. Joy, $2,500; Lewis S. Wallace and Fred B. Bol- lard, 82,700. For a number of weeks prior to the commencement of 1893, the Potter & George Company, of Omaha, had the nego- tiations for the transfer of these lands in charge, and by the successful termination of the negotiations, have placed upon the public
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EAST OMAHA.
records an item of historic interest, not only to the parties directly concerned, but one marking the beginning of a new epoch in the railroad situation of Omaha. One of the advantages of the low bridge and surface freight line, will be that all the local freight for the thousands of manufacturing indus- tries which must be ultimately located upon the lands of the East Omaha Land Company and adjacent territory on the same level, will be delivered to them at their doors at the lowest possible expense without the cost of lifting over a high bridge.
The line for passengers and traffic through the city will be entirely separate from that used for local freight. Free from freight cars and the switching, its entire capacity can be utilized for through business. At a short distance west of the bridge, this line will begin to rise on a trestle on which it will run to the level of Sixteenth Street, thence
southwest through the city it will reach South Omaha and Sarpy County.
PASSENGER DEPOT.
()n this line in a location convenient to the city, and past which several of the most important street car lines now run, will be located a site for a union passenger depot. Several acres of land will be required to carry out the designs of the company regard- ing this depot. The structure itself is ex- pected to cost half a million dollars and will be of a size and design commensurate with the importance of the city and of a capacity sufficient for all the prospective needs of the business.
The officers of the company are: Richard C. Cushing, president; George W. Holdrege, vice president; IIenry W. Yates, treasurer, Arthur S. Potter, secretary and general manager.
CHAPTER LIII.
COMMERCE - SOME EARLY MERCANTILE HOUSES - ENTERPRISES OF THE PRESENT TIME.
As every large city in the history of the world has been noted as a commercial center, and by reason of its favorable location as a distributing point, has become distinguished for its mercantile establishments, no history would be complete without a sketch of the leading houses in this line. The story of some of the
EARLY COMMERCIAL HOUSES
exhibits to some extent the kind and amount of business formerly transacted here.
Among the first mercantile ventures in Omaha, was that of Tootle & Jackson, in 1854 or 1855, whose store stood on the cor- ner of Tenth and Farnam Streets. Mr. M. Tootle, of this firm, was a resident of St. Joseph, Missouri, and a pioneer in many enterprises in the then new country opening for settlement west of the Missouri River. He became sole owner of the business here in 1859. In 1862 W. G. Maul succeeded to the management of the business and re- mained in business until the death of Mr. Tootle, in January, 1887. The first stock brought here consisted of only a few wagon loads of merchandise, sufficient no doubt for the few people gathered here, and of the usual assortment of dry goods, boots, shoes, crockery, etc. By 1880 this enterprise had developed into a strictly wholesale dry goods business, filling five floors 44x132 feet at the south-west corner of Eleventh and Harney Streets, and with customers from Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Mon- tana, Utah and Idaho. In the earlier years of the business, quite an item of it was in Indian goods, which were sold to traders who had permits to trade at the different
trading posts. The Kilpatrick-Koch Dry Goods Co. succeeded to this business in 1887.
Vincent Burkley established the first store in Omaha devoted exclusively to the sale of clothing. That was in May, 1856, and the stock of goods, which cost about $8,000, was shipped by boat from Cincinnati. In con- nection with the clothing business, Mr. Burkley had a tailoring department. This establishment ceased to exist in the winter of '57 and '58.
M. Hellman and Aaron Calin were attract- ed to Omaha in the fall of 1856, and imme- diately after their arrival secured a small one-story frame building of twenty-two feet front and forty feet in depthi, on the northwest corner of Thirteenth and Farnam Streets, and opened a retail clothing, furnishing and merchant tailoring business, under the firm name of M. Hellman & Co. In 1857 the firm bought a ready-framed store in Cincin- nati and had it sent here by boat and erected on the lot next to the southwest corner of Thirteenth and Farnam Streets. This build- ing was twice as long as the first, but of the same dimensions otherwise. Ten years later the present double five-story structure was built, the lower floors of which were occu- pied by Mr. Hellman. From 1865 to 1884 a wholesale department was run in connec- tion with the retail trade. The tailoring business was continued till 1890. Wishing to retire from business, Mr. Kahn sold his interest in 1885. After that time Mr. Hell- man was the sole proprietor till his death, in March, 1892. This was probably the oldest retail clothing house between the Missouri River and the Pacific, north of Kansas, at
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COMMERCE.
the time of Mr. Hellman's demise. August 1, 1892, the Columbia Clothing Company- M. H. Cooke, proprietor-succeeded Mr. Hellman, and carries on business at the old stand.
Megeath & Co. carried on a large mercan- tile business in Omaha in the early days, a distinguishing feature of their trade being the Mormon patronage, of which they had a very large share. At the close of the an- nual migration westward, generally about the last of July, the last train out (called the Church train) used to take the balance of the entire stock of Megeath & Co. This firm had several portable warehouses that they kept at the end of the Pacific Railroad during its construction, and thus carried on a thriving business. Their trade with the Mormons amounted to between one and two million dollars per year.
J. H. Lacey and John McCormick, under the firm name of Lacey & McCormick, opened the first wholesale grocery house in Omaha, in 1859. They had a good share of the Pike's Peak trade, and did a very large business for several years. Their store was located at what is now known as 1306 Far- nam Street.
Another of the representative houses in its line was that of William Stephens and Capt. William P. Wilcox, who, as Stephens & Wilcox, began business in 1865, with a stock of general merchandise, at what is now 1309 Farnam Street. The building they first occupied, a little frame, was found too small at the end of the first year, and their stock of groceries and boots and shoes was dis- posed of to make room for a department of Indian goods, robes and furs. The destruc- tive fire of 1867, which consumed nearly all the buildings in the block on the south side of Farnam, between Thirteenth and Four- teenth Streets, gave Stepliens & Wilcox an opportunity for putting up a fine building such as Omaha had never seen before, and they and other merchants moved their stores into the street, and the ground they had
lately occupied was soon covered by Central Block, in which this firm had, what was then said to be, the finest dry goods store in the West, something considered to be too fine for those days, when mahogany counters were not the fashion. Their immense stock of Indian goods then became a prominent fea- ture of the trade. Beads, Iroquois jewelry, hatchets, knives, hand mirrors, blankets, Indian cloth, hair oil, Jamaica ginger, ver- million, and jewelry were standard goods, and sales thereof were large. For a number of years Indians came to Omaha to trade, and large consignments of goods were sent up the river. The Indians were good judges of what they most needed, and seldom bought anything but the best class of mer- chandise, and as this was the only house in this portion of the West then carrying these goods, the sales were large, thie Sioux, Paw- nees, Winnebagoes and Omahas being the principal customers. Large delegations of Sioux chiefs and warriors, on their way to see the Great Father at Washington, gener- ally stopped at Omaha, and while here made the store of Stephens & Wilcox their head- quarters, holding their councils on the sec- ond floor, sitting on rolls of carpet. Red Cloud, Spotted Tail, Red Dog, Blue Horse, Big Foot, Young-Man- Afraid-of-His-lIorses, and other well-known warriors were among them. On one of these occasions Red Cloud presided, as great chief, sitting in an arm- chair and dressed in a black frock coat and trousers and soft hat, furnished by Stephens & Wilcox. Red Dog, the second ehief, a large, fat Indian, became jealous of Red Cloud's fine clothes and raised a disturbance which stopped all further proceedings until he had been similarly attired, when he looked upon himself with great complacency, though his limbs protruded through his garments in a manner that was amusing to see. The In- dian trade was very profitable, and at one time, rather than miss the profits to be made on an immediate consignment of goods, two thousand dollars expressage was paid to have
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAILA.
them in Omaha in time to be sent west on an Upper Missouri River boat. The amount of robes and furs handled was very large, and a day's sales sometimes amounted to ten thousand dollars, and the annual volume of business to $300,000. This firm ceased to exist at the death of Mr. Stephens in 1881.
The firm of Smith & Ilopkins, composed of HI. K. Smith and A. P. Hopkins, started in 1867 as agents for the O line of steamers and general commission and forwarding agents, on Thirteenth, between Farnam and Ilarney Streets, occupying a building that had formerly been a flour mill. In 1868 the firm became Smith, Hopkins & Housel, and continued under that style till the fall of 1871, when C. C. Housel assumed control of the business, which later fell into the hands of a Mr. Troxel, then Troxel & Williams. The house of Smith & Hopkins took entire charge of steamboat cargoes sent here, and after paying freight charges, often amount- ing to from one to five thousand dollars, held them for the consignees. A large part of the goods were shipped west overland. The O line steamers, which ran between St. Louis and Omaha, made tri-weekly trips, and were capable of carrying from 1,500 to 3,000 tons burden. The average at this port was a steamer a day, but as many as fourteen steamers are said to have been tied up at the levee at one time. Light stern-wheel steam- ers ran from Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St. Louis to Fort Benton, carrying great quan- tities of dry goods, groceries, hardware and general supplies for Montana points, as well as provisions for Upper Missouri govern- ment posts, and trinkets, beads, paints and blankets. Many of the boats from Ohio River points came to Omaha loaded almost entirely with nails and heavy hardware. The government business on the steamboat lines to this place was very large. Tens of thousands of bushels of corn, worth a dollar a bushel, often lay on the levee, consigned to posts in the far west. Occasionally whole boat loads of government goods, consisting
of bacon, side-meat and cords of canned goods, consigned to Forts Bridger, Laramie, Kearney and other points. came at one time. Merchants doing business in Omaha in the years from 1865 to 1869, still have vivid recollections of the Omaha levee dur- ing the boating season. It was no uncom- mon sight to see the levee from the present Union Pacific Bridge north for the distance of a mile or more, covered with great piles of corn, railroad ties, iron and miscellaneous freight of all kinds; the more perishable freight being covered with white tarpaulins to protect it from the weather. The channel of the Missouri being so changeable the boats could not land at any given point, but were obliged to land and discharge their cargoes where they could. This gave to the Omaha levee of that period a very busy and at the same time a picturesque appearance. Steam- boating on the Missouri in those days was hazardous business, as many voyagers found to their cost. The steamboat Marietta sunk at the foot of Farnam Street in 1868 or 1869, and lies there yet, and the Benton was snag- ged and sunk some distance above the city, near Decatur. She was on her way to the upper river agencies and a large part of her cargo was lost.
MERCANTILE FIRMS OF THIE PRESENT TIME.
DRY GOODS AND CLOTHING.
The Kilpatrick-Koch Dry Goods Co., of which Thomas Kilpatrick is president; Allen Koch, vice-president; Robert Cowell, second vice-president and treasurer, and James Risk, secretary, importer and jobber of dry goods, notions, and men's furnishing goods, is located at 1101 to 1105 Harney Street, and in 1887 succeeded Tootle, Maul & Co., who had been in the wholesale dry goods business for many years. After occupying for two years, the store used by its pre- decessors, this company found it necessary, to accommodate its growing business, to pierce the partition wall and occupy the ad- joining store, thereby adding nearly fifty
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MR. ETalania
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COMMERCE.
per cent. of space to the store and making an establishment four stories high, one hun- dred and thirty-two feet deep, with a front- age of sixty-six feet. This firm started on a capital of $250,000, which has been in- creased to $300,000 fully paid in, with a surplus of $15,000. Forty-two persons are employed, of whom eleven are commercial travelers. The trade covers western Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Utah, and amounts to $1,100,000 or $1,200,- 000 per year.
The firm of M. E. Smith & Co., importers and jobbers of dry goods, furnishings and notions, is composed of Monroe E. Smith, Arthur C. Smith, George M. Tibbs and Walter D. Smith, and moved to Omaha from Council Bluffs in 1886, locating at the corner of Eleventh and Douglas Streets. Having outgrown the accommodations there, the business was moved January, 1890, to the present quarters, 1101 to 1107 Howard Street, corner of Howard and Eleventh, which had been built for the special occupation of this firm, where more than twice the for- mer amount of room is occupied, using, in fact, seven floors 66 feet wide by 132 long. The number of traveling representatives has been increased from six, the number first employed, to eighteen, who now traverse the territory from Western Iowa to Portland, Oregon. Since 1889 one story of the establishment has been devoted to the manufacture of pants, overalls, jumpers, duck-lined goods and all kinds of shirts ex- cept white. The capacity of the plant has been enlarged from year to year and during the last twelve months has been doubled and one hundred and fifty persons, mostly women, are employed, using, one hundred, and twenty machines, operated by electric power and turning out one hundred dozen garments daily when running at full capaci- ty. It gives a better idea of the magnitude of this industry to say that enough goods are actually manufactured by this firm each year, to furnish every male citizen in Omaha
over ten years old, a complete suit of clothes in addition to a duck overcoat, a jumper and a pair of overalls. Twice a year several trains, often containing twenty or thirty cars, loaded exclusively with this firm's goods, arrive from New York, where, in order that the firm's purchasing interests may be properly attended to, an agent is constantly kept. Besides the hands in the factory, forty other persons are employed about the store, and the whole number of employes is over two hundred. The busi- ness of 1892 amounted to $1,500,000.
N. B. Falconer is a dealer in dry goods. In 1868 a small one story frame building, on the corner of Fourteenth and Farnam Streets, was occupied by Ross & Cruickshank, with a stock of dry goods and notions, which was the origin of the present establishment of N. B. Falconer, who, three years later, bought out Ross and became the principal partner in the firm, which took the name of A. Cruick- shank & Co., thus putting his capital against his partner's experience in business. After occupying a building on the corner of Fif- teenth and Farnam six years, Mr. Faleoner, in 1877, erected a two-story brick building on the corner of Fifteenth and Douglas, where now Browning, King & Co. are locat- ed, and there did business for ten years. In 1883 he became sole proprietor, and in 1887 built, at 1505-7 Douglas Street, the double three-story structure he now occupies, to which, in 1891, he added No. 1509, and con- nected it with the building already occupied. A select retail trade in fine dry goods is tlie principal business of this house. A whole- sale business is also transacted, and goods of various kinds imported directly from England and France. In addition to the dry goods. trade, a book and a toy department are maintained. From seventy-five to eighty- five persons are employed. A stock varying in value from $250,000 to $300,000 is car- ried, and the annual sales reach half a mil- lion.
The Morse Dry Goods Company, which
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAHA.
does a wholesale and retail business in dry goods, carpets, draperies, etc., was organized and began business in 1877, with S. P. Morse president and W. V. Morse vice president, the capital stock being $250,000. The build- ing occupied by this company is one of the handsomest mercantile structures in the city, with a five-story front on Farnam Street and six stories on Sixteenth Street, occupy- ing the ground upon which stood the first Congregational church erected in Omaha, and also a part of the ground occupied later by the Redick Opera Ilouse, which, in its day, was the favorite histrionic resort of the elite of Omaha. Each story of the build- ing contains ten thousand square feet of flooring. All modern mercantile conven- iences, including one freight and two pas- senger elevators, cash system, etc., are in use. The average stock of goods is valued at $250,000, conveniently arranged in twenty- eight departments, each complete in itself. The trade amounts to a million dollars an- nually, and two hundred persons are em- ployed in the transaction of the business.
Kelly, Stiger & Co. opened a dry goods house in Omaha in 1886, at the corner of Fifteenth and Dodge Streets, where they succeeded in building up a very success- ful and profitable business. In 1890 they re moved to the southwest corner of Fifteenth and Farnam Streets, where they occupy a large amount of floor space and carry a large stock of goods.
Thompson, Belden & Co., dry goods mer- chants, carry a large stock at the corner of Sixteenth and Douglas Streets. These gen- tlemen opened a store here in 1886, and have been in their present quarters since March, 1890. From the first this has been a " cash"' house. Although warned against beginning a business here on that plan, they promptly adopted it, and find that plain figures, one price and pay down have suc- ceeded. Besides being the first cash house, this firm was the first in Omaha to issue an
illustrated catalogue of dry goods. This firm employs fifty persons and does a busi- ness of $250,000 annually.
Bennison Brothers deal in dry goods and carpets, at 1519-21 Douglas Street, where they occupy a three story building and em- ploy from fifty to seventy persons.
Browning, King & Co., manufacturers and retailers of fine clothing, have one of their numerous branch stores in Omaha, south- west corner Fifteenth and Douglas, em- ploying twenty-five persons. This branch was started in 1889, and on April 14, 1890, the entire stock was destroyed by fire, en- tailing a loss of $64,000, on which there was an insurance of $40,000. The house was immediately rebuilt and the business en- larged.
Freeland, Loomis & Co. are proprietors of the Continental Clothing House, corner of Fifteenth and Douglas Streets. This is one of the four houses of which this firm is pro- prietor, the others being in Boston. and Des Moines and Newton, Iowa. This branch was established here in 1887, and now em- ploys thirty or forty persons, occupies over seventeen thousand square feet of flooring, carries a stock of $100,000 value, and claims to be the largest clothing house in Nebraska. ·On the night of December 27, 1892, a fire, which broke out in the carpet store of S. A. Orchard, destroyed the upper portion of the Continental Block, and the stock of the Con- tinental Clothing Company was very badly damaged by water. The block is expected to be rebuilt at once, and will again be oc- cupied by this company.
M. Levy, M. Strasburger and H. Cohn are the Nebraska Clothing Company, at Douglas and Fourteenth Streets. They started in 1886.
S. Arnstein is proprietor of the People's Clothing House, 1303 Douglas Street. Ile has built up a trade since 1885, and now occupies a three-story building and em- ploys seven clerks.
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