Fort Omaha Officers Row
Fort Omaha Walking Tour
Built in 1906, Fort Omaha’s “Officers Row” typifies the architecture appropriate for officers’ residences on an army post in the early 20th century. Large and impressively formal, the houses lack elaborate exterior decoration characteristic of residences of similar size which prosperous civilians built throughout Omaha.
The simplicity of Officers Row expresses government and taxpayer pressure to keep within budget limitations. The restrained classic lines of each house reflects the dignity of early Georgian, Federal and Greek Revival styles. Though less ornate than the older Italianate styles of the post headquarters, their red brick walls and white trim blend with the architectural unity of Fort Omaha.
The officers quartered in Officers Row participated in the social activities of Omaha’s business and professional elite. An early Omaha social directory, the Blue Book, listed the names of the Fort Omaha officer staff who regularly received invitations to the city’s charity balls, band concerts, sleighing parties and activities of fraternal lodges. Visiting dignitaries considered Officers Row a place of special hospitality.
These houses now serve as residences for some of the faculty and staff at Metropolitan Community College.
Marker is at the intersection of West Road and Middle Road, on the left when traveling north on West Road.
Courtesy hmdb.org
