Kountze Park is an urban

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to re ...

located at 1920 Pinkney Street in the

Kountze Place The Kountze Place neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska is a historically significant community on the city's north end. Today the neighborhood is home to several buildings and homes listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located betw ...

neighborhood of

North Omaha, Nebraska North Omaha is a community area in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. It is bordered by Cuming and Dodge Streets on the south, Interstate 680 on the north, North 72nd Street on the west and the Missouri River and Carter Lake, Iowa on the ea ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The Park is historically significant as the site of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition of 1898.

About

Kountze Park is bordered by 19th Street on the east and 20th Street on the west, Pinkney Street on the south and Pratt Street on the north. The park is the location of a water park, playground, basketball and tennis courts, and a pavilion. It is also home to a summer program operated by the City of Omaha Parks and Recreation Department.

History

Once on a broad, flat plain midway between the

Nebraska Territory The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska. The Nebraska ...

towns of

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

and Saratoga, Kountze Park was part of a plot belonging to banker

Herman Kountze Herman Kountze (August 21, 1833 – November 20, 1906) was a powerful and influential pioneer banker in Omaha, Nebraska, during the late 19th century. After organizing the Kountze Brothers Bank in 1857 as the second bank in Omaha, Herman and ...

Trans-Mississippi Exposition Site

The Grand Court of the

Trans-Mississippi Exposition The Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition was a world's fair held in Omaha, Nebraska from June 1 to November 1 of 1898. Its goal was to showcase the development of the entire West, stretching from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coa ...

was located in Kountze Park in 1898. When the search committee sought to acquire a large parcel of land to locate the city's highlight attraction, Kountze's generous offer of of land for $15,000.00, plus a donation of $5000 worth of land for this future park, was ideal. The site was soon covered with buildings, boulevards, and a beautiful lagoon almost 1/2 mile long, lit by the latest technology of the times, electrical lights. The

Greater America Exposition The Greater America Exposition was a world's fair held on North Omaha, Nebraska from July 1 to October 31, 1899. Formation After the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition exhibition a group of investors decided to retain some of the buildings and hol ...

was held at the same location in many of the same buildings the following year. By the end of 1899, all of the buildings were demolished or removed. In the several years after the Exposition, the lagoon was filled in and the area was graded to form Kountze Park. Around the park a middle- and upper-class community grew, eventually forming a connection between

Near North Omaha The Near North Side of Omaha, Nebraska is the neighborhood immediately north of downtown. It forms the nucleus of the city's African-American community, and its name is often synonymous with the entire North Omaha area. It is bordered by Cuming St ...

and Saratoga. A scenic pond remained at the park as a remnant of the original lagoon; it was filled with dirt in 1953.

Modern times

In 1980, while excavating for a new sewer in Kountze Park, a construction foreman uncovered several pieces of a building from the Exposition. An attempt to recover more artifacts was unsuccessful. Today there are only a few pieces of plaster from Exposition buildings that remain as tangible historical artifacts. In 1998 many improvements to Kountze Park were made, including new playground equipment, tree plantings and a historical marker that pays homage to the Exposition. Kountze Park has been a repeated crime location in recent years.(2006
Man arrested after shootout at Kountze Park
. KETV.com

External links

1920s postcard

Historic postcards of the pond
from the Nebraska Memories website.
Picture of Nebraska State Historical Marker
at Kountze Park. * at Kountze Park.

References

{{North Omaha Landmarks in North Omaha, Nebraska Urban public parks History of North Omaha, Nebraska Site of 1899 Trans-Mississippi Exposition Parks in Omaha, Nebraska Kountze family World's fair sites in the United States 1889 establishments in Nebraska Trans-Mississippi Exposition