East Omaha is a geographically designated community located in Omaha, Nebraska. Located three miles (5 km) from downtown Omaha, East Omaha is the site of Eppley Omaha International Airport, Omaha's main airport, and Carter Lake. This area was Omaha's first annexation, joining the city in 1854.
Boundaries
East Omaha is roughly bounded by the Missouri River on the east, Carter Lake and Carter Lake, Iowa on the south, and North Omaha to the west and north. There is one cliff that is the finite western boundary of East Omaha, extending from Jaynes Street north to Reed Street. Bordering neighborhoods include Miller Park, Saratoga and Kountze Place.
Due to the ever-changing nature of the Omaha metro area, recognition of the boundaries of East Omaha has fluctuated through the years. Early reports about East Omaha identified it closely with the Union Pacific Railroad yards just north of downtown. The boundary moved north over the years, and today is loosely fixed along Florence Boulevard to the west, the Missouri River to the east, the Omaha Public Power District Plant to the north, and Carter Lake, Iowa to the south. Even these boundaries are in flux. The Omaha Chamber of Commerce has taken to referring to any area east of 72nd street as "east Omaha".
History
In 1853, Edmond Jefferies filed a claim on of land in what was known as East Omaha. This area was Omaha's first annexation, joining the city in 1854.
The CB&Q railroad's East Omaha Land Company was first formed in 1887 to develop land for homes and industrial uses. The Company spent a total of $300,000 clear low-lying land of willows and to grade streets before lots were offered for sale. The company initially owned , rapidly increasing through further acquisition. In 1903 the East Omaha Land Company advertised East Omaha as "the manufacturing center of Omaha".
Before the creation of Carter Lake, Iowa, the East Omaha community wrapped around a meander on the west bank of the Missouri River. In 1877, flooding caused the river to jump its banks and shortened the main stream. The meander became an oxbow lake, and residents on both sides of the river now found themselves on the right bank, attached to Nebraska. The area was home to "East Omaha Island", the "Florence Lake", and a number of icehouses on Carter Lake, which was then called Cut-Off Lake.
East Omaha once included all of Carter Lake, Iowa. Due to a flood that occurred in March 1877, the course of the Missouri River was redirected 1.25 mi (2 km) to the southeast. The remnants of the old river course became an oxbow-shaped lake, for which the Iowa town is named.
After the river jumped its banks, a lengthy court case ensued. The Supreme Court of the United States held that the sudden change in the river's course did not change the original boundary. They ruled that the community to become known as Carter Lake was still part of Iowa. (Nebraska v. Iowa, 143 U.S. 359 (1892)). The Court delayed a final decree to allow Nebraska and Iowa to reach an agreement consistent with its holding, which they did. (145 U.S. 519 (1892)). Now, all roads into Carter Lake run through East Omaha and downtown Omaha.
The largest single real estate deal in Nebraska up to 1890 is said to have occurred there. That year an unknown property in East Omaha was sold to the Omaha Bridge and Terminal company, a subsidiary of the Illinois Central, for nearly $700,000. The south end of East Omaha was home to the Union Pacific Rail Yards, with one former hobo reporting that he tricked a railroad cop, also called "railroad dicks", with his clothing,
""I even talked to a known bad dick in the yards in East Omaha, and he treated me like a brother while at the same time he was looking around for a hobo to arrest for trespassing on railroad property. I thought to myself, Good old clothes, a little deception is a wonderful thing."
East Omaha, east of Carter Lake, was the preferred site for the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition of 1897. The area considered was between Carter Lake on the south and Florence Lake on the north, which is now where Beechwood Trailer Courts are now located. Florence Lake Hotel was once on this site. A period newspaper account reported that,
"It has about available... offers level ground... is dotted with trees... plentiful water supply. It is less than form the Downtown Post Office. A paved street (16th) already extends almost to the site and a new bridge across the Missouri River makes accessible from Iowa."
However, the East Omaha site ended up losing out to a site in North Omaha.