Omaha Exploration

Sarah Joslyn: The Woman Behind the Art Museum

George Joslyn spent his life building a business and made a fortune in the process. Sarah dedicated hers to giving it away. The result is what would become the premier art museum in the state, named in his honor. The wealthiest people in Nebraska also happened to be some of its most philanthropic. They used that wealth to better not only the people of Omaha but numerous organizations, including the Omaha Community Playhouse, Nebraska Humane Society, Fontenelle Forest, University of Omaha, Fontenelle Home for the Aged, Visiting Nurses Association, and Child Saving Institute, among others....

Sarah Joslyn: The Woman Behind the Art Museum George Joslyn spent his life building a business and made a fortune in the process. Sarah dedicated hers to giving it away. The result is what would become the premier art museum in the state, name…

Omaha has been the home of the Men's College World Series since 1950. Few large-scale sports tournaments have called one city home for as long.

The CWS got its start in 1947 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which also played host in 1948 before moving to Wichita, Kansas, in 1949. After building Municipal Stadium, Johnny Rosenblatt and his partners aggressively pursued the baseball tournament. Rosenblatt played semi-professional baseball under the name Johnny Ross before serving as mayor from 1954 to 1961.

They were successful in landing the tournament, which struggled financially and failed to turn a profit for 10 of its first 12 years. Over time, however, the CWS became a lucrative event for both the NCAA and the city of Omaha. While Rosenblatt lived to witness the renaming of Omaha Municipal Stadium in his honor in 1964, he passed away in 1979. He never got to see how big it would become.

The CWS grew to become a spectacle in south Omaha with its lively atmosphere, tailgating, pop-up beer gardens, merchandise shops, and residents selling parking spots wherever they could, be it the front yard, backyard, or adjacent lots. Meanwhile, the stadium itself offered an intimate experience with most seats having a pretty good view of the field. Some seats, however, were obstructed, which was not unusual for old stadiums. The outfield bleachers, despite having a reputation for being a bit rowdy, was a fun place to take in a game even if they were uncomfortable and crowded.

Even though the city spent over $35M to refurbish Rosenblatt and grew its capacity to 23,000, making it the largest non-MLB stadium in the country, it eventually became clear that the NCAA wanted a new stadium for the event. At that point, Rosenblatt was older than every Major League stadium except Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. There was even a grassroots campaign that included actor and avid college baseball fan Kevin Costner to save Rosenblatt.

With its contract expiring in 2010, the city was fearful of losing an event that generated more than $90M for the city, not to mention two weeks of national exposure and advertising that came from having the city mentioned all over ESPN broadcasts. So, the city agreed to build a new stadium in North Downtown in exchange for a 25-year contract.

Since then, the tournament has been played at TD Ameritrade Park/Charles Schwab Field at 13th and Cuming Street. While the location has moved five miles north, it remains a two-week party with Dingerville being replaced by Baseball Village. From Mike Fahey to Cuming Streets, and from 10th to 13th Streets, the area is flooded with fans representing every team participating in the tournament. The hot spots now include The Matt, Rocco's, and The Blatt, which doubles as a Zesto's seasonal pop-up. Head back to the area of Rosenblatt and you'll find remnants of Rosenblatt within the parking lot at Henry Doorly Zoo, as well as the memorabilia shop that is Stadium View Sports Cards.

Despite the outcry, the move hasn't impacted attendance, as the tournament set a new attendance record in 2023 with 392,946 fans attending the 16 games. The previous record was set a year earlier in 2022. In 2024, the games had a $115M impact which included 22,429 jobs, 75,000 hotel rooms booked, and $3.5M in tax revenue. Nearly a third of the visitors lived more than 60 miles away.

In terms of hardware, three programs stand above the rest.

The University of Southern California Trojans have taken home the title 12 times, with the first coming in 1948 and the most recent in 1998.

Louisiana State University is second with eight championships and remains a favorite of the home crowd. Unlike USC, whose dominance has been spread across six decades, LSU came onto the scene much later, winning its first in 1991 and its most recent in 2025.

The University of Texas Longhorns come in third with six titles, the first coming in 1949. They haven't won another since 2005.

Arizona State has won five, followed by Arizona, Miami, and Cal State Fullerton with four each.

As far as local teams go, Nebraska has made it to the CWS three times, in 2001, 2002, and 2005, while Creighton qualified once in 1991. Neither has won the championship.

In Omaha, the "Greatest Show on Dirt" has seen some of the game's best players:

Sal Bando for Arizona State in 1965
Dave Winfield for Minnesota in 1973
Barry Bonds for Arizona State from 1982 through 1984
Roger Clemens for Texas in 1983
Will Clark for Mississippi State in 1985
Jason Varitek for Georgia Tech in 1994
Buster Posey for Florida State in 2008
Alex Bregman for LSU in 2013 and 2015
Paul Skenes for LSU in 2023

There's no place like Omaha. A city that embraced the college baseball tournament that was largely overlooked in the beginning. Led by the foresight of Johnny Rosenblatt, the city helped turn it into one of the NCAA's most watched events. In turn, the College World Series helped put Omaha on the map nationally.

Content written by Omaha Exploration. If you enjoy my content, sign up to receive emails or make a donation on my website. You can also follow along or subscribe on my page. Sources for this article can be found on my website. Thank you and keep exploring!

Omaha Exploration is sponsored by Rockbrook Mortgage Inc.

Before we welcome the Omaha Eight to the College World Series, let's take a look back.

The College World Series: From Rosenblatt to The Chuck Omaha has been the home of the Men’s College World Series since 1950. Few large-scale sports tournaments have called one city home for as long. The CWS got its start in 1947 in Kalamazoo, Mic…

Grazia Caniglia's Santa Lucia Festival and Omaha's Carlentini Connection

Few American cities share as deep a connection to a sister city as Omaha does to Carlentini, Sicily. This weekend's Santa Lucia Festival, now in its second century, is a reflection of that bond.

Over the course of a decade starting in 1900, the Italian population of Omaha exploded from around 500 to more than 2,000. Much of the credit belongs to brothers Giuseppe and Sebastiano Salerno. Born in 1873, Giuseppe was convinced to leave his native Carlentini by brother-in-law Antonio Marfisi.

Giuseppe arrived in 1895 and opened a shoe repair shop at 6th and Pierce Street in the area that would become known as Little Italy. He was joined by his brother, Sebastiano, just two years later. He opened a shoe shop of his own in addition to a secondhand clothing store.

By 1904, Sebastiano began working as an agent for a steamship company, tasked with increasing traffic between Sicily and the United States. He convinced family, friends, and neighbors to leave everything behind and settle in Omaha. Sicily had long struggled with poverty and political instability, so many were anxious for better opportunities.

In the community, the brothers were referred to as "Benevolent Padrones" or middlemen who helped arrange passage, housing, and jobs for immigrant workers. While the padrone system could be exploitative, the benevolent title set them apart, as they were seen as acting in good faith and looking out for their fellow residents rather than strictly profiting off them.

When the Carlentinians arrived, they found temporary housing in rooming houses established by the brothers and jobs arranged at the railroad or meatpacking plants. They also found plenty of familiar faces, as nearly 3,500 residents of the town of 13,000 eventually made their way to Omaha. The brothers also established the Bank of Sicily in 1908, which allowed immigrants to save money to send back home, create businesses, or save toward buying a five-room house for $2,000 with just $100 down. Giuseppe passed away in 1921 after suffering injuries when his automobile was struck by a streetcar. The bank closed in 1924 after overextending itself through risky investments. That same year, the Immigration Act of 1924 ended large-scale Italian immigration to the United States. The last of the Salerno brothers, Sebastiano, was tracked down in California by a disgruntled customer who had lost his savings in the bank's failure and fatally shot in 1931.

Grazia Bonafede Caniglia arrived in Omaha with her husband, Rosario, and their children in 1908. Born in Carlentini in 1865, the mother of six children was a woman of deep faith and attended church daily while her husband operated one of the city's first Italian bakeries. It would later become its first pizzeria and a steakhouse, while her children went on to open some of the city's most beloved restaurants including Piccolo Pete's, Mister C's, and Venice Inn.

She made it her mission to strengthen the community's connection to their former homeland while also deepening their faith. She sought to do so with the establishment of the Santa Lucia Festival. Dating back to 1621, it was the town's most important religious festival. Santa Lucia is the patron saint of sight and the blind.

In 1925, Grazia and others formed a committee that hosted a ball to raise money for the first Santa Lucia Festival in Omaha. It drew 2,000 people, including Mayor Jim Dahlman. The neighborhood in which Little Italy sits was later named in his honor. For the festival, she envisioned a statue of Santa Lucia. Designed in Italy, she and other volunteers went door-to-door to collect money to pay for it. During the festival, there is a procession of the statue through the streets, starting at St. Philomena's Church (present-day St. Frances Cabrini) and ending at 6th and Pierce Street. Beloved in the community and well known for her charity work, Grazia passed away in 1931.

It wasn't until the 1920s that the festival acquired a permanent home at Santa Lucia Hall, 725 Pierce Street. The former fire station was built in 1891 and purchased from the City of Omaha for $1,235. A 2015 restoration replaced the doors, windows, and roof and repaired original woodwork, with preservationists incorporating bricks salvaged from demolished Little Italy landmarks including Venice Inn, the Original Caniglia's Steakhouse, and red brick from Seventh Street. The hall also serves as a museum housing historical photos, cultural artifacts, and decades of festival banners, and is available as a rental venue with proceeds supporting the festival committee.

The Santa Lucia Festival remained at its original location at 6th and Pierce Street from 1925 until 1981, after which it moved several times before returning to Little Italy at 10th and William Street in 2020. Among the city's oldest summer festivals, it is free to attend and features Italian cuisine including a Sicilian-style pizza by the Pizza Boys of Santa Lucia, as well as sausage and peppers, meatball sandwiches, mostaccioli, gelato, cannoli, and more. Activities include a bocce ball tournament, live music by the Santa Lucia Band and others, dancing, and a fun zone for the kids. The festival concludes on Sunday with the traditional procession of Santa Lucia through the neighborhood and an evening fireworks display.

What makes the Santa Lucia Festival unique is that while the saint is from Sicily, most Americans associate the tradition with Sweden, as her feast day falls near the winter solstice. Her name, which derives from the Latin word for light, made her a perfect fit to represent the return of the sun after the long, dark Scandinavian winters.

Here in Omaha, however, the festival’s deeply Sicilian roots make it one of the most distinctive in the country. In fact, it may be the only place in the country to host a large-scale, multi-day outdoor Sicilian-based Santa Lucia Festival. This may be the biggest impact the Caniglia family has made on Omaha, even more than its famous restaurants.

Content written by Omaha Exploration. If you enjoy my content, sign up to receive emails or make a donation on my website. You can also follow along or subscribe on my page. Sources for this article can be found on my website. Thank you and keep exploring!

Omaha Exploration is sponsored by Rockbrook Mortgage Inc.

After two years, Polina Gardens is finally open. It offers the tranquility of a lush green space surrounded by the sounds of the city.

Its opening completes the long-awaited transformation of a long-neglected parking lot into a welcoming garden where visitors can eat, meet, or relax while experiencing nature and art in a free space that is open to all.

At more than an acre, it is the first satellite location for Lauritzen Gardens. Once covered in crumbling concrete, the space now has more than 120 trees and 22,000 perennials including a mix of native plants and other foliage from around the country. The year-round garden blends native and global plant species and is designed for all seasons, whether spring blooms, summer foliage, fall color, or winter structure. Its design also incorporates two historic buildings: the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts and the Anheuser-Busch depot.

Polina Gardens offers four areas to explore:

The Garden Green is on the eastern end of the Anheuser-Busch Building and stretches south toward the Bemis and east toward 12th Street. It combines a hilly green space ideal for playing, relaxation, or picnics. It also has a stage that can be used for performances and other events.

The Garden Patio extends from the Rain Garden north along 13th Street to Jones Street and extends east behind the Anheuser-Busch Building. The area is surrounded by plantings and provides plenty of seating and tables.

The Whimsical Garden is located on the southwestern corner between the Bemis, north of Leavenworth Street and east of 13th Street. It has winding paths, colorful plants, a climbing sculpture for children, and a trellis on which vines and other plants will continue to grow.

The Rain Garden is centrally located along 13th Street on the garden's western end. It is a basin where water collects during rainstorms, allowing it to pe*****te the soil and plant roots. It has a mix of perennials and grasses that thrive in wet and dry conditions and will provide a habitat for pollinators.

In the middle of it all is the striking Sophie Ryder wire sculpture titled "The Kiss 11." Depicting two intertwined hands clasping, the attention-getting work of art stands more than 20 feet tall and allows visitors the opportunity to experience the sculpture from within the two wrists. The sculpture offers a visually stunning contrast against the historic brick buildings that surround it.

In July, "The Kiss 11" will be joined by another large-scale work of art titled "Switchgrass." Following a call for public art coordinated by Omaha-based nonprofit Amplify Arts, Lee Emma Running was selected. Of the work, Running says: "This work will not only be a study of the native grass, but a material study. The sandblasted marine plywood will age to a beautiful gray over the seasons, and the shaped steel will rust on the side that has been sandblasted. As the seasons change and the garden grows, this mural will change as well. The switchgrass will indeed 'switch' forms from object to shadow, and dark to light."

Located at 727 S. 13th Street, Polina Gardens straddles two historic districts in downtown Omaha. The Old Market sits to the north, the Rail and Commerce Historic District to the south and Kaneko to the west.

Polina Gardens was designed by leading landscape design firm Field Operations, whose other work includes the High Line in New York City and Lurie Garden in Chicago's Millennium Park, with planting design by internationally acclaimed landscape designer Piet Oudolf. Of the gardens, landscape architect Kim Cooper said in an interview with the Omaha World-Herald that "It brings nature back to people, and they don't have to go out of the city to find it."

The garden is named for Polina Schlott, an immigrant from Latvia who carries with her a deep love for nature. She and her husband Bob were key donors and advocates for the project. They also donated another popular outdoor space, Sofia's Play Garden, named in honor of their daughter, which opened at Lauritzen Gardens in 2025. Polina said in the Omaha World-Herald that "Creating spaces that invite people to slow down and reconnect with nature feels more important than ever."

Polina Gardens has two entrances: from the western end along Jones Street next to the Anheuser-Busch Building at 1213 Jones Street and on the north side of the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts at 724 S. 12th Street. With the exception of Tuesday, the park is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Metered parking surrounds the park and restrooms are on-site. Despite earlier reports of a possible cafe, there is no food or drinks on-site, but visitors are welcome to bring their own. The garden is also available for rent for private events.

Polina Gardens is an ideal community space and offers a welcome contrast to the nightlife that surrounds it. A garden where you can reflect, relax, experience art, and reconnect with nature in an unexpected place.

Content written by Omaha Exploration. If you enjoy my content, sign up to receive emails or make a donation on my website. You can also follow along or subscribe on my page. Sources for this article can be found on my website. Thank you and keep exploring!

Omaha Exploration is sponsored by Rockbrook Mortgage Inc.

The skyrocketing popularity of passenger train travel resulted in Union Pacific replacing Omaha's old Union Station with an extravagant new building in 1931. It was built on the site of the old station at 801 S. 10th Street in the area that would become known as the Rail and Commerce District. The new station, in addition to the renovation of the Burlington Station to the south, provided "Omaha railroad passengers, terminal facilities equal to those of any city of its size in the country."

The new Union Station was designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood of Los Angeles and constructed by Peter Kiewit and Sons. The steel frame structure was covered with glazed terra cotta and featured sculpted figures of a brakeman, locomotive engineer, civil engineer and railroad mechanic atop its entrances on the west and north sides of the building.

It was the first U.P. station designed in the Art Deco style. Inside, the focal point was the Main Hall with its 60-ft. ceilings that featured sculpted plaster painted with gold and silver trim, ten cathedral-like plate glass windows, patterned terrazzo floors, colonnettes of blue Belgian marble and wainscoting of black Belgian marble. Hanging from the ceiling were six chandeliers measuring 13 ft. tall and 5 ft. in diameter.

The station provided travelers with a wide range of amenities including a dining room, gift shop, soda fountain, telegraph and telephone rooms, barbershop, and a ladies' lounge. In what is now the Swanson Family Gallery on the eastern end of the station was the popular Hayden House restaurant. The restaurant was divided into two with one side offering a formal dining experience and the other à la carte meals. The room was decorated with six murals depicting stages in the development of transportation, painted by Los Angeles artist Joseph Keller.

The building's 13 tracks established Omaha as an important passenger hub in the west when it opened in 1931, serving eight railroads including Union Pacific, Rock Island, and Missouri Pacific. When combined with Burlington Station, it made Omaha the fourth-largest railroad center in the country. Union Station peaked with 64 passenger trains and 10,000 passengers per day. The concourse connecting the two stations was erected over the railyard in 1937.

During World War II the railroads became a critical tool with which the military mobilized troops and supplies. To assist in this effort, a USO center with letter writing facilities, a dormitory and shower and bath facilities was added to Union Station. Following the war, the combination of increased air travel and completion of the interstate system significantly reduced passenger traffic starting in the 1950s. As a result, the federal government consolidated passenger rail service when it formed Amtrak in 1971. In the aftermath, U.P. announced it would cease passenger service on May 1, with the last passenger train departing Union Station at 2 AM.

Afterward, there were multiple suggestions for Union Station, including converting it to a shopping mall; a downtown campus for UNO; a sports hall of fame; a combined library, museum, and auditorium; and even a theater for the Omaha Junior League. When none came to fruition, there was talk of demolishing it due to the cost to maintain and operate the building. The Nebraska State Historical Society managed to save it from the wrecking ball, in part, by nominating it as a national historical site.

Following the preference of Mayor Eugene Leahy, the building was converted into a museum, and the Omaha Public Library saw it as a potential home for its Byron Reed collection. The collection, which had been willed to the library after Reed passed away in 1891, consisted of rare books, manuscripts, medals, autographs, and both American and foreign coins. His collection of colonial and U.S. coinage was said to be one of the most complete in the United States. It remained in bank vaults as the library couldn't afford the security and insurance required to display it.

U.P. donated the building which had been added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 to the City of Omaha in 1973. The Western Heritage Museum moved in and opened its doors in 1975. The building was designated an Omaha Landmark in 1978. The Reed collection was finally moved out of the vaults and into the museum in 1985 under the stipulation that a portion always be accessible to the public.

Its most extensive restoration was completed in 1996. It included a new parking deck, roof, mechanical and electrical systems, office space, a gift shop, and its authentic soda fountain. Just a year later, it was renamed the Durham Western Heritage Museum in honor of Charles and Margre Durham, whose generosity made it possible. Charles was an engineer who built HDR into one of the country's largest engineering and architectural firms. Margre served on the District 66 School Board for 12 years, becoming its first female president in 1967, and received three honorary doctorate degrees for her support of higher education and civic leadership.

Twenty-seven years after it opened, the museum celebrated its one millionth visitor in 2002. It has since been named a Smithsonian Institution affiliate and has partnered with the Library of Congress and National Archives, bringing new exhibits and programming well beyond its original focus, prompting a change to its current name.

Designated a National Historic Landmark in 2016, the building houses not just the Byron Reed collection and exhibits but an extensive photo archive, train cars and locomotives, a historic streetcar, and a grocery store representing the one opened by Warren Buffett's grandfather, Ernest.

Today, the building remains one of the finest examples of the Art Deco style in the Midwest and continues to pay homage to the importance of railroad travel in Omaha.

Content written by Omaha Exploration. If you enjoy my content, sign up to receive emails or make a donation on my website. You can also follow along or subscribe on my page. Sources for this article can be found on my website. Thank you and keep exploring!

Omaha Exploration is sponsored by Rockbrook Mortgage Inc.

I want to take a moment to thank everyone that follows this page for their support for our Mustaches for Kids charity partners at The Bay and Youth Emergency Services. Serving as your mustache conduit, I'm proud to announce that we personally raised $12,411 while the entire Omaha chapter raised a record $1,175,806 during the month of May. Every Dollar will help kids in this community. I look forward to doing this again next May. Thanks again.

From Union Station to Durham Museum

The skyrocketing popularity of passenger train travel resulted in Union Pacific replacing Omaha's old Union Station with an extravagant new building in 1931. It was built on the site of the old station at 801 S. 10th Street in the area that would become known as the Rail and Commerce District. The new station, in addition to the renovation of the Burlington Station to the south, provided "Omaha railroad passengers, terminal facilities equal to those of any city of its size in the country."...

From Union Station to Durham Museum The skyrocketing popularity of passenger train travel resulted in Union Pacific replacing Omaha’s old Union Station with an extravagant new building in 1931. It was built on the site of the o…