Historic Neighborhood Tour 2019

Tour Information

This years tour offers the public opportunities to visit this eclectic neighborhood of 10 restored, preserved and renovated homes. The tour features completed and outgoing renovation projects as well as amazing backyards, including a nature preserve. Vintage cars will be at each home on Sunday from the Meadowlark Model A Ford Club of Omaha.

Registration, Tickets & Will Call

Purchase and pick up all pre-sale tickets at the Tour Registration Site St. Joseph’s Hall – Archdiocesan Retreat & Conference Center (Formerly St. James Orphanage) at 3300 N. 60th St. during tour times.

Parking

Attendees will park at the Retreat & Conference Center Parking lots and board a shuttle to the tour site. There will be 3 shuttle stops along the tour route. The shuttle will return you to the registration site. During the tour times on both Saturday and Sunday N. 58th Street from NW Radial Highway to Pratt will be closed and only opened for shuttle and resident traffic.

Tour Details

This is a walking tour with mostly flat terrain. There are a steps up to the homes and second stories are included. The tour is recommended for adults and older grade-school age children. All attendees will be required to purchase a ticket.

Members enjoy a 50% discount!

Members: $10

General Admission: $20

Tickets available pre-sale until Thursday, October 11 at midnight or on day of the tour
Pre-sale tickets will NOT be sent, they will be available via Will Call at registration table on the day of the tour

Click Here to Become a Member

Click Here for Tour Brochure

Bensonhurst Information

Neighborhood Boundaries

The Neighborhood surrounds North 58th Street bounded by Pratt Street on the North and Northwest Radial Hwy on the South

History

John H. Creighton was the original owner of the land that is now known as Bensonhurst. His farm covered several thousand acres. Contrary to some reporting however, he was not the developer of the Bensonhurst lots. He sold the land for $1,896 to William Young Brown in September 1856. The property changed hands through the years, eventually being purchased and platted by Edwin Lacey in 1892 as Lacey’s Addition. After Lacey’s passing, the executor of the estate sold the land to Imogen A. Benson in 1904. She and her husband Erastus A.

Benson secured a $5,000 mortgage at 7.5% interest in July 1904. Erastus incorporated the Elsinore Place Company the following month with partners John B. and F.W. Carmichael. The Elsinore Place Company replatted the land in 1905 creating Bensonhurst, an addition to the Village of Benson.Mr. Benson, interested in creating a uniformed suburban environment for his subdivision on North 58th Street, created restrictive covenants that required only residential construction with a minimum setback to the street of 30 feet for all the homes. He also required that each home cost no less than $2,500 to ensure quality construction. One of the most interesting covenants was a restriction on bartering or selling “malt or spirituous liquors” on the premise.

Almost immediately construction began on the lots as the Elsinore Place Company sold them to local builders and eager homeowners. Charles D. Creighton was among the first to build in the subdivision on three lots on the west side (2916 N 58th Street). The lots were marketed as attractive to buyers for their proximity to the trolley line, for having large lots measuring 63 feet by 226 feet long (very deep by normal standards), for a paved with permanent walks on both sides and for the huge stone columns marking the entrance. Two of these columns are still visible on the southern end of the block.

2019 Sponsors

2019 Gallery of Homes

Thank You

ADVERTISERS

AIA Nebraska
Better Homes and Garden Real Estate – The Good Life Group, Lori Hubbell and Tim Reeder
The Broke Down Palace
Baird Holm
Byrd Bath
Diamond Vogel Paint & Coatings
Eyman Plumbing
Infusion Brewing Company
Lawrence Paint Co.
Mad Dog Paint Products
Pella Windows and Doors of Omaha and Lincoln
Sage Capital
Swartz Driscoll Condos
Ted and Wally’s
Urban Restorative

INKIND

AO (Printing)

Au Courant Regional Kitchen (Food Donations)

B.G. Peterson (Food Donations)

Cantina Laredo (Food Donations)

Jam’s American Grill (Food Donations)

RDG Planning & Design (Tour Book Design)

TOUR COMMITTEE VOLUNTEERS
Nicole Malone, Committee Chair
Beth Feltus
Deb Peterson
Joshua Biggs
Judy Alderman
Kate Sullivan
Norita Matt
Sherri Moore
Stephanie Rouse
Teri Watson
Trina Westman
Plus all the day of volunteers

PHOTOGRAPHY
Nathan King

MARKETING MATERIALS
Hanscom Park Studio

RESEARCH/WRITING
Beth Feltus
Stephanie Rouse
Joshua Biggs

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CEO
Laura Shiffermiller

A special thanks to the Bensonhurst Neighborhood and our home owners for sharing their properties with us! The “58th Street Newsgirls”, whose reporting back in the summers of ’58 to ’61, were an invaluable tool that helped piece together the histories of the homes and their families. To Yvonne Carlson Wagner and Elizabeth Otte, your time and assistance is truly appreciated. To all the former residents and families REO interviewed, thank you for your time, photos, insights, and histories. And to the Meadowlark Model A Club for bringing out their vintage Ford cars on Sunday.

Have an idea for a future Neighborhood Tour? Share with us at director@restorationexchange.org

Past Historical Neighborhood Tours

Historic Neighborhood Tour 2019