Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-11-26
From the First Omaha Family Hotel to the Latest Big Change

It's q far cry from the first family
hotel In Omaha to the Blackstone
the latest one.
The first family hotel In this city
was the st. Nicholas. They called 1t
family" because everybody. guests
and all, slept In the same room in bad
weather. In good weather the men
folks all went outside and slept under
the wagons or wrapped in their
blankets, with nothing over them but
the sky.
When that hotel, the st. Nicholas.
was completed, all guests came In p
wagon or on horseback. They couldn't
take a train because there was no rail-
road closer than the Mississippi river.
They couldn't take trolley car be-
cause they had not been invented.
They couldn't walk from he nearest
town because there wasn't any near.
est. town; they were all far away.
The st. Nicholas could be picked up,
bodily, house, chimney and ALL and
put over in one corner Of the Black
stones office. In fact, the st. Mich
olas could be placed in tho writing
room at the Blackstone and there
would be sufficient room left on ~
sides for a procession Of those who
used to live at the earlier hotel to
pass round and round the ancient
t.ilding.
The St. Nicholas stood 1t Twelfth
and Jackson streets. It was Omahas
first hotel. 1t was built Of cottonwood
logs. cut on the site Of the building
and It's one room was Just sixteen by
eighteen feet.
A Difference In Frame.
All the building material used In the
st. Nicholas would scarcely build .
single room Of the modern Blackstone,
The Blackstone has $4,000 worth Of
steel in its frame. The old st. Mich
olas didn't have any frame at all A
few dollars worth Of nails was all
the iron used in the frontier hotel
Iron was so scarce in Omaha In those
days that the hinges on the door were
made Of wood instead Of metal.
As a fact there was but one door
In the first family hotel In Omaha.
There were no partitions in the build
ing and consequently. there was nv
use for but a single door. And that
door was made Of "puncheons slabs
cut out Of logs, not sawed. II was
TOO far to a saw mill to get hold Of
sufficient planking out Of which to
make door, So the builders Of the
st. Nicholas spent day.or two In cut
ting out thick puncheons for the door.
Now the Blackstone has SO many
doors. that the little old hotel at
Twelfth and jackson would be too
small to hold them II they were taken
from their polished brass and nickel
hinges and nicely stacked up within
the building.
A. To Windows.
There was window In the st. Mich.
olas--and the Indians used to come
100 miles to see the wonder. They
couldn't fathom the substance which
could be seen through like spring
water but which they could not stick
their fingers into.
The Blackstone has more glass In
1ust one basement window than the
st. Nicholas had, oil told.
II was about 1858 that the st. Mich
olas was thrown open TO the public.
The building belonged to the Ne
braska & Council Bluffs Ferry Co. and
was operated by Uncle" Billy Snow
den.
They did some fast building In those
days, despite the fact that Omaha was
30 far from the edge Of civilization.
The Ct Nicholas was built and ready
for the public within less than one
wsek from the time tn first sill was
laid. The Blackstone has been build,