page_title: Omaha station (Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad)
section_title: 1898-1928
hierarchical_section_title: Omaha station (Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad) / 1898-1928
caption_attribution_description: English: Located in Omaha, Nebraska, a 1910 postcard of the front entrance of the Burlington Station.
context_page_description: Omaha station, located at 1001 South 10th Street in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, is a historically and culturally significant landmark, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which is currently used as the studio facility for Omaha's ABC affiliate, television station KETV. When it was opened in 1898, this Italianate style building, designed by Thomas Rogers Kimball, was hailed by newspapers around the world for its grand architecture and accommodations. The station is a contributing property to the Omaha Rail and Commerce Historic District, and sits southeast of the Old Market, and immediately north of Little Italy.
context_section_description: This new Burlington station opened on July 4, 1898, in time for the Trans-Mississippi International Exposition, a glittering inter-national showcase that attracted visitors to Omaha from around the world. The main lobby featured a grand circular staircase that led passengers downstairs to track level and the trains. A large canopy, a first for an Omaha train station, covered two tracks and kept passengers from the elements. The spacious lobby included new amenities, such as separate men's and women's waiting rooms, a gentleman's smoking room, and a sit-down lunch counter. The interior featured Sienna marble columns, and mosaic floors with the staircase accented with bronze castings of Rocky Mountain Sheep heads. The total cost of the station was $408,000.00, a very impressive amount for the day.
  The building attracted considerable attention for its pristine beauty. The accolades were universal. A German commission judged the station to be America's finest railroad station, and in 1908, the Chicago Record wrote, 'The handsomest railway station ever seen is the Burlington Station at Omaha. It is an artistic gem and looks like a Grecian Temple.'
  Although great attention was lavished on the classic proportions and styling of the station, functional considerations were also important to the design. Since the two-story depot was built next to the 10th Street viaduct, the main entrance to the station was from the viaduct to the second floor. This portico featured twenty-eight massive Colorado granite columns. The walls of the depot were built of light gray brick and buff Indiana limestone; the roof was covered in red glazed tile. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, in discussing the Omaha station in 1889 said, 'Through an inspiration worthy of general imitation, it (The Burlington Railroad) has erected at Omaha a most imposing, most original, and most architectural of passenger stations.'
caption: Former front entrance of the station from a 1910 postcard.
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