The Omaha National Bank Building was built in 1888–89 at 1650 Farnam Street in Downtown Omaha , Nebraska . Built in the Italian Renaissance style, the building was saved from demolition by a rehabilitation in 1978. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, the building was originally known as the New York Life Insurance Building; it was renamed in 1906.
19-866: Originally occupied by the New York Life Insurance Company, the building was purchased by the Kountze Brothers 's Omaha National Bank in 1909. Constructed in 1888–89, the building was designed in the Renaissance Revival style by Frederick Elmer Hill (1857–1929) of the New York City architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White . The firm designed an identical office tower, the New York Life Building in Kansas City, Missouri , and
38-540: A late-19th century national banking dynasty along with his brothers Charles , Herman and Augustus . From 1858 to 1862, Luther worked at the Kountze Brothers Bank in Omaha, Nebraska , which was operated by his brothers Augustus and Herman. Late in 1862, he went to Denver, Colorado, where he opened a bank under the name of Kountze Brothers and listed his brothers as senior members. In 1866, they organized
57-605: The Colorado National Bank of Denver. After a great fire engulfed much of the city in 1867, Kountze was credited with saving the city of Denver, Colorado from financial disaster, and ultimately, oblivion. Late that year and into the next, Kountze worked with several other investors to form the company that would eventually become the Denver Pacific Railroad and Telegraph Co. Luther left Colorado for New York in 1867. In 1868, he established
76-588: The Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben to promote Omaha business interests. Its first meeting place was in North Omaha at North 20th and Burdette Streets, located in Kountze Place . Aside from the aforementioned Kountze Place , Kountze dealt in a great deal of land throughout North Omaha . He sold an 82-acre (330,000 m ) tract of land four miles (6 km) north of Omaha and 1½ miles south of Florence to
95-604: The U.S. Army in 1868. It became Fort Omaha . In the late 19th century he donated land to the Sacred Heart Church at 2206 Binney Street. Kountze donated land to Brownell Hall to relocate from the former town of Saratoga to South Tenth and Worthington Streets in the late 19th century. Herman Kountze was the treasurer for the Trans-Mississippi Exposition of 1898. After running into transportation issues with its first land choice for
114-767: The Union Stockyards and the Livestock Exchange Building , and ran the South Omaha Terminal Railway . The city of Kountze in Hardin County, Texas was named in honor of Herman and Augustus. They were early financial backers of the Sabine and East Texas Railroad which established the town as a station on the line. As retail businesses and lumbermen accompanied the railroad, the town of Kountze grew, and in 1886
133-727: The Kountze Brothers Bank at 52 Wall Street in Manhattan . His brother Augustus later joined him there, where they traded securities and bonds. In 1908, U.S. Senator Robert M. La Follette included him in the "100 men who controlled banking." He was then vice-president and a director of the United States Mortgage and Trust Company . In 1881, Luther moved to Morristown, New Jersey and built an English-style estate designed by George E. Harney . He died in 1918, leaving an estate valued at $ 4,973,950. Kountze
152-811: The age of 26, Kountze moved to join his brother Augustus, who was a real estate agent in the new Omaha City , located on the eastern edge of the Nebraska Territory . Immediately the brothers organized the Kountze Brothers Bank and bought a large amount of land in the river towns along the Missouri River in Nebraska , with holdings in Brownville , Nebraska City , Tekamah , and Dakota City , and in Sioux City, Iowa . Eventually they invested throughout Nebraska, across Iowa , Minnesota , and
171-421: The building in 1972. After being vacated it was slated for demolition. However, the building was rehabilitated in 1978 and converted to office space. Today, the building is called The Omaha Building, and it is home to the law firm Kutak Rock . [REDACTED] Media related to Omaha National Bank Building at Wikimedia Commons Herman Kountze Herman Kountze (August 21, 1833 – November 20, 1906)
190-804: The development of the Omaha Stockyards and the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition of 1898. Immediately after his death Kountze was regarded as one of Omaha's "old settlers". Today Kountze's First National Bank is the oldest bank west of the Mississippi River , and continues as a privately held company in its sixth generation of family ownership. Herman Kountze was born August 21, 1833, in Osnaburg, Ohio , one of twelve children born to Christian and Margaret Kountze. After leaving his father's mercantile business at
209-450: The event, Kountze volunteered to sell part of his Kountze Place development to the city. As part of the real estate transaction, the City used a small parcel to develop Kountze Park , which still functions as a neighborhood park in that area. Working with John A. Creighton , Herman Kountze was an executor of the will of Mary Lucretia Creighton after her death in 1876. In that capacity he
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#1732798705281228-578: The first president. Herman was the bank's first cashier, and became the second president of the bank after Creighton died in 1873. In 1862 he joined several of his brothers, including Augustus, in founding the Kountze Brothers Bank of Denver, which became the Colorado National Bank in 1866. Herman's brother Luther went to New York City and founded the Kountze Brothers Bank there in 1867. Herman joined his brother Augustus as senior partner, and by 1872 Augustus moved permanently from Omaha to New York to manage affairs directly. After Augustus left, Herman took
247-556: The forests and grazing lands of east Texas , as well as in Chicago and Denver . In 1864, Kountze married Elizabeth Davis, the daughter of Thomas Davis, a founding pioneer of Omaha. In 1899, after his first wife died, he was married for a second time to Clara Sara Whitney Cotton. In 1867, Herman joined his brother in organizing the First National Bank of Omaha , with fellow Omaha businessman Edward Creighton serving as
266-770: The ideal location he was selling, Kountze sold the land required to develop Neligh, Nebraska , which eventually became the county seat of Antelope County . In 1883 Kountze was a plaintiff and defendant in a lawsuit and counter-suit with the Omaha Hotel Company owned by John J. Reddick . The case pertained to the money owed in a failed real estate investment scheme. Other codefendants in the case included other pioneer investors in Omaha: Jeptha H. Wade , James W. Bosler, Thomas Wardell, Henry W. Yates and John A. Creighton . They were represented by pioneer lawyer Andrew J. Poppleton . In 1895 Kountze helped found
285-616: The management of the affairs of the firm in Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota. Herman Kountze was a prolific investor. Among his holdings were a number of railroads, including the Omaha and Northwestern Railroad , the Denver and South Park Railroad , the Sabine and East Texas Railway , the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel and Western Railway , and the Troy and Boston Railroad . In 1872, while misunderstanding
304-569: The town became the county seat. Herman Kountze died in 1906 and was interred in Omaha's Forest Lawn Cemetery , of which he was a founding trustee and in which there is a roadway named for him. Luther Kountze Luther Kountze (October 29, 1841 – April 17, 1918) was an American banker , responsible for helping the city of Denver, Colorado in a time of need and leaving a philanthropic legacy in Morristown, New Jersey . He founded
323-670: Was Omaha's first 10-story structure. Started in 1856, Omaha National Bank's original location was at 212 South 13th Street. In 1906 they purchased the building from the New York Life Insurance Company and renovated it completely. Omaha pioneer Ezra Millard was the first president of Omaha National Bank. Future Omaha mayor and Nebraska Senator Joseph H. Millard was president of the Omaha National Bank after Millard's departure in 1871. Omaha National Bank merged with another bank and moved out of
342-404: Was a powerful and influential pioneer banker in Omaha , Nebraska , during the late 19th century. After organizing the Kountze Brothers Bank in 1857 as the second bank in Omaha, Herman and his brothers Augustus , Charles and Luther changed the charter in 1863, opening the First National Bank of Omaha that year. Kountze was involved in a number of influential ventures around Omaha, including
361-653: Was partly responsible for carrying out the original intentions of Edward Creighton , Mary's husband, who wanted to found a free university in Omaha. That institution eventually took the shape of Creighton University . Kountze was a partner in the South Omaha Land Syndicate , the South Omaha Land Company , and the Union Stock Yards Company of Omaha of South Omaha . This company was responsible for building
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