April 2022 • Nebraskaland 31
in 1916, along with a string of other
prodigious hotels in Omaha and
Lincoln that brought people from all
over the country to eastern Nebraska.
"The railroad was grand. So were my
family's hotels. They had fancy dining
rooms with white-gloved waiters
rolling silver carts for haute French
table service … [The men] were proud,
prominent, going places …"
The Blackstone gained icon status
through the Roaring Twenties, serving
as a luxury stopover between San
Francisco and Chicago along the Old
Lincoln Highway. President John F.
Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline
Kennedy spent their fi fth wedding
anniversary at the Blackstone, and
on Dec. 15, 1967, Richard Nixon
announced his candidacy for the
presidency from the rooftop ballroom.
The hotel's The Orleans Room
restaurant won Holiday magazine's
"Award for Excellence" 16 consecutive
years.
The hotel remained popular
throughout its lifetime until 1976, and
for unclear reasons, the building was
converted for offi ce use in the 1980s.
In 2017, local investors renovated the
space with the vision of bringing the
Blackstone back to its former grandeur.
In 2020, the Kimpton Cottonwood
Hotel opened in the midst of the
coronavirus pandemic. The Blackstone
name was dropped to avoid confusion
with The Blackstone in Chicago.
Today, the historic hotel is an
elegant blend of the past and present.
It's new art deco with a touch of nature
— a contemporary reimagining of the
opulence and glamour of the 1920s
A 1958 photo of one of the original wild game dinners that took place at the historical Blackstone Hotel in Omaha.
At the time, these dinners were open to men only. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE KIMPTON COTTONWOOD HOTEL
