40 Nebraskaland • November 2025
in the city.
The project was troubled from the beginning. Funds ran
out and construction halted after less than four months. Ed
Creighton — the richest man in town — made a big personal
loan, but two years later, the company again ran short before
the hotel was fi nished. When Creighton tried to foreclose, the
other stockholders fought him in court to prevent him from
gaining sole ownership. The feud was still unresolved when
the hotel fi nally opened in 1873.
Five stories tall and billing itself as the "largest and best
hotel between Chicago and San Francisco," the Grand Central
off ered the latest in style and comfort. Its ground-fl oor
exterior featured lots of iron and glass; the upper stories were
brick with white stone window caps. Every room had hot
and cold water, steam heat and gas lighting. The local press
described each fl oor in detail — the chandeliers and marble-
topped stands, the richly carpeted hallways, the lavish bar
and billiard rooms and the Western Union telegraph offi ce
with its 34-wire switchboard.
But the hotel struggled fi nancially and was sold at auction
in 1878. Renovations were underway when, on the evening
of Sept. 4, a workman accidentally kicked over a candle on
the fi fth fl oor. Omaha's all-volunteer fi re department arrived
to fi nd dense smoke rolling from the mansard roof and
upper windows. The city had supported a hook-and-ladder
company since 1860, starting with a single cart pulled by the
men themselves. Other equipment had been added over the
years, including a steam engine and a network of cisterns
from which water could be pumped — because the city had
no waterworks.
The fi re began about 6:45 p.m. Within an hour, the fi remen
ran out of water and spent the next 15 to 20 minutes running
hose to more distant cisterns. Even then, they could not
Inside Omaha's Grand Central Hotel. NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
