5. Jobber’s Canyon Historic District - Omaha, NE
</a>Courtesy of Omaha Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission
Jobbers Canyon was a large industrial district in downtown Omaha, Nebraska that rose to prominence during the country’s 19th century westward expansion. It holds the distinction as the largest National Register historic district lost to date. A center for wholesalers, meat packers and support businesses, the 21-block warehouse district was home to more than 1.7 million square feet of office, warehouse and industrial space at its early 20th century peak. In 1979, its 24 buildings were added to the NRHP. In 1987, J. Jackson Walter, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, went as far as to claim that the warehouse district was one of the nation’s finest collection of this sort of buildings.
In 1989, held hostage by ConAgra, the City of Omaha demolished the entire historic district to make way for a sprawling corporate headquarters for the company. At the time, ConAgra’s CEO referred to Jobbers Canyon as a place with “some big, ugly buildings”. Despite destroying 24 blocks of Omaha’s rich history, ConAgra eventually relocated their headquarters to Chicago in 2015.
Courtesy of Omaha Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission
Courtesy of Omaha Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission
Courtesy of Omaha Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission
Courtesy of Omaha Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission
Courtesy of Omaha Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission
Courtesy of Omaha Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission
4. LaVilla - Jacksonville, FL
Once a regimental campsite for the Second Florida Infantry, during the Civil War, LaVilla was an incorporated city of 3,000 residents by the time Jacksonville annexed it in 1887. Because of its strategic location, LaVilla was the city’s railroad hub, primary red light district, and center of African-American life and culture in Northeast Florida.
Google Earth aerial of LaVilla in 1994.
During its heyday, LaVilla’s streets were lined with theaters such as the Bijou, Airdome, Globe, Frolic, and Strand. With live music venues like the Lenape Bar, Hollywood Music Store and Knights of Pythias Hall, it was an important stop on what was known as the Chitlin’ Circuit for Black entertainers. In fact, in 1910, the first published account of blues singing on a public stage occurred in LaVilla.
Also known as Uptown, its streets were lined with entertainment establishments that played host to famed jazz & blues greats such as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holliday. It’s who’s who list of former residents include Ray Charles, James Weldon Johnson and Eartha White.
Google Earth aerial of LaVilla in 2015.
Like many historic neighborhoods across the country, for various reasons LaVilla fell on hard times during the 1960s. In the early 1990s the city relocated the neighborhood’s residents and demolished its buildings as a part of the River City Renaissance plan. In the 25 years after its wholesale destruction, the neighborhood formerly known as LaVilla is characterized by empty overgrown lots and suburban office complexes in the heart of the city.
Courtesy of the Historic Preservation Section, Jacksonville Planning and Development Department
Courtesy of the Historic Preservation Section, Jacksonville Planning and Development Department
Courtesy of the Historic Preservation Section, Jacksonville Planning and Development Department
Courtesy of the Historic Preservation Section, Jacksonville Planning and Development Department
Courtesy of the Historic Preservation Section, Jacksonville Planning and Development Department
Courtesy of the Historic Preservation Section, Jacksonville Planning and Development Department