First Unitarian Church of Omaha

The First Unitarian Church of Omaha, Nebraska is a Unitarian Universalist Church located at 3114 Harney Street in the Midtown area.[3]

First Unitarian Church of Omaha
View from south, across Harney Street
First Unitarian Church of Omaha is located in Nebraska
First Unitarian Church of Omaha
First Unitarian Church of Omaha is located in the United States
First Unitarian Church of Omaha
LocationOmaha, Nebraska
Coordinates41°15′25″N 95°57′31″W / 41.2569057792381°N 95.95850917892008°W / 41.2569057792381; -95.95850917892008
Built1917[2]
ArchitectJohn McDonald, Alan McDonald[2]
Architectural styleColonial Revival
NRHP reference No.80002448[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMarch 27, 1980
Designated OMALFebruary 13, 1979[2]

History

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First Unitarian Church of Omaha was incorporated on August 22, 1869, by twenty-six men and women. Its regular minister was Reverend Henry E. Bond, and its first chapel was a small brick building located at 17th and Cass that was dedicated in 1871. In the fall of 1889 Reverend Newton M. Mann came to serve the church. Mann was the first American minister to promote evolution.[citation needed]

The present Colonial Revival building at 31st and Harney was designed by Omaha architects John McDonald and his son Alan McDonald. Former U.S. president William Howard Taft, who was then president of the Unitarian Church Conference in the United States and Canada, presided at the 1917 cornerstone-laying ceremony. The building was dedicated in September 1918.[4] In the 1930s, Sarah Joslyn gave the church its Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ.

References

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  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c "Omaha Landmarks". Omaha Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  3. ^ First Unitarian Church of Omaha website. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
  4. ^ Kidd, Daniel. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form: First Unitarian Church of Omaha".[usurped] Nebraska State Historical Society.[usurped] Retrieved 2011-10-25.
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