The Old Market is a neighborhood located in Downtown Omaha, Nebraska, United States, and is bordered by South 10th Street to the east, 13th Street to the west, Farnam Street to the north and Jackson Street to the South. The neighborhood has many restaurants, art galleries and upscale shopping. The area retains its brick paved streets from the turn of the 20th century, horse-drawn carriages, and covered sidewalks in some areas. It is not uncommon to see a variety of street performers, artists, and other vendors.
The area is on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district, and borders the former site of the Jobbers Canyon Historic District, as well as the extant Omaha Rail and Commerce Historic District and the Warehouses in Omaha MPS. There is a walking tour of historic buildings available from the Omaha Chamber of Commerce. There are also several specifically noted historic buildings within the district.
The Old Market was developed in the late 1800s as a center for wholesale and other jobs. Many manufacturing and printing companies began to locate themselves in the Old Market. By the 1960s, the Old Market began experiencing vacancy issues. Other venues West of the district pulled people away from it.
Buildings were eventually converted into apartments and restaurants and the Old Market became an entertainment district by 1970. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 23, 1979, and was designated as an Omaha Landmark on January 22, 1985. In 1988, a block of the Old Market was demolished to build 1200 Landmark Center. One of the buildings, the Dewey and Stone Building, had its facade preserved for future usage.
On January 9, 2016, at 2:51 pm local time, a large explosion occurred at M's Pub on the northwest corner of 11th and Howard streets, causing a large fire to break out. The fire and subsequent efforts to extinguish it caused a total loss of the 100-year-old building as firefighters worked through the night and following morning. Temperatures at the time were in the sub-zero range, causing large-scale freezing of the water from the fire fighting efforts. The explosion is believed to have been caused by a gas line that was accidentally ruptured by contractors on behalf of Verizon installing fiber-optic cables. Although several people were injured during the explosion, there were no fatalities. Eyewitnesses reported injuries sustained by multiple people within the immediate vicinity of the explosion, although these were not broadcast by local media outlets.
Buildings within the Old Market have served a variety of purposes, and were built during various eras. Originally built to sell groceries wholesale and retail to the city of Omaha and beyond, the Old Market district was preceded by the Market House in Omaha's Jefferson Square.
The Old Market district was formed when the Market House still stood. The buildings and businesses included:
Most of the buildings in the Old Market are brick, and the streets throughout are covered with bricked surfaces, cobblestone and asphalt. There were also cast-iron fronts, metal cornices, stone trim, and metal sidewalk coverings shelters attached to many of the buildings around the turn of the 20th century.