Last updated: September 8, 2022
Place
Selby Apartments
David Calease, NPS
Quick Facts
Location:
830 South 37th Street, 3710 Marcy Street, and 825 South 37th Avenue
Significance:
Social History; Architecture
Designation:
National Register of Historic Places
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
MANAGED BY:
Private Property Owner
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the Selby Apartments represent building patterns in Omaha that were influenced by World War II. The design of Selby Apartments, constructed between 1941 and 1942, was restricted by the War Production Board (WPB), a government agency tasked with converting the country to a wartime economy during World War II. The availability and use of steel, lumber, rubber, and other common building materials were regulated by the WPB. Concrete and plywood along with synthetic materials were therefore used in place of traditional materials in new construction.
Upon official entry into the war in December 1941, cities around the country experienced a shortage of building supplies and increased housing demand for defense workers. By 1944, over 12,000 people were employed at the nearby Glenn L. Martin Bomber Plant in Bellevue. The Martin plant was one of two such facilities ordered for the Midwest region by the United States War Department. Selby Apartments complex was constructed to meet this rising demand for housing in the area.
The complex was designed by local architect Reinholdt Hennig in the Prairie School style, an unusual sight in Omaha. Selby Apartments consist of three two-story, four-unit concrete block buildings arranged in an inverted U-shaped court. The buildings’ main face sits on 37th Street, Marcy Street, and 37th Avenue. Each building has a low-pitched hipped roof, wide overhanging eaves, and a central chimney. The horizontal lines and overlapping planes, characteristic of the Prairie Style, are reinforced by projecting concrete sills on the first floor windows and a projecting belt course on the second story. The complex is situated in a residential neighborhood within the Gold Coast Historic District.
The complex is privately owned and is not open to the public.
Upon official entry into the war in December 1941, cities around the country experienced a shortage of building supplies and increased housing demand for defense workers. By 1944, over 12,000 people were employed at the nearby Glenn L. Martin Bomber Plant in Bellevue. The Martin plant was one of two such facilities ordered for the Midwest region by the United States War Department. Selby Apartments complex was constructed to meet this rising demand for housing in the area.
The complex was designed by local architect Reinholdt Hennig in the Prairie School style, an unusual sight in Omaha. Selby Apartments consist of three two-story, four-unit concrete block buildings arranged in an inverted U-shaped court. The buildings’ main face sits on 37th Street, Marcy Street, and 37th Avenue. Each building has a low-pitched hipped roof, wide overhanging eaves, and a central chimney. The horizontal lines and overlapping planes, characteristic of the Prairie Style, are reinforced by projecting concrete sills on the first floor windows and a projecting belt course on the second story. The complex is situated in a residential neighborhood within the Gold Coast Historic District.
The complex is privately owned and is not open to the public.