Last updated: September 2, 2022
Place
Stabrie Grocery
David Calease, NPS
Quick Facts
Location:
501 North 13th Street
Significance:
Commerce
Designation:
National Register of Historic Places
MANAGED BY:
Private Property Owner
Northeast of Omaha’s central business district is the Stabrie Grocery. Constructed in 1883 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places for its significance in the history and evolution of the grocery business in the United States, the Stabrie Grocery served the needs of early residents that were concentrated in the surrounding dense residential neighborhoods. The use of the building shifted as the area became more industrial. Stabrie Grocery represents an excellent example of the dynamic ways a building can be used throughout the history of the city.
In the mid-nineteenth century, it was common to purchase grocery items from a general store that carried an assortment of dry goods as along with other items such as boots, shoes, and dishes. These stores conducted both retail and wholesale trade. Stabrie Grocery operated in this manner from 1883 to 1894, serving the heavily populated residential areas of the city near large employers like Union Pacific Railroad. In 1894, the small grocery store closed while the area was in a period of transition. and was primarily occupied by saloons until 1915.
In the late nineteenth century wholesale grocery trade began to grow due in part to improved transportation and communication systems. Between 1894 and 1915 the area around Stabrie Grocery building transitioned from residential to transportation and commerce, facilitating the use of the building for a wholesale grocer. That business operated until 1945 when the Central Mattress Company occupied the building to manufacture, sell, and ship mattresses through the 1990s.
Despite the changes in neighborhoods, industry and the construction of Interstate 480 destroying many buildings around Stabrie Grocery, the building still stands as one of the oldest extant buildings in the area.
In the mid-nineteenth century, it was common to purchase grocery items from a general store that carried an assortment of dry goods as along with other items such as boots, shoes, and dishes. These stores conducted both retail and wholesale trade. Stabrie Grocery operated in this manner from 1883 to 1894, serving the heavily populated residential areas of the city near large employers like Union Pacific Railroad. In 1894, the small grocery store closed while the area was in a period of transition. and was primarily occupied by saloons until 1915.
In the late nineteenth century wholesale grocery trade began to grow due in part to improved transportation and communication systems. Between 1894 and 1915 the area around Stabrie Grocery building transitioned from residential to transportation and commerce, facilitating the use of the building for a wholesale grocer. That business operated until 1945 when the Central Mattress Company occupied the building to manufacture, sell, and ship mattresses through the 1990s.
Despite the changes in neighborhoods, industry and the construction of Interstate 480 destroying many buildings around Stabrie Grocery, the building still stands as one of the oldest extant buildings in the area.