Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition of 1898

Kountze Park, between Pinkney and Pratt streets, lies within the old Grand Court. The ground belonged to the banker Herman Kountze, on the flat between Omaha and the Saratoga townsite, and he offered 11 acres of it for $15,000. After the Greater America Exposition every building was gone by the end of 1899; in the next few years the half-mile lagoon was filled and the land graded into a park. A last pond survived until 1953. In 1980 a crew digging a sewer turned up pieces of an exposition building.

What the plaque says

Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition of 1898 At this site in 1898, Omaha hosted the Trans- Mississippi and International Exposition. Following the model of other "world's fairs," the exposition highlighted the "Progress of the West," drawing over 2.5 million admissions. The exposition grounds encompassed an area from Ames to Binney, and 13th to 24th Streets. The Grand Court, from 16th to 24th Streets between Pinkney and Pratt, featured magnificent, though temporary, buildings around a five-block- long lagoon. The exhibition indulged Victorian curiosity about world cultures and featured the latest arts and sciences. Exotic midway displays, such as the "Streets of All Nations," were complemented by a giant seesaw, wild animals, and an encampment of Native Americans performing mock battles and traditional dances. Many exhibits focused on the wonders of modern technology such as incubators, X-rays and incandescent lighting. "Peace Jubilee Week" in October celebrated the end of the Spanish-American War with a visit from President William McKinley. The war's aftermath, including the acquisition of America's first colony, the Philippines, was highlighted in 1899 during the Greater America Exposition, held on the remodeled Trans-Mississippi grounds. All of the buildings were later removed. Trans-Mississippi Exposition Historical Association Nebraska State Historical Society

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Malcolm X Birthsite — 1.1 mi
  The North Omaha lot where Malcolm Little was born in May 1925 and his family was driven out by the Klan, saved by Rowena Moore and now planned as a cultural center.
• Joslyn Art Museum — 2.1 mi
  Omaha's free art museum, a 1931 Art Deco memorial with two modern pavilions, and the keeper of Karl Bodmer's watercolors from the upper Missouri in 1833 and 1834.
• The Durham Museum (Omaha Union Station) — 2.8 mi
  Omaha's 1931 Union Station, Gilbert Stanley Underwood's Art Deco depot for the Union Pacific, closed to trains in 1971 and kept as a city museum with its waiting room intact.
• Winter Quarters and the Mormon Pioneer Cemetery — 3.3 mi
  The Latter-day Saint camp of 1846 to 1848 on Omaha land in what is now Florence, where hundreds died the first winter, and the cemetery and trail center beside it.

More markers nearby

• Malcolm "X" — 1.1 mi
• Historic Prospect Hill--Omaha's Pioneer Cemetery — 1.3 mi
• Fort Omaha — 1.3 mi
• Crook House — 1.6 mi