Between 1900 and 1920, Omaha's cultural and financial leaders made their homes in this roughly 30-block Gold Coast Historic District, bounded by 36th, 40th, Jones and Cuming Streets and listed on the National Register in 1997. Imagine the years between 1900 and 1920, when this neighborhood housed many of Omaha’s cultural and financial leaders and took over from the city’s original Gold Coast in prominence. The area was developed in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and from 1880 through the 1940s several large mansions were built for upper middle and upper class commuters.
In the 1920s it was a trendy social hotspot, called the “Gold Coast” for its concentration of high-value homes. Stroll mentally past mansions and single‑family houses, and notice that the district also contains some apartment buildings and duplexes, reflecting its mostly middle- and upper-class residents of the era. The West Farnam neighborhood, later called the Blackstone, stood distinct from the Cathedral neighborhood at the time, and both are included in this larger Gold Coast.
West Farnam, later called the Blackstone, and the Cathedral neighborhood both lie within these 30 blocks.