Art Deco lines from 1928 mark the Paxton Hotel at 1403 Farnam Street. Feel the weight of layers here: this site once held pioneer Omaha’s Grand Central Hotel until it burned in 1878, and then the Kitchen brothers—C.W., W.T., and J.B. Kitchen—built the original Paxton Hotel in 1882 to replace it, spending $250,000 and offering 175 rooms with an elegant dining room and a bar. The current building, designed by local architect Joseph G. McArthur, was constructed in 1928 and carries forward that hospitality legacy.
Named for local businessman and community leader William A. Paxton, the property today houses luxury condominia and stands as one of the few significant Art Deco structures in Omaha. Imagine the parade of famous guests who passed this threshold: Buffalo Bill Cody, William Jennings Bryan, and even President William McKinley, who stayed at the Paxton during the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in 1898. As you listen, picture that changing storefront rhythm, the hotel’s layered past, and how an 1882 origin and a 1928 rebuilding meet where you stand.
Picture President McKinley and Buffalo Bill Cody among the famous guests who once passed through these doors.