Florence Boulevard
| Location | Omaha |
|---|---|
| South end | North 19th and Chicago Streets 41°15′45.82″N 95°56′27.87″W / 41.2627278°N 95.9410750°W |
| North end | J.J. Pershing Drive 41°19′37.79″N 95°56′58.38″W / 41.3271639°N 95.9495500°W |
Florence Boulevard, originally known as the Prettiest Mile in Omaha Boulevard, is a boulevard-type north-south street in the north Omaha, Nebraska. With the start of construction in 1892, Florence Boulevard was the first roadway in Omaha's boulevard system designed by Horace Cleveland. Florence Boulevard was the first roadway in Omaha to be fully lit with electric lamps.
Today the boulevard navigates the neighborhoods of the Near North Side including Conestoga Place, and goes north through Kountze Place, Miller Park, and the southern end of Florence, where it merges with J.J. Pershing Drive.
Originally called "The Prettiest Mile in Omaha Boulevard,", it was renamed after the construction of other boulevards throughout the city. Sharing its name with the town of Florence located north of Omaha, both were named after Florence Kilbourn, a niece of a settler who helped organize the Florence Land Company in 1854.
Florence Boulevard was originally designed to connect the city's new Miller Park with the rest of Omaha, and was designed to capture the best views of the Missouri River valley. Florence Boulevard was popular for recreational drives, first by carriage and bicycle and later by car. Tall sycamores, attractive homes and elaborately flowered medians lined the length nearest to Miller Park, and the boulevard became known as "The Prettiest Mile". Because of its level construction and absence of street car rail tracks intersecting it, Florence Boulevard was also called "the only suitable driveway in Omaha."
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Wikipedia