How Did I Live That Long In Omaha And Not Know They Once Had A World’s Fair?

I went to a reading at the Tattered Cover the other night for The Swan Gondola By Timothy Schaffert. I didn’t know much about the book, but I’d heard friends saying good things about it so when I noticed it on the events list I decided to go. Big surprise for me? The book is set at the 1898 World’s Fair in Omaha.

I was not aware that Omaha had ever hosted the World’s Fair.

Okay, it wasn’t actually called the World’s Fair in 1898. It was called the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. The World’s Fair was a colloquialism at that point, I believe.

Still, I lived in Omaha a long time. How did I never hear about this? Or, did I hear and just forgot. This was a huge thing, taking up a massive 180-acre tract in what was then undeveloped North Omaha to build this gigantic city (featuring a 2,000 feet long lagoon encircled by 21 classical buildings) for a summer. 2.6 million people attended, which is a lot for Omaha though smaller than the 27 million visitors to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair (World’s Columbian Exposition) (Omaha always ends up coming across as a little version of Chicago). How could I not have heard about an undertaking this big in Omaha’s history?

Granted, nothing of the fair remains today other than supposedly a marker in Kountze Park, which I can’t be sure I’ve ever visited. Still, how did I miss this?

Then again, I didn’t realize that Aksarben was Nebraska spelled backwards until I was almost 19. Maybe I just didn’t pay enough attention.