View source for Train Town

{{Short description|Neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.}}
{{other uses|Traintown (disambiguation)|Kawakawa, New Zealand}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
'''Train Town''', today called the '''Credit Foncier Addition''', was a suburb of [[Omaha, Nebraska]] owned by noted eccentric [[Union Pacific]] promoter [[George Francis Train]]'s company called [[Credit Foncier of America]]. The area was 20 [[City block|blocks]] by 20 blocks, which was approximately the size of Omaha at the time. It was located from Pierce Street southward to what is now the path of I-80, and from the [[Missouri River]] on the west to 20th Street.<ref>Bristow, D.L. (2002) ''A Dirty, Wicked Town: Tales of 19th Century Omaha.'' Caxton Press. p 66.</ref>

==History==
Train bought the tract of land on what was then the southern edge of Omaha, and frequently claimed to own {{convert|5000|acre|km2}} in the city. He eventually brought in [[Prefabricated home|prefabricated cottages]] to help ease the housing shortage in the city. Train bought the area on the speculation that citizens would want to live near the old Union Pacific depot and the [[Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge]], which was built next to the neighborhood at Train's insistence.<ref>Crofutt, G.A. (1880) ''Crofutt's New Overland Tourist, and Pacific Coast Guide.'' The Overland Publishing Company. p 21.</ref><ref>Richardson, A.D. (1869) [http://cprr.org/Museum/Through_to_the_Pacific/Through_to_the_Pacific.html "Through to the Pacific"], Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum. Retrieved 4/10/08.</ref>  There was a public elementary school located at Sixth and Hickory Streets in the community that was named for Train, called "Train Elementary School".<ref>Thorton, W. (1948) ''The Nine Lives of Citizen Train.'' Greenberg Publishers. p 179.</ref>

According to journalist and African explorer [[Henry Morton Stanley]], Train made "a small fortune" by selling lots in Train Town.<ref>Stanley, H.M. (1895) ''My Early Travels and Adventures in America and Asia.'' Charles Scribner's Sons. p 193.</ref> The remaining land was repossessed by creditors in the early 1870s,<ref>Bristow, D.L. (2002) ''A Dirty, Wicked Town: Tales of 19th Century Omaha.'' Caxton Press. p 76.</ref> and today it is located immediately south of [[Downtown Omaha]]. The tract is still referred to as the "Credit Foncier Addition." [[Credit Foncier of America|Credit Foncier]] was Train's company that [[plat]]ted the land in 1867. It still contains a number of original cottages, especially along Woolworth Avenue.

==See also==
* [[History of Omaha]]
* [[List of neighborhoods in Omaha, Nebraska]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{coord missing|Nebraska}}

{{Pioneer Omaha}}
{{Community areas of Omaha}}

[[Category:Neighborhoods in Omaha, Nebraska]]
[[Category:Pioneer history of Omaha, Nebraska]]


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