The first hotel in Omaha, Nebraska, the St. Nicholas, opened in 1854, and was followed by several other hotels throughout the next decade. In May 1867, George Francis Train (1829-1904) was staying in Omaha when he determined to build a hotel to compete with the Herndon Hotel, then the city's largest. After approximately two months of construction, the hotel was rented to Edward Cozzens and John M. Bettman, who ran it for about one year. The Cozzens House became the city's premiere hotel, though it was eventually forced to close on account of legal disputes and changes in ownership. In 1890, Dr. J. W. McMenamy, president of the Omaha Medical and Surgical Institute, purchased the hotel and transformed it into the institute's building. In 1895, the building became the home of the Presbyterian Omaha Theological Seminary until the construction of a new seminary. The Cozzens House Hotel was demolished in 1902.
From the guide to the Cozzens House Hotel collection, 1866-1868, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
