Mercer Block Number Three - Omaha - Old Market Canvas Print

I am looking down 11th Street as it intersects with Howard Street in the Old Market Historic District of Omaha, Nebraska. The building in the foreground with the Central Supply advertising painted on its side is Mercer Block Number Three. This building was recently fully renovated after a fire gutted it in 2016.

In the late-1800s, the heart of the Old Market District in Omaha, Nebraska, was teeming with produce dealers, shoppers, and transporters as the City's center for grocery business activity. All that came to a halt in the 1950s when radical changes to grocery marketing left the Old Market's century-old brick warehouses sitting vacant. The City threatened to condemn and demolish them to put modern buildings in their place.

Sam Mercer, whose family owned several of the building, equated it to "painting over the Mona Lisa." It was his vision to renovate these warehouse spaces into restaurants and shopping with living spaces above. By 1968, he had acquired the rema...

I'm a travel photographer that enjoys photographing United States architecture, nature, and transportation. As the 8th photographer in 4 generations of my family, I don't remember a time when photography was not part of my life. By the time I was five years old, I was standing on a stool in the darkroom, helping my dad develop pictures. It was my job to transfer the photos from the hypo to the water bath. I went to college for interior design. After I graduated, I had a long successful career as an art buyer and designer for a large home furnishings company. In 2006, I had a significant life change. My husband became a medical traveler, and I decided to put my career on hold to tag along. In the process, I found my roots again. What...