Color postcard (13.5 x 9 cm) with a view of a pumping station at the Florence Waterworks, in the Florence neighborhood, Omaha, Nebraska, from a distance. Seen is a body of water on the far right, the front of the building with its arched entrance and tower, and off to the left, more building. There are trees lining a drive and a large expanse of lawn. The caption Minne-Lusa Station; Omaha Water-Work System is in the lower left and Omaha, Neb. is in the lower right corner of the card in a white border.
The Minne Lusa Pumping Station and settling basins occupied a narrow strip of land along the eastern extent of Florence known as the Metropolitan Utilities District. Here the muddy water of the Missouri River was filtered and made pure for human consumption. The main pumping station was a massive building of Warrensburg sandstone with a central tower rising four stories over the arched entrance. It was designed by Mendelssohn, Fisher, & Lawrie, Omaha architects, and erected in 1888-1889. From this building, which contained the high service pump and huge boilers, the filtered water flowed to the city mains. By 1970 the building was taken down and replaced. Source: Federal Writer's Project. Omaha: A Guide to the City and Environs. Omaha: Omaha Public Library, 1981, p. 149.
