Color postcard (14 x 9 cm.) with an exterior nighttime view of the smelting works of the American Smelting and Refining Company, located on the corner of 5th and Douglas Streets (200 South 5th Street) in Omaha, Nebraska. There is a full moon, fire coming out of the smoke stacks, and rail cars in the foreground. The title "Smelters at Night, Omaha, Neb." is in the top left corner.
American Smelting and Refining Co., later known as Asarco, consolidated several plants on April 4, 1889. A quarter of a century later, the Asarco plant at the corner of 5th & Douglas Streets was the largest lead refinery in the world. In 1972, scientists discovered the plant was releasing high amounts of lead into Omaha's air. Asarco submitted a plan in 1995 for demolition of the plant and cleanup of the site. The plant closed in 1997 and by 2001 the old Asarco site was donated to the city and renamed "Lewis and Clark Landing". Source: Wakeley, Arthur. Omaha: The Gate City and Douglas County Nebraska, Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, c1917, p. 286-88 and Omaha World Herald/Proquest Newsstand database.
