Source Information
About Fort Omaha, Nebraska, U.S., Directory, 1888-1896
A military post, located on the right bank of the Missouri River north of Omaha, was established in December, 1868, by Captain William Sinclair, 3rd U. S. Artillery. The post was originally called Camp Sherman, in honor of William Tecumseh Sherman, before changing its name to Omaha Barracks a year later. On December 30, 1878, the post was designated Fort Omaha. During this same time period, the U. S. Army's Department of the Platte was organized and the fort served from 1878 until 1881 as the Department's headquarters when it moved back to the city. The post, however, remained home to upwards of ten companies of the 2nd Infantry until 1896 when the garrison was relocated to Fort Crook near Bellevue, Nebraska. Fort Crook is now the site of Offutt Air Force Base.
Fort Omaha was re-opened in 1905 as a school for non-commissioned officers of the signal corps with a balloon plant established there in 1909. The grounds were used as an observation balloon school during World War I and later as the site of a navy recruiting station. Today, the well preserved brick buildings and grounds form one of the campuses of the Metropolitan Community College system and as headquarters for the Douglas County Historical Society.