Tour highlights restoration work in Benson

A Historic Restoration Tour is set for Sunday, highlighting commercial and residential buildings in the Benson neighborhood.

The tour runs from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and starts at the Griswold Service Station, 5504 Northwest Radial.

The service station site was once the home of James A. Howard, pioneer mayor of Benson. Rezoned to commercial use in the 1950s, the home was razed. A Texaco station in the 1980s inspired the planned restoration by the current owner.

Also on the tour, some open to visitors and some on a “windshield” tour of their exteriors: 2943 N. 58th St. The 1923 Craftsman home was built for the John Lewis Corbaley family.

2510 N. 56th St. This Prairie-style residence on the Omaha Country Club golf course was built as a summer home for attorney Francis Brogan in 1902.

“Aloha House,” 2320 N. 56th St. The Shingle-style home on the Omaha Country Club golf course was built in 1901 for telegraph pioneer Col. John J. Dickey as a summer home. He modeled the home after architecture he had seen in Hawaii during his military career. In 1903, it was purchased by Abraham Lincoln Reed, son of Omaha real estate developer Byron Reed, as a summer home.

2346 N. 60th Ave. Catherine McCreary, granddaughter of Edward Creighton, reared her four children in this Foursquare home built on two lots in 1906. The exterior has an elevated wraparound porch with paired classical columns.

Hargiss Stringed Instruments, 6061 Maple St. This mixed-use building was built in the Folk Victorian style around 1901 for the Mike J. Chalupsky family.

Sorenson Building, 6104 Maple St. This Neoclassical commercial building was built by John Sorenson in 1913 as a saloon. The building also has served as an auditorium, a billiard hall, dental and medical offices and a dry goods store. In the 1940s, Topp’s women’s clothing store opened with an art deco design theme.

Howard Building, 6105 Maple St. Built in 1904 for James Almond Howard, mayor and treasurer of Benson in the early 1900s, the building exhibits Italian Renaissance features on the primary facade.

Burke’s Pub, 6117 Maple St. Built around 1900, this store housed J.L. Peska and Sons Men’s Furnishing Store and Samuel Kesselman’s General Merchandise.

Benson Lumber Mill, 2725 N. 62nd St. The old mill, including three buildings, is intact. It once had its own livery for the delivery horses. Today portions of the mill are used as a glass studio and tavern.

St. Bernard Catholic Church, 3601 N. 65th St., was designed by architect Leo A. Daly in the Spanish Renaissance Revival style. The cornerstone was set on Aug. 20, 1939. The parish has been restoring the church in recent years.

3108 N. 58th St. and 3112 N. 58th St. were built on land that once was part of the Charles H. Creighton Farm. Between 1905 and 1915, Creighton built two almost identical Queen Anne-style homes for his daughters. The house at 3112 N. 58th St. was built first and has a smaller floor plan and slightly less ornamentation.

2320 N. 60th Ave. Carpenter John H. Siert and his wife built this home in 1922. It features a rectangular footprint, a hipped asphalt roof and an asymmetrical primary facade. The most prominent design element in this single-story Mission-style home is the curved parapet with stone coping above the front door.

2728 N. 60th Ave. Carpenter John M. Meleen and his wife, Anna M., both Swedish-born immigrants, constructed this home in 1913. The Craftsman-style home has restored wood shingle and clapboard facades.

Benson Post Office, 6223 Maple St. Designed by the Public Buildings Administration, a unit of the Federal Works Agency, it was built in 1940 and dedicated in 1941. This single-story Art Moderne building exhibits streamlined form and industrial design innovations.

Kremer Funeral Home, 6302 Maple St. The brick building, built between 1910 and 1911 on the site of an 1892 church, was dedicated on May 29, 1911, as the Benson Methodist Episcopal Church.

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