The westward and southwestward expansion and sprawl of the Omaha area required the construction of several new offices, beginning in the mid 1950s. A total of six new CO buildings, three of them originally #5 Crossbar and the other three #1 ESS appeared within a 20 year span between the mid 1950s and the mid 1970s.
- 90th. St. and Western Avenue
The first of the newer central office buildings in Omaha was the 90th. and Western Avenue office, ca. 1955. This was a brand new #5 Crossbar office which served two new prefixes, HUdson and TErrace prior to the Great Renumbering.
The service area of the 90th. and Western office began at approximately 72nd. St. and reached westward past Boys Town. This relieved part of the load from the Izard St. office and allowed westward expansion without as many issues due to long loops.
It covered the newer suburbs such as Rockbrook, Maple Village, and Tomahawk Hills and replaced the Izard St. service in Irvington, which was still a disjoint unincorporated community.
TErrace became 391 and HUdson became 393 in September of 1960.
A third prefix, 397 was added in the late 1960s and 392 was added to the #5 Crossbar in the mid 1970s.
496 and 498 were temporarily hosted on the 90th. and Western #5 Crossbar as the 132nd. and Fort office (see below) was constructed and subscribers in part of the area to be served by the Fort St. office were migrated.
A major addition, an eastward expansion of the building and a new #1 ESS switch appeared in the late 1970s. When this was complete, 397 was moved to the ESS, 399 and 390 were added, and 398 was moved from the 135th. and Center office (below) to 90th. and Western.
At our checkpoint of 1977, the 90th.and Western office served 391, 392, and 393 on the #5 Crossbar and 397, 398, 399, and 390 on the #1 Ess. - 84th. and Harrison and 135th. and Center
'The Twins'
Two similar and very significant #5 crossbar offices were constructed in the early 1960s to expand the Omaha dialing area and to serve the westward and southwestward expansion. These were at 84th. and Harrison and at 135th. and Center.
84th. and Harrison originally hosted the 331 and 339 prefixes and served the Ralston (formerly served by O Street), La Vista, and Papillion areas, all of which had explosive growth in the 1960s and 1970s. 592 was added to the office in the late 70s, bringing our prefix count for this office at our 'checkpoint' to 3: 331, 339, and 592. 593 was eventually moved to 84th.
135th. and Center originally hosted the 333 and 334 prefixes and served a very large area of West Omaha, roughly west of I-680 from just north of Dodge south past the community of Millard, then an independent town. 330 was added in the mid 1970s.
The 398 prefix, originally used mainly for Centrex-CU for Bergan Mercy Hospital was temporarily hosted out of 135th. until it was moved to the new ESS at 90th. in the late 1970s.
Another significant temporarily-hosted prefix, 895, was temporarily served out of 135th., as the 156th. and Harrison office was constructed.
At our 'checkpoint' of 1977, 135th. hosted 333, 334, and 330. (691, 697 and others were yet to come.) - 78th. and Girard
The first of the new stand-alone ESS offices was commissioned in 1971 at 78th. and Girard and was intended to serve the somewhat-sluggish northwest expansion of Omaha. It took its service area from existing subscribers served by 90th. (391, 393, 397 at the time), Izard (551, 553, 556, 558 at the time), and Fowler (451, 453, 455, 457 at the time).
571 and 572 were the original prefixes out of 78th.
The service area was large and stretched northwest from approximately 60th. and Ames. It originally included sections of what was to be served by the 132nd. and Fort St. office (below). The 493 prefix was temporarily hosted at 78th. as the new Fort St. CO was constructed and customers for that area were migrated.
Due to the less than predicted northwest expansion, the 78th. St. office held a permanent prefix count of two (571 and 572) for almost two decades. - 156th. and Harrison
The next office was the 156th. and Harrison office, hosting the 895 and 896 prefixes. This served the Millard area, recently annexed into the city of Omaha with significant angst. 156th. took a large chunk of its service area from the 135th. and Center office and some (Westmont, etc.) from the 84th. and Harrison office.
895 had been temporarily hosted out of 135th. and Center and many of the customers in the new office's service area were migrated prior to the actual turn-up of the 156th. and Harrison office.
156th. and Harrison also 'temporarily' (for several years, actually) hosted the 593 prefix, used mostly at the time for the Centrex-CU installations at Midlands Hospital in Papillion and the Sarpy County offices, also in Papillion.
At our checkpoint in 1997, 156th. hosted 895 and 896 for general service and at the time hosted the 593 prefix for the Centrex-CU installations. - 132nd. and Fort
The third of the large ESS installations was at 132nd. and Fort, coming on line in the late 1970s. This new office took its service area mostly from portions of 135th. and Center (333, 334), and 78th. and Girard (571, 572).
A 'choke' prefix, 962, used mostly for radio call-in lines, was added to the Fort office in the late 1970s.
At our checkpoint of 1977, Fort. St. hosted 492, 493, 496, 498, and 962, three of which had been temporarily hosted by neighboring COs during the construction period.
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