SOUTH OMAHA, NEBRASKA

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'South Omaha, Nebraska' is a former city and present-day neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska. During its initial development phase the town's nickname was "The Magic City" because of the seemingly overnight growth due to the Union Stockyards. Annexed by the City of Omaha in 1915, today the community is home to numerous historical landmarks, including the South Omaha Main Street Historic District.

Contents

Definition

History

Landmarks in South Omaha

Cultural diversity

See also

References

External links

Definition

The traditional borders of South Omaha including Vinton Street to the north; Harrison Street to the south; the Missouri River on the east, and; 42nd Street on the west.

History

The area that would become South Omaha was rural until the early 1880s, when cattle baron Alexander Hamilton Swan decided to establish a stockyards operation just south of Omaha. The South Omaha plat was registered on July 18, 1884; two years later, South Omaha was incorporated as a city. By 1890, the city had grown to 8,000 people, a rate of growth that earned it the nickname of "The Magic City". In less than 10 years, South Omaha had become a stockyards and meat packing center, drawing in large numbers of immigrants, mostly from southern and eastern Europe. South Omaha was the location of Greek Town, a successful immigrant community completely destroyed by a mob of anti-Greek Omahans in 1909.
South Omaha was annexed by Omaha on June 20 1915. At that time it was 6.4 mi² and had 40,000 residents.^[1]

Landmarks in South Omaha

Place name	Year built	Location	National Register of Historic Places[2]	Omaha Landmark[3]
Ansonia Apartments			No	Yes
Anheuser-Busch Beer Depot			Yes	No
Aquila Court Building			Yes	No
Beebe and Runyan Furniture Showroom and Warehouse			Yes	No
Blackstone Hotel			Yes	Yes
Bradford-Pettis House			Yes	Yes
Brandeis-Millard House & Carriage House			Yes	Yes
Breckenridge-Gordon House			No	Yes
Broatch Building			No	Yes
Center School (Omaha, Nebraska)			Yes	Yes
Charles D. McLaughlin House			Yes	No
Clarinda & Page Apartments			No	Yes
Columbian School			Yes	Yes
Country Club Historic District	1925	North 50th Street on the east to North 56th Street on the west; from Corby Street on the north to Seward Street on the south	No	Yes
Dietz Memorial United Methodist Church			No	Yes
Epeneter House			No	Yes
Field Club Historic District	1898	Pacific Avenue on the north to Center Street on the south; South 32nd Avenue on east to South 36th Street on the west	Yes	Yes
Florentine Apartments			No	Yes
Ford Hospital			Yes	No
Franklin School			Yes	No
G.C. Moses Block			Yes	No
Gallagher Building	1888	1902-1906 South 13th Street		Yes	Yes
Georgia Row House			Yes	No
Georgia Apartments			No	Yes
Goodrich Building			No	Yes
Gottlieb Storz House			Yes	Yes
Grossman Apartment			No	Yes
Guy C. Barton House			Yes	No
Hanscom Park	1876		No	No
Hicks House			No	Yes
Hicks Terrace			No	Yes
Hill Hotel			Yes	Yes
Immaculate Conception Church and School			Yes	No
Joel N. Cornish House			Yes	No
Keeline Building			Yes	No
Kennedy Building			Yes	Yes
Kimball House			No	Yes
Kirschbraun and Sons Creamery, Inc.			Yes	No
Kuncl-Hruska House			No	Yes
Leone, Florentine and Carpathia Apartment Buildings			Yes	No
Little Bohemia		Bounded by South 10th Street on the east, South 16th Street on the west, Pierce Street on the north, and Martha Street on the south	No	No
Little Italy		Bounded by Pacific Street on the north, Center Street on the south, South 10th Street on the west and the Missouri River on the east.	No	No
Livestock Exchange Building			Yes	Yes
Mary Rogers Kimball House			Yes	Yes
Mason School			Yes	Yes
Mason Terrace & Van Closter Residence			No	Yes
McLaughlin House			No	Yes
Medlar Building			No	Yes
Megeath House			No	Yes
Monmouth Park School			Yes	No
Nash Block			Yes	Yes
Neble House			No	Yes
Normandie Apartments			Yes	Yes
Packer’s National Bank Building			Yes	Yes
Park School			Yes	Yes
Parlin, Orendorff and Martin Plow Company Building			Yes	No
Poppleton Block			Yes	Yes
Porter House			Yes	Yes
Prague Hotel			Yes	No
Redick Tower			Yes	No
Reed House			No	Yes
Riviera Theater			No	Yes
Robbins School			No	Yes
Rosewater School			Yes	Yes
Saint Joseph Parish Complex			Yes	Yes
Site of Saint Mary's Academy			Yes	No
St. John's Collegiate Church			No	Yes
St Martin of Tours Episcopal Church			Yes	Yes
St Matthias' Episcopal Church			Yes	No
St Philomena's Cathedral and Rectory			Yes	Yes
St Regis Apartments			Yes	No
Sanford Hotel			Yes	Yes
Simon Brothers Company			Yes	No
Slater House			No	Yes
South Omaha Bridge	1936	Located on Hwys 275/92 over the Missouri River	Yes	No
South Omaha Main Street Historic District	1883	South 24th Street between M Street on the north and O Street on the south	Yes	No
Standard Oil Company Building of Nebraska			Yes	No
Steiner Rowhouse No. 1			Yes	No
Steiner Rowhouse No. 2			Yes	No
Swoboda Bakery			Yes	No
The Berkeley Apartments			Yes	No
Union State Bank Building			No	Yes
Vinton School			Yes	Yes
Vinton Street Commercial Historic District		Along Vinton Street between Elm Street on the west and South 17th Street on the east	No	Yes
Wattles House			No	Yes
Zabriskie House			Yes	Yes

Cultural diversity

South Omaha was, and continues to be, culturally diverse. Many residents are descended from the Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Italian, Irish, and Latino immigrants who made up the original workforce. This diversity is most evident in the Roman Catholic churches established by the various ethnic communities, including:

★ Lithuanian – St. Anthony's

★ Polish – St. Stanislaus and St. Francis of Assisi

★ Irish – St. Mary's and St. Bridget's

★ Italian – St. Francis Cabrini

★ Croatian – Sts. Peter and Paul

★ German – St. Rose

★ Hispanic – Our Lady of Guadalupe

★ Czech – Assumption
Orthodox churches in South Omaha include:

★ Greeks – St. John's Greek Orthodox

★ Serbian – St. Nicholas

★ Romanian – Holy Cross
There was also a Jewish synagogue established in South Omaha in the late 1800s. The Lithuanian community also published a newspaper, known as the ''Bell of the West,'' in the early part of the twentieth century.
In recent decades, South Omaha has seen an influx of Hispanic and Sudanese populations.

See also

★ Greeks in Omaha, Nebraska

★ Packer's National Bank Building

★ Union Stockyards Company

★ History of Omaha, Nebraska

★ Timeline of Racial Tension in Omaha, Nebraska

★ Union Stockyards (Omaha)

★ Livestock Exchange Building (Omaha)

★ Spring Lake (Omaha, Nebraska)

References

1. History of Nebraska - Chapter 35, retrieved 14dec2006
2. (2007) National Register of Historic Places - Nebraska, Douglas County. National Park Service. Retrieved 6/7/07.
3. Omaha Landmarks. Omaha Landmark Heritage Preservation Commission. Retrieved 7/7/07.

External links

★ History of South Omaha on NEGenWeb