Jobbers Canyon Historic District was a large industrial and warehouse area comprising 24 buildings located in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, US. It was roughly bound by Farnam Street on the north, South Eighth Street on the east, Jackson Street on the south, and South Tenth Street on the west. In 1989, all 24 buildings in Jobbers Canyon were demolished, representing the largest

National Register The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

loss to date.

About

The development of Jobber's Canyon mirrored Omaha's emergence as a central hub in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

transportation system of the late 19th century and early 20th century. As the "Gateway to the West" serving several historic trails the Canyon housed several warehouses, grocers, and other dry goods

outfitter An outfitter is a shop or person that sells specialized clothes (an ''outfit'' is a set of clothing). More specifically, it is a company or individual who provides or deals in equipment and supplies for the pursuit of certain activities. In North ...

s for merchants throughout the

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

, particularly those along the

Great Platte River Road The Great Platte River Road was a major overland travel corridor approximately following the course of the Platte River in present-day Nebraska and Wyoming that was shared by several popular emigrant trails during the 19th century, including the T ...

. Railroad entrepreneurs, land speculators, and merchants built Jobbers Canyon from the 1870s onward. After

George Francis Train George Francis Train (March 24, 1829 – January 18, 1904) was an American entrepreneur who organized the clipper ship line that sailed around Cape Horn to San Francisco; he also organized the Union Pacific Railroad and the Credit Mobilier in th ...

landed the

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

and

Credit Foncier of America Credit Foncier of America was a late 19th-century financing and real estate company in Omaha, Nebraska. The company existed primarily to promote the townsites along the Union Pacific Railroad, and was incorporated by a special act of the Nebraska ...

in Omaha, the city quickly turned into a transportation hub. Fruit and vegetable wholesalers,

meatpacker The meat-packing industry (also spelled meatpacking industry or meat packing industry) handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. Poultry is generally ...

s, and all sorts of supply people created a range of businesses, building almost 24 densely congested buildings in a seven-block by three-block area in downtown Omaha. At its peak, Jobbers Canyon had more than of office, warehouse, industrial and shipping space.Gratz, R.B. (1996) ''Living City: How America's Cities Are Being Revitalized by Thinking Small in a Big Way.'' John Wiley and Sons. p. 6. Speaking in 1987 about Jobber's Canyon, J. Jackson Walter, president of the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...

said, "The warehouse district, to the best of my knowledge, is certainly one of the Middle West's or the nation's finest collection of this sort of buildings."(1987
"Historic district at issue in Omaha,"
''New York Times''. 12/13/87. Retrieved 7/8/07.

Individual properties

All of Omaha's largest and most notable

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

and

mercantile Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exchan ...

businesses built massive warehouse structures in the area by the early 20th century. Six- and seven-story red brick buildings filled with

jobbing house Jobber, in merchandising, can be synonymous with " wholesaler", "distributor", or "intermediary". A business which buys goods and bulk products from importers, other wholesalers, or manufacturers, and then sells to retailers, was historically cal ...

s towered over red brick streets, creating a canyon-like feeling and leading to the area becoming called "Jobber's Canyon". The brick-surfaced South Ninth Street was an important streetscape in the city, with brick and cobblestone streets, railroad spur lines, loading docks, and dock canopies all contributing to the character of Jobbers Canyon.(nd
"Jobbers Canyon".
Mountain Lumber Company. Retrieved 7/8/07. The area included the Kingman Implement Company building, also called the U.S. Tire building, located at 923 Farnam Street. It was built in 1900 as a six-story brick

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

style structure. Kingman was a wholesale distributor of farm implements and vehicles. The Fairbanks, Morse and Company building at 923 Farnam Street was six stories tall. It was designed in 1907 by Omaha architects

Fisher and Lawrie Mendelssohn, Fisher and Lawrie was a significant architecture firm in early Omaha, Nebraska. Fisher & Lawrie continued. A number of their works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. History Louis Mendelssohn was born in Berlin ...

. In 1907 Fairbanks, Morse and Company was the largest manufacturer of gasoline, kerosene, and crude oil engines in the United States. In 1906, architect Charles Cleves designed a six-story building for the U.S. Supply Company, which distributed of wholesale steam, water and plumbing supplies. The Dempster Building was a five-story Renaissance Revival-style warehouse designed by Omaha architect John Latenser, Sr. in 1902. The Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company started as a small retail pump and windmill shop in 1880 and eventually grew to become a major manufacturer of windmills and farm implements. Architects Fisher & Lawrie designed another six-story red brick warehouse structure in 1900 for the Lee-Glass-Andreesen Hardware Company, which originated in 1880 as Lee, Fried & Co. They were wholesalers of hardware, cutlery and tinware. The eight-story Creighton Block was built for John A. Creighton to house the Byrne and Hammer Dry Goods Company. The most ornate building in Jobbers Canyon, this Renaissance Revival-style structure was designed by architect Charles Cleves. Today the Greenhouse Apartments at 900 Farnam Street are the only building left from the original Jobbers Canyon. The Nash Block at 902 Farnam Street was designed by

Thomas R. Kimball Thomas Rogers Kimball (April 19, 1862 – September 7, 1934) was an American architect in Omaha, Nebraska. An architect-in-chief of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha in 1898, he served as national President of the American Institute o ...

and built in 1907.

Demolition

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

-related industries have always been important to Omaha's workforce. In addition to the

meat industry The meat industry are the people and companies engaged in modern industrialized livestock agriculture for the production, packing, preservation and marketing of meat (in contrast to dairy products, wool, etc.). In economics, the meat industry is ...

, major employers have included the

Kellogg Company The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toas ...

and the

Campbell Soup Company Campbell Soup Company, trade name, doing business as Campbell's, is an American processed food and snack company. The company is most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products; however, through mergers and acquisitions, it has gro ...

, which produces frozen

Swanson Swanson is a brand of TV dinners, broths, and canned poultry made for the North American and Hong Kong markets. The former "Swanson Company" was founded in Omaha, Nebraska, where it developed improvements of the frozen dinner. The TV dinner bu ...

and LeMenu products in Omaha. Exercising its influence, industry giant

ConAgra Conagra Brands, Inc. (formerly ConAgra Foods) is an American consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, ...

transformed the skyline by demolishing Jobber's Canyon in 1989. Its world headquarters sat on of the former historic district for the next 26 years. At the time

Charles M. Harper Charles Michael Harper (September 23, 1927 – May 28, 2016) was an American businessman who led ConAgra Foods from 1975 to 1993, growing the company by many mergers and acquisitions, acquisitions. He was born in Michigan, attended Purdue Universi ...

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of ConAgra, was asked about the district, and responded saying it was "some big, ugly red brick buildings". ConAgra's campus created almost of office space. Critics charged that the city was being "held hostage" by ConAgra, and that the city should not have to choose between its corporations and its historical legacies. At the time Omaha's then-planning director, Marty Shukert, said it was more important to keep the city's downtown core healthy than to keep the historic district. "This development may not be a large thing to a city with multiple corporate headquarters and a large development industry," he said. "In a relatively small community like this, the effects of a growing, national corporation echo throughout the economy."

Trial

People for Responsible Omaha Urban Development (PROUD), with the

as an intervening plaintiff, sued the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...

, the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

and the Army Corps of Engineers in order to stop the demolition. The lawsuit alleged that the federal agencies failed to comply with the

National Environmental Policy Act The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a United States environmental law that promotes the enhancement of the environment and established the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The law was enacted on January 1, 1970.Un ...

and the

National Historic Preservation Act The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA; Public Law 89-665; 54 U.S.C. 300101 ''et seq.'') is legislation intended to preserve historic and archaeological sites in the United States of America. The act created the National Register of Historic ...

. The trial began in May 1988, and the district court immediately denied plaintiffs' request to stop demolition. The district court later ruled in favor of defendants on the merits, with a court of appeals affirming the district court decision in a brief opinion. The

court of appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

granted a partial stay of demolition during the appeals at a time when five buildings remained standing in the district. The injunction was later dissolved, and ultimately, all 24 buildings in the National Register-listed historic district were demolished, and the adjacent corporate campus was completed in 1992.

Legacy

Two historic districts listed on the National Register currently border the former Jobbers Canyon site. They include the Old Market Historic District, which was listed in 1979; and the

Omaha Rail and Commerce Historic District The Omaha Rail and Commerce Historic District, roughly bounded by Jackson, 15th, and 8th Streets, as well as the Union Pacific main line, is located in downtown Omaha, Nebraska. Today this historic district includes several buildings listed i ...

, which was listed in 1996. The

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

, Burlington Train Station and Bemis Bag Company Building are all nearby buildings that have been included on the Register individually, reflecting the area's significance. The National Park Service officially delisted the non-existent Jobbers Canyon Historic District in 2002. In 2005 a restaurant called "Jobber's Canyon" opened in the Old Market, but later closed. Some critics charge that Omaha's dual losses of Jobbers Canyon and the

Union Stockyards The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., or The Yards, was the meatpacking district in Chicago for more than a century, starting in 1865. The district was operated by a group of railroad companies that acquired marshland and turned it into a central ...

represent a blatant disregard for the city's

working-class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

history. In 2015, ConAgra moved its headquarters to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and cut 1,500 of the 2,700 jobs at the Omaha offices.

References

Bibliography

* (2004) ''Omaha Since World War II: The Changing Face of the City'' (DVD). UNO Television.

External links

Picture of downtown Omaha
circa 1946, including the Jobbers Canyon in center.
Slideshow of 3-dimensional model of Jobber's Canyon with present Greenhouse Apartments (former Nash Building) in detail. (This is a work in progress).
{{Coord, 41, 15, 21, N, 95, 55, 38, W, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark_region:US-NE History of Downtown Omaha, Nebraska Demolished buildings and structures in Omaha, Nebraska Historic districts in Omaha, Nebraska National Register of Historic Places in Omaha, Nebraska Former National Register of Historic Places in Nebraska Warehouse districts of the United States Buildings and structures demolished in 1989