South Omaha, Nebraska
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South Omaha is a former city and current district of
Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
,
Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. During its initial development phase, the town's nickname was "The Magic City" because of the seemingly overnight growth due to the rapid development of 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 formed by a group of railroad companies that acquired marshland and turned it into a vast cen ...
. Annexed by the City of Omaha in 1915, the community has numerous historical landmarks; many are within the
South Omaha Main Street Historic District The South Omaha Main Street Historic District is located along South 24th Street between M and O Streets in South Omaha, Nebraska, South Omaha, Nebraska. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. Home to dozens of histo ...
.


Definition

The traditional borders of South Omaha included Vinton Street to the north, Harrison Street to the south, the
Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...
to the east, and 42nd Street to 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 In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...
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 "The Magic City". In less than 10 years, South Omaha had developed as a regional stockyards and meatpacking center. Its industrial jobs did not require high-level language skills, so it drew thousands of immigrant workers, mostly from eastern and southern Europe. This area of the city showed ethnic succession as different waves of immigrants established certain territories as their own during their first settlement. Some descendants moved out of the area into other parts of the city, and newer immigrant groups filled the neighborhoods behind them. South Omaha was annexed by Omaha on June 20, 1915. At that time, it was 6.4 mi² and had 40,000 residents. In 1947, there were 15,000 people working in meatpacking. Structural changes to the meatpacking industry in the 1960s, including decentralization of operations, cost the city 10,000 jobs.


Cultural diversity

South Omaha was, and continues to be, culturally diverse. Many residents are descended from the Czech, Irish, Italian, Latino, Lithuanian, and Polish immigrants who made up the original workforce in the meatpacking industry; they were primarily
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
in religion. In recent decades, South Omaha has seen an influx of new immigrants representing Hispanic and
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
ese populations.


Places of worship

The early diversity is evident in the variety of religious institutions established by the various ethnic communities, which established national Roman Catholic and other places of worship, including
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
es: * Irish – St. Mary's, St. Bridget's and St. Patrick's *
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
– St. Rose and St. Joseph *
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...
– Assumption and St. Adalbert's *
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
St. Stanislaus, Immaculate Conception Church and St. Francis of Assisi * Lithuanian – St. Anthony's *
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
– St. Francis Cabrini and St. Ann's * Croatian – Sts. Peter and Paul *
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
– Our Lady of Guadalupe Orthodox churches: *
Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...
– St. John's
Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...
*
Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...
– St. Nicholas *
Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
– Holy Cross In the late 19th century, a
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
was established in South Omaha.


Periodicals

In addition to the churches, in the early part of the 20th century, the Lithuanian community published a newspaper, known as the ''Bell of the West.''


Landmarks in South Omaha


Notable people

*
Dale Carnegie Dale Carnegie ( ; spelled Carnagey until c. 1922; November 24, 1888 – November 1, 1955) was an American writer and teacher of courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills. Born into ...
, the future motivational speaker and writer, had his first job out of college here, working for Armour & Company as their South Omaha sales representative. * Johnny Goodman, golfer, winner of U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open; born in South Omaha


See also

* South Omaha (category) * Greek Town riot


References


External links


History of South Omaha on NEGenWeb
* {{coord, 41, 12, 38, N, 95, 57, 45, W, type:city_region:US-NE, display=title Community areas of Omaha 1880s establishments in Nebraska 1915 disestablishments in Nebraska