South Omaha is a former city and current district of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. 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. Annexed by the City of Omaha in 1915, the community has numerous historical landmarks; many are within the South Omaha Main Street Historic District.

Definition The traditional borders of South Omaha included Vinton Street to the north, Harrison Street to the south, the Missouri River 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 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 in religion. In recent decades, South Omaha has seen an influx of new immigrants representing Hispanic and Sudanese 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 Churches: Irish – St. Mary's, St. Bridget's and St. Patrick's German – St. Rose and St. Joseph Czech – Assumption and St. Adalbert's Polish – St. Stanislaus, Immaculate Conception Church and St. Francis of Assisi Lithuanian – St. Anthony's Italian – St. Francis Cabrini and St. Ann's Croatian – Sts. Peter and Paul Hispanic – Our Lady of Guadalupe

Orthodox churches: Greeks – St. John's Greek Orthodox Serbian – St. Nicholas Romanian – Holy Cross

In the late 19th century, a Jewish synagogue 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

Place name Year built Location National Register of Historic Places(2007) National Register of Historic Places - Nebraska, Douglas County. National Park Service. Retrieved 6/7/07. Omaha LandmarkOmaha Landmarks. Omaha Landmark Heritage Preservation Commission. Retrieved 7/7/07. Arthur G. Rocheford Building 1913 1717 Vinton Street Yes Yes Breckenridge-Gordon House 19053611 Jackson Street No Yes Broatch Building 18801209 Harney Street No Yes Center School (Omaha, Nebraska) 18931730 South 11th Street Yes Yes Columbian School 18923819 Jones Street Yes Yes Elsasser Bakery 1933 1802-1804 Vinton Street Yes Yes Epeneter House 1905502 North 40th Street No Yes Ford Hospital 1916121 South 25th Street Yes No Franklin School Yes No Gallagher Building 1888 1902-1906 South 13th Street Yes Yes Georgia Row House 18901040-1044 South 29th Street Yes No Gottlieb Storz House19053708 Farnam Street 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 Immaculate Conception Church and School Yes No Joel N. Cornish House Yes No Kimball House No Yes Kuncl-Hruska House No Yes 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 Building19264920 South 30th Street Yes Yes Mason School 1012 South 24th Street Yes Yes Mason Terrace & Van Closter Residence No Yes McLaughlin House No Yes Megeath House No Yes Neble House No Yes Packer’s National Bank Building Yes Yes Park School Yes Yes Porter House Yes Yes Prague Hotel Yes No Robbins School No Yes Rosewater School Yes Yes Saint Joseph Parish Complex Yes Yes 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 - now known as St Frances Cabrini Church Yes Yes 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 South Omaha Public Library 1904 Razed in 1953. No No Steiner Rowhouse No. 1 Yes No Steiner Rowhouse No. 2 Yes No Swoboda Bakery 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 Yes Yes Wattles House No Yes Zabriskie House Yes Yes

Notable people Dale Carnegie, 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