South Omaha, Nebraska

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South Omaha, Nebraska is a former city and present-day neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska.

1 Definition
2 History
- 2.1 Cultural diversity
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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, an 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]

[edit] 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.