Omaha is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about 10 mi (15 km) north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 40th-most populous city, Omaha had a population of 486,051 as of the 2020 census. It is the anchor of the eight-county Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area, which extends into Iowa and is the 58th-largest metro area in the United States, with a population of 967,604. Furthermore, the greater Omaha–Council Bluffs–Fremont combined statistical area had 1,004,771 residents in 2020.
The Admiral Theatre is located at 2234 South 13th Street in the Little Bohemia neighborhood of South Omaha, Nebraska. It is a local icon for its historical context, as well as modern musical performances for rock and country music. It has a maximum capacity of 1,500. It was originally known as the Sokol Auditorium from 1926 to 2021.
The community of Greeks in Omaha, Nebraska, has a history that extends back to the 1880s. After they originally moved to the city following work with the railroads, the community quickly grew and founded a substantial neighborhood in South Omaha that was colloquially referred to as "Greek Town." The community was replete with Greek bakers, barbers, grocers and cafes. After a 1909 mob attack on the community, Greek immigrants fled from Omaha. Today even though the Greek-American community is smaller than it was in 1909, it includes many prominent doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, business people and others who have achieved great success here. It currently maintains two Greek Orthodox Churches.
The Kountze Place neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska is a historically significant community on the city's north end. Today the neighborhood is home to several buildings and homes listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located between North 16th Avenue on the east to North 30th Street on the west; Locust Street on the south to Pratt Street on the north. Kountze Place was annexed into Omaha in 1887. The neighborhood was built as a suburban middle and upper middle class enclave for doctors, lawyers, successful businessmen and other professional workers.
The culture of Omaha, Nebraska, has been partially defined by music and college sports, and by local cuisine and community theatre. The city has a long history of improving and expanding on its cultural offerings. In the 1920s, the Omaha Bee newspaper wrote, "The cultural future of Omaha seems as certain of greatness as the commercial future... The symphony orchestra, the Art institute, the Community Playhouse and other organizations are on firm foundations and Omaha is destined to be not only a bigger, but a better city, both financially and culturally." Reviewing Omaha's contemporary arts scene in 2007, the New York Times hailed the city as having "a kind of cultural awakening".
Little Italy is a neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska which served as the historic home to Omahans of Italian ancestry. It was the source of many laborers for the Union Pacific railroad, much of Omaha's bootlegging during Prohibition and the Santa Lucia Procession, which started in 1924 and continues annually.
Little Bohemia, or Bohemian Town, is a historic neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska. Starting in the 1880s, Czech immigrants settled in this highly concentrated area, also called "Praha" (Prague) or "Bohemian Town", 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, with a commercial area went along South 13th and South 14th Streets, centered on William Street. It was located south of downtown, and directly west of Little Italy. A portion of the neighborhood along South 13th Street was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.
Tom Dennison, known as Pickhandle or Old Grey Wolf, was an American political boss and racketeer in Omaha, Nebraska. A politically savvy, culturally astute gambler, Dennison was in charge of the city's wide crime rings, including prostitution, gambling and bootlegging in the 1920s. Dennison is credited with electing "Cowboy" James Dahlman mayor of Omaha eight times, and when losing an election, inciting the Omaha Race Riot of 1919 in retribution against the candidate who won.
The Dahlman neighborhood is located south of downtown Omaha, Nebraska. One of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, it was originally platted in 1856. It was later named after "Cowboy" James Dahlman, an eight-term mayor of Omaha.
Edward Rosewater, born Edward Rosenwasser, was a Republican Party politician and newspaper editor in Omaha, Nebraska. Rosewater had a reputation for being "aggressive and controversial", and was influential in the Nebraska state Republican Party.
Sheelytown was a historic ethnic neighborhood in South Omaha, Nebraska, USA with populations of Irish, Polish and other first generation immigrants. Located north of the Union Stockyards, it was bounded by Edward Creighton Boulevard on the north, Vinton Street on the south, South 24th Street to the east, and 35th Street to the west. Sheelytown was named for the Sheely Brothers Packing Houses that were located in the area. Sheelytown was annexed by Omaha in 1887. The Omaha Quartermaster Depot was built just east of the community across the Union Pacific tracks.
The Prague Hotel is located at 1402 South 13th Street on the southwest corner of South 13th and William Streets in the heart of the Little Bohemia neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska. Designed by Joseph Guth and built−in 1898, this building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
Germans in Omaha immigrated to the city in Nebraska from its earliest days of founding in 1854, in the years after the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. They continued to immigrate to Omaha in large numbers later in the 19th century, when many came from Bavaria and southern Germany, and into the early 20th century. Germans created and maintained a high cultural, social and political profile locally and nationally through the 1930s. In 1890, Germans comprised 23% of Omaha's population. By 1910, 57.4% of Omaha's total population of more than 124,000 identified as being of German descent.
The Omaha Daily Bee, in Nebraska, United States, was a leading Republican newspaper that was active in the late 19th and early 20th century. The paper's editorial slant frequently pitted it against the Omaha Herald, the Omaha Republican and other local papers. After a 1927 merger, it was published as the Bee-News until folding in 1937.
The history of the Jews in Omaha, Nebraska, goes back to the mid-1850s.
Transportation in Omaha, Nebraska, includes most major modes, such as pedestrian, bicycle, automobile, bus, train and airplane. While early transportation consisted of ferries, stagecoaches, steamboats, street railroads, and railroads, the city's transportation systems have evolved to include the Interstate Highway System, parklike boulevards and a variety of bicycle and pedestrian trails. The historic head of several important emigrant trails and the First transcontinental railroad, its center as a national transportation hub earned Omaha the nickname "Gate City of the West" as early as the 1860s.
Poles in Omaha, Nebraska arrived relatively early in the city's history. The first Polish immigrants came in the 1870s, and the community grew past 1000 in the late 1890s. By the 1930s there were 10,000 of Polish descent, and Omaha claimed the largest such community of the Great Plains. According to the 2000 United States Census, Omaha had a total population of 390,112 residents, of whom 18,447 claimed Polish ancestry. The city's Polish community was historically based in several ethnic enclaves throughout South Omaha, including Little Poland and Sheelytown, first dominated by Irish immigrants.
Various ethnic groups in Omaha, Nebraska have lived in the city since its organization by Anglo-Americans in 1854. Native Americans of various nations lived in the Omaha territory for centuries before European arrival, and some stayed in the area. The city was founded by white Anglo-Saxon Protestants from neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa. However, since the first settlement, substantial immigration from all of Europe, migration by African Americans from the Deep South and various ethnic groups from the Eastern United States, and new waves of more recent immigrants from Mexico and Africa have added layers of complexity to the workforce, culture, religious and social fabric of the city.
Czech Nebraskans are residents of the state of Nebraska who are of Czech ancestry. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, Czech-Americans living in Nebraska make up 5.5% of the state's population, the largest percentage of any state. 3,295 Nebraskans can speak the Czech language.
