Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha (/ˈoʊməhɑː/ OH-mə-hah) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County.[5] Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 10 mi (15 km) north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 40th-most populous city, Omaha's 2020 census population was 486,051.[6]
"Omaha" redirects here. For other uses, see Omaha (disambiguation).
Omaha, Nebraska
1854
1857
Strong mayor–council
Elizabeth Butler
146.28 sq mi (378.85 km2)
142.67 sq mi (369.51 km2)
3.61 sq mi (9.35 km2)
1,060 ft (320 m)
486,051
487,300
3,658.41/sq mi (1,315.40/km2)
819,508 (US: 55th)
3,026.1/sq mi (1,168.4/km2)
967,604 (US: 58th)
Omahan
31-37000
0835483[3]
Omaha is the anchor of the eight-county, a bi-state Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area. The Omaha metropolitan area is the 58th-largest in the United States, with a population of 967,604.[4] The Omaha–Council Bluffs–Fremont, NE–IA Combined Statistical Area (CSA) totaled 1,004,771, according to 2020 estimates.[7] Approximately 1.5 million people reside within the Greater Omaha area, within a 50 mi (80 km) radius of Downtown Omaha. It is ranked as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, which in 2020 gave it "sufficiency" status.[8]
Omaha's pioneer period began in 1854, when the city was founded by speculators from neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa. The city was founded along the Missouri River, and a crossing called Lone Tree Ferry earned the city its nickname, the "Gateway to the West". Omaha introduced this new West to the world in 1898, when it played host to the World's Fair, dubbed the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. During the 19th century, Omaha's central location in the United States spurred the city to become an important national transportation hub. Throughout the rest of the 19th century, the transportation and jobbing sectors were important in the city, along with its railroads and breweries. In the 20th century, the Omaha Stockyards, once the world's largest, and its meatpacking plants gained international prominence.
Presently, Omaha is the home to the headquarters of four Fortune 500 companies: conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway; one of the world's largest construction companies, Kiewit Corporation; insurance and financial firm Mutual of Omaha; and the United States' largest railroad operator, Union Pacific Corporation.[9] Berkshire Hathaway is headed by local investor Warren Buffett, one of the wealthiest people in the world, according to a decade's worth of Forbes rankings, some of which have ranked him as high as No. 1.[10] Omaha is also the home to five Fortune 1000 headquarters: Green Plains, Intrado, TD Ameritrade, Valmont Industries, and Werner Enterprises. Also headquartered in Omaha are the following: First National Bank of Omaha, the third largest privately held bank in the United States; three of the nation's ten largest architecture/engineering firms (DLR Group, HDR, Inc., and Leo A Daly);[11] and the Gallup Organization, of Gallup Poll fame, and its riverfront Gallup University. Notable modern Omaha inventions include the following: the "pink hair curler" created at Omaha's Tip-Top Products; Butter Brickle Ice Cream, and the Reuben sandwich, conceived by a chef at the Blackstone Hotel on 36th and Farnam Streets;[12] cake mix, developed by Duncan Hines, then a division of Omaha's Nebraska Consolidated Mills, the forerunner to today's ConAgra Foods; center-pivot irrigation by the Omaha company now known as Valmont Corporation;[13] Raisin Bran, developed by Omaha's Skinner Macaroni Co.; the first ski lift in the U.S., in 1936, by Omaha's Union Pacific Corp.;[14] the Top 40 radio format, pioneered by Todd Storz, scion of Omaha's Storz Brewing Co. and head of Storz Broadcasting, and first used in the U.S. at Omaha's KOWH Radio; and the TV dinner, developed by Omaha's Carl A. Swanson.[15]
In popular culture[edit]
In 1939, Omaha hosted the world premiere of the film Union Pacific and the accompanying three-day celebration drew 250,000 people. A special train from Hollywood carried director Cecil B. DeMille and stars Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea.[264] Omaha's Boys Town was made famous by the Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney movie Boys Town. Omaha has been featured in recent years by a handful of relatively big budget motion pictures. The city's most extensive exposure can be accredited to Omaha native Alexander Payne, the Oscar-nominated director who shot parts of About Schmidt, Citizen Ruth and Election in the city and suburbs of Papillion and La Vista.
The Looney Tunes short Boobs in the Woods featured Porky Pig revealing that he had a license to sell hair tonic to bald eagles in Omaha, Nebraska.
Built in 1962, Omaha's Cinerama was called Indian Hills Theater. Its demolition in 2001 by the Nebraska Methodist Health System was unpopular, with objections from local historical and cultural groups and luminaries from around the world.[265] The Dundee Theatre is the lone surviving single-screen movie theater in Omaha and still shows films.[266] A recent development to the Omaha film scene was the addition of Film Streams's Ruth Sokolof Theater in North Downtown. The two-screen theater is part of the Slowdown facility. It features American independents, foreign films, documentaries, classics, themed series, and director retrospectives. In addition to the five Douglas Theatres venues in Omaha, two more are opening, including Midtown Crossing Theatres, on 32nd and Farnam Streets near the Mutual of Omaha Building. Westroads Mall has a modern multiplex movie theater with 14 screens, operated by Rave Motion Pictures.[267]
Songs about Omaha include "Omaha" by Moby Grape, "Omaha", by the indie rock band Tapes 'n Tapes, "Omaha" by Counting Crows, "Omaha Celebration" by Pat Metheny, "Omaha" sung by Waylon Jennings, "Greater Omaha" by Desaparecidos, "Omaha Stylee" by 311, "(Ready Or Not) Omaha Nebraska" by Bowling for Soup, "Omaha (The Only What If)", by Katie Lynne Sharbaugh, and "Omaha" by Toro y Moi. Also, Bob Seger's 1973 hit song "Turn the Page" opens with the line "On a long and lonesome highway, east of Omaha..."[268]
Popular young adult novel Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (St. Martin's Press, 2013) takes place in Omaha.
The 1935 winner of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing was named Omaha, and after traveling the world the horse eventually retired to a farm south of the city. The horse made promotional appearances at Ak-Sar-Ben during the 1950s and following his death in 1959 was buried at the racetrack's Circle of Champions.
In the television show The Big Bang Theory, one of the show's main characters, Penny, is from Omaha.
Omaha is also the hometown of the Wizard in L. Frank Baum's children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
In Breaking Bad, Saul Goodman says in the penultimate episode that "If I'm lucky, a month from now, best case scenario, I'm managing a Cinnabon in Omaha," and in the prequel, spin-off, and sequel, Better Call Saul, he is manager of a Cinnabon in Omaha under the alias Gene Takavic.
, Japan
Shizuoka
, Lithuania
Šiauliai
, Afghanistan
Kabul
Omaha has six sister cities:[269]