Omaha is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is the county seat of Douglas County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 390,007. According to the 2004 census estimate, Omaha's population had risen to 409,416. Located on the eastern edge of Nebraska, it is on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River. Omaha is the center city of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. Council Bluffs, Iowa lies directly across the Missouri River from Omaha. Together, the two had formed the core of the 60th-largest metropolitan area in the United States in 2000, with a population of 803,801 (2004 estimate) residing in eight counties.
Omaha is located at 41°15'38" North, 96°0'47" West (41.260482, -96.012990). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 307.9 km2 (118.9 mi2). 299.7 km2 (115.7 mi2) of it is land and 8.2 km2 (3.2 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 2.67% water.
As of the census of 2000, there are 390,007 people, 156,738 households, and 94,983 families residing within city limits. The population density is 1,301.5/km2 (3,370.7/mi2). There are 165,731 housing units at an average density of 553.1/km2 (1,432.4/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 78.39% White, 13.31% African American, 0.67% Native American, 1.74% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 3.91% from other races, and 1.92% from two or more races. 7.54% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 156,738 households out of which 30.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.8% are married couples living together, 13.0% have a female householder with no husband present, and 39.4% are non-families. 31.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.42 and the average family size is 3.10.
In the city the average age of the population is diverse with 25.6% under the age of 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 95.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $40,006, and the median income for a family is $50,821. Males have a median income of $34,301 versus $26,652 for females. The per capita income for the city is $21,756. 11.3% of the population and 7.8% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 15.6% of those under the age of 18 and 7.4% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
As of the 2003 Current Population Survey, there are 373,815 people, 154,879 households, and 92,903 families residing within the city limits. The 2004-2005 Statistical Abstract of the United States lists the total estimated population for the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area as 793,000.
Although Nebraska's economy is still primarily based on agriculture, Omaha's economy today has diversified to become a national leader in several industries, including banking, insurance, telecommunications, and transportation. Omaha's economy has grown dramatically since the early 1990s.
Omaha is the home of the headquarters of a number of major corporations, including:
The Omaha metropolitan area is home to Offutt Air Force Base (Offutt AFB) which is located just south of Omaha in the city of Bellevue. During the Cold War, Strategic Air Command (SAC) headquarters was located at Offutt. The successor to SAC, the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is now also headquartered at Offutt. The base is controlled by the 55th Wing and hosts several tenant units including Air Force Weather Agency, and the United States Air Force Heartland of America Band.
On May 2, 2005, the Omaha World-Herald reported that the economic impact of the base upon the local community amounted to approximately $2 billion annually.
Omaha was founded in the summer of 1854 by land speculators from Council Bluffs, months after the Kansas-Nebraska Act created the Nebraska Territory. Later that year, Omaha was chosen as the territorial capital for Nebraska. Omaha was chosen as the eastern terminus of America's first transcontinental railroad in 1862 with the passage of the Pacific Railroad Act. This ensured that Omaha would become a major transportation center for the entire country in the years to come. The loss of the capital to Lincoln in 1867 did not slow Omaha's growth in the decades to come.
Omaha's growth was accelerated in the 1880s by the rapid development of the meatpacking industry in South Omaha; in the 1880s, Omaha was the fastest-growing city in the United States. Thousands of immigrants from central and southern Europe came to Omaha to work in the stockyards and slaughterhouses, creating Omaha's original ethnic neighborhoods in South Omaha.
The Trans-Mississippi Exposition was held in Omaha from June 1 to November 1, 1898. The exposition drew over 2 million visitors and involved construction of attractions spanning over 100 city blocks including a shipworthy lagoon, bridges and magnificent, though temporary, buildings constructed of plaster and horsehair.
A devastating tornado ripped through Omaha in 1913 and has become known as the Easter Sunday tornado.
A low point in Omaha's history was the Omaha Race Riot of 1919, which occurred in September 1919 after a black man was arrested and accused of raping a white woman. A mob formed and removed him from the Douglas County Jail on the top floor of the County Courthouse. The man was hanged from the lamppost on the south side of the Courthouse and his body was burned and dragged through the streets. The mayor attempted to intervene and was nearly hanged himself. The Courthouse was set on fire and seriously damaged. This incident was dramatized by playwright Max Sparber and produced by the Blue Barn Theatre in 1998 at the Douglas County Courthouse, the site of the riot.
The Enola Gay and Bock's Car were two of 536 B-29s manufactured at the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Factory in Omaha, Neb. near the end of World War II.
The Omaha Stockyards was the world's largest livestock processing center during the 1960's having taken over that distinction from Chicago's Union Stockyards in the late 1950s. As improved truck and boxcar refrigeration capabilities encouraged the slaughtering process to move closer to feedlots, all centralized stockyard activity declined and the Omaha Stockyards were closed in 1999.
The Omaha Tornado of 1975 is another grim day in Omaha's past. An F4 tornado ripped through neighborhoods along South 72nd Street on May 6, 1975, killing 3 and injuring 133. In terms of damage, it was the most costly tornado in American history to that date, with damage estimates between $250 million and $500 million. In January 1975, the city was paralyzed by a devastating blizzard which dumped several feet of snow on the city.
Omaha demolished a downtown district of brick warehouses called "Jobbers Canyon" in 1988, which was once protected under the National Register of Historic Places. The delisting and demolition of Jobbers Canyon to make way for the campus headquarters of ConAgra constituted the greatest loss of protected buildings in the history of the National Register Program.
On August 20, 2001, Nebraska Methodist Health Systems demolished the Indian Hills Theater, a "super-Cinerama" movie theater containing the largest indoor screen of its type in the world.
U.S. President Gerald Ford (born Leslie Lynch King) was born in Omaha; however, he only spent his early childhood there. After his parents divorced, his mother remarried a man from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and, consequently, Gerald grew up there. Omaha was also the birthplace of Malcolm X, but his family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when he was one year old.
Source:
OmahaNebraska.com
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