Omaha, Nebraska, USA
1895 - Omaha

Omaha, o'ma-hah, the metropolis of Nebraska, and the seat of justice for Douglas co., is pleasantly situated on the W. bank of the Missouri River, 18 miles above its junction with the Platte, 503 miles by rail W. of Chicago, 476 miles N. by W. of St. Louis, and 145 miles W. of Des Moines, the capital of Iowa. Lat. 40° 16' N.; Lon. 95° 56' W. The site of the city is on a plateau 80 feet above the Missouri River, its corporate limits extending over 24! square miles, within which are 148 miles of graded streets, 72 miles of paved streets, 130 miles of curbing, 103 miles of sewers, and 445 miles of sidewalk; these improvements costing $7,787,000. The city has 2 cathedrals and 107 other church buildings, the University of Omaha, Creighton College, Brownell Hall (for girls), and 61 public schools, with an attendance of 20,000 pupils; the Omaha Medical College, the Western Art Association, the state institute for deaf and dumb, and a free public library with 45,000 volumes. Six hospitals, with property valued at $1,000,000, have accommodations for 700 patients. There are 140 manufacturing concerns, with a capital of $22,000,000, employing 9500 per sons, and ? goods valued at $80,000,000 per year, and 170 wholesaling houses, with a capital of $9,000,000, whose annual sales aggregate over $50,000,000. Omaha is the third meat-packing centre in the world; its 4 packing houses have $11,000,000 capital, employ 5000 persons, and produce $15,000,000 worth of goods annually: The stock yards company handles 3,000,000 head of live-stock per year. The smelting-works, the largest in the world, have an annual output of gold, silver, copper, and lead valued at $22,000,000. The headquarters and principal shops of the Union Pacific Railroad are located here, giving employment to 2000 persons. The Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska and the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad also have their headquarters here. Besides these three great railroad systems, the city is entered by the Missouri Pacific, Chicago & Northwestern, Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha, Sioux City & Pacific, Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and Wabash Railroads. The Missouri River is spanned by two railroad bridges and one wagon-bridge, an electric street-car system crossing the latter and connecting Council Bluffs with Omaha. Chief among the public buildings are the United States court-house and post-office, costing $1,600,000; the county court-house, costing $300,000; the high school, costing $250,000, and surrounded by commodious grounds covering an area of 10 acres; the public library, erected at a cost of $100,000; the "Bee" building, which cost $500,000; the New York Life Insurance Company's building, costing $700,000, and the Union Depot, costing $500,000. There are 2 daily papers,—the "Bee" and the "World-Herald,"—each with a morning and an evening edition, and numerous weekly and monthly publications, among them German, Swedish, Danish, and Bohemian journals. Omaha is the headquarters of the Platte military department, with 10 companies in commodious barracks just N. of the city. A new post, Fort Crook, is being constructed several miles S. of the city. There are 9 national banks, 8 savings-banks, and 2 state banks, with an aggregate capital of $5,500,000 and deposits of $25,000,000. The annual receipts at the United States custom-house are valued at $400,000. The water-works company has an investment of $7,000,000, and its daily pumping capacity is 45,000,000 gallons. The reservoir system has a capacity of 350,000,000 gallons. The source of support is the extensive agricultural and mining territory to the W. of the city. Pop. in 1870, 16,083; in 1880, 30,518; in 1890, 140,452.

Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places ... Joseph Thomas January 1, 1895 J.B. Lippincott

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