Little Bohemia (Omaha, Nebraska)
Little Bohemia, or Bohemian Town, is a historic
Little Italy. A portion of the neighborhood along South 13th Street was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.[2]
History
Early Czech immigrants from Austria-Hungary found work in Omaha's
Czech Sokol movements, and St. Wenceslaus Church, a Czech Catholic Church. By 1919 the community also had a general store, grocery, dry goods store, a bakery, a shoemaker, saloon, milliner, and doctor.[4]
As
South Omaha's meatpacking industry grew, many Czechs moved from Bohemia Town to South Omaha, closer to their employment. Later concentrations of Czechs developed on the east side of South Omaha.[4] The Immigration Act of 1924
was largely responsible for ending large-scale immigration of Czechs to Omaha.
Landmarks
The Little Bohemia neighborhood has had several important landmarks.[5]
- Prague Hotel on the SW corner of South 13th and William Streets.
- Bohemian Presbyterian Church at 1474 Hickory Street. There is a stained glass chalice above door, which is a symbol of the Hussitemovement. Czech language services ended in 1980, and today it is home to Templo Victoria and Spanish language services.
- Bohemian Cafe on the SW corner of South 13th and William Streets.
- Famous Disney animator Art Babbitt lived at 1436 S. 13th as a child.
- Tourek Engraving and Printing on South 13th Street.
- Milacek and Sons Monument Company across from the Bohemian Cemetery Omaha on Center Street.
- Bohemian Cemetery Omaha (Sometimes referred to as Bohemian National Cemetery.) on Center Street.
- Donut Stop on South 13th Street.
- Tomasek Machine Shop, Inc. on South 13th Street.
- Sokol Auditoriumand Gymnastics Hall on the northwest corner of South 13th and Martha Streets.
- Huser Printing, a Czech family printing business on South 13th Street.
- Former Bohemian-American National Committee headquarters at 1211 South 13th Street.
- St. Wenceslaus Church
- C.F Hermanek Company Annex, a Czechoslovakian grocery store located at 1312 Williams Street
See also
- Czechs in Omaha, Nebraska
- Czechoslovak Museum
- History of Omaha
References
- ^ Mead & Hunt, Inc. (2006) Reconnaissance Survey of Portions of South Central Omaha, Nebraska: Historic Buildings Survey.[usurped] Nebraska State Historical Society. p. 6. Retrieved 6/17/07.
- ^ "Weekly listing". National Park Service.
- ^ Bluvas, J. and Bluvas, M. (1998) p. iii.
- ^ a b Mead & Hunt, Inc. (2006) p. 6.
- ^ Douglas County. Archived 2007-09-18 at the Wayback Machine Czechs in Nebraska. Retrieved 9/17/07.
External links
- Kucera, V. (1976) Czech Contributions to the Progress of Nebraska. University of Nebraska Press.
- Historic photos of Little Bohemia, from the University of Minnesota.
- Bohemian Cafe - historic Czech café run by the Kapoun family
Media related to Little Bohemia at Wikimedia Commons
