The Livestock Exchange Building in Omaha,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

, was built in 1926 at 4920 South 30 Street in

South Omaha South Omaha is a former city and current district of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. During its initial development phase the town's nickname was "The Magic City" because of the seemingly overnight growth, due to the rapid development of the Union S ...

. It was designed as the centerpiece of the

Union Stockyards The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., or The Yards, was the meatpacking district in Chicago for more than a century, starting in 1865. The district was operated by a group of railroad companies that acquired marshland and turned it into a central ...

by architect George Prinz and built by Peter Kiewit and Sons in the

Romanesque revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

and Northern

Italian Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

styles. In 1999 it was designated an Omaha Landmark and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. The Union Stockyards were closed in 1999, and the Livestock Exchange Building underwent an extensive renovation over the next several years.

History

According to the City of Omaha

Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission The City of Omaha Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission, established in 1977, is the Omaha city government's a nine-member board responsible for recommending official Omaha Landmarks to the Omaha City Council. The Landmarks Heritage Preservat ...

, the Livestock Exchange Building was the largest and most visually prominent building constructed in South Omaha. Completed for the

Union Stock Yards Company of Omaha The Union Stock Yards Company of Omaha was a 90-year-old company first founded in South Omaha, Nebraska in 1878 by John A. Smiley. After being moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa and dissolved within a year, the company was reorganized and moved to So ...

in May 1926, the Livestock Exchange Building was the most significant structure associated with the Omaha Stockyards and served as the center of the livestock industry in Omaha. Chicago and Omaha were the two largest centers for livestock processing in the nation, and the industry was the most important in the city. In 1957 the stockyards and meatpacking industry employed half the workforce of Omaha."Livestock Exchange Building"
City of Omaha Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission, accessed 11 Jul 2008 Once the center of business and trading in the midst of of

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

pens, the Livestock Exchange Building housed the Stockyards National Bank, offices, a

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who w ...

, cafeteria, kitchen, soda fountain, cigar stand,

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

and

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

offices, apartments and sleeping rooms, a clothing store and a convention hall. There are two ballrooms located on the 10th floor, with 22-foot ceilings in an elegant Romanesque and Northern Italian Renaissance Revival style. The North Ballroom has a built-in bar, stage and hardwood floors. The South Ballroom has a balcony, three private boardrooms and a large dance surface. A complex public-private renovation was completed in 2005. The building was converted to mixed-use, yielding more than 100 apartments, plus community and commercial space. Its historical character was preserved and it will be the center of a new neighborhood. The surrounding area will be redeveloped for mixed commercial, medical and light industrial uses.(nd
"Renovation of the Historic Livestock Exchange Building in Omaha"
, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Retrieved 6/22/07 One of the most recent additions is the newest iteration of the South Omaha Library, a partnership between the

City of Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

and the Metropolitan Community College. The College has also opened a new campus on the site of the former stockyards.

References

External links

"Sales Day".
- Description of selling animals at the Livestock Exchange Building in the 1950s.
Historic postcards
of the original Livestock Exchange Building. {{Omaha Stockyards Culture of Omaha, Nebraska History of South Omaha, Nebraska Landmarks in South Omaha, Nebraska Meatpacking industry in Omaha, Nebraska Office buildings in Omaha, Nebraska National Register of Historic Places in Omaha, Nebraska Commodity exchanges in the United States Commercial buildings completed in 1926 Romanesque Revival architecture in Nebraska Italian Renaissance Revival architecture in the United States Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Nebraska 1926 establishments in Nebraska

History

See also

References

External links