The Wilson Packing Plant was a division of the
Wilson and Company meatpacking company located near South 27th and Y Streets in
South Omaha, Nebraska 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 ...
. Founded in the 1890s, it closed in 1976. It occupied the area bounded by Washington Street, South 27th Street, W Street and South 30th Street. Located on the
South Omaha Terminal Railway The South Omaha Terminal Railway in Omaha, Nebraska was a subsidiary of the Union Stock Yards Company of Omaha. Until the separate railroad company was created in July 1927, the trackage, about , was owned and operated directly by the Union Stock Ya ...
and next to the
Omaha Stockyards The Union Stockyards of Omaha, Nebraska, were founded in 1883 in South Omaha by the Union Stock Yards Company of Omaha. A fierce rival of Chicago's Union Stock Yards, the Omaha Union Stockyards were third in the United States for production by 1890 ...
, Wilson was regarded as one of the "Big Four" packing companies in Omaha.
History
The South Omaha Neighborhood Alliance, formed in 1965, was apparently instrumental in the "closing and clean-up" of the Wilson plant. The former plant and its site was redeveloped to be turned into an industrial park in 2003. Instead, the city's new
Kroc Center
The Salvation Army Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Centers, or Kroc Centers, is a group of community centers run by the Salvation Army.
Kroc Center background
Upon her death in 2003, Joan Kroc, the widow of McDonald's restaurants executive Ray K ...
was built on the site.
There were a number of large
riots and civil unrest that originated or included events at the Wilson Packing Plant.
[Nebraska Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. (1894) ''Biennial report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics of Nebraska.'' p 463.]
The building was initially constructed to house the Skinner Packing Company, patriarchs of the current Skinner Pasta brands.
See also
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History of Omaha, Nebraska
The history of Omaha, Nebraska, began before the settlement of the city, with speculators from neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa staking land across the Missouri River illegally as early as the 1840s. When it was legal to claim land in Indian Co ...
*
Economy of Omaha, Nebraska The economy of Omaha, Nebraska is linked to the city's status as a major commercial hub in the Midwestern United States since its founding in 1854. Dubbed the "Motor Mouth City" by ''The New York Times'',Feder, J"Omaha: Talk, Talk, Talk of Telemarke ...
References
External links
Historic photo "Watchman at Wilson Packing"
Former buildings and structures in Omaha, Nebraska
History of South Omaha, Nebraska
1976 disestablishments in Nebraska
Meatpacking industry in Omaha, Nebraska
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