The Other Omahas

[projectman]

See the attached websites for our great city's namesakes around the country. I thought it was interesting. Couldn't find websites for Omaha, KY,AL,VA and MO.

Omaha, Arkansas:
http://www.omahaweb.net/

Omaha, Texas:
http://www.newway.cc/texasrealestatelinks/omaha/
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/onl ... hlo16.html

Omaha, IL:
http://www.city-data.com/city/Omaha-Illinois.html

[Ingersoll1978]

Omaha, TX is named after Omaha, AL. LOL

[eomaha]

I don't think Omaha, Alabama exists any longer. The only other Omaha I'm familiar with (aside from Arkansas, Texas, and Illinois) is Omaha, Georgia.

Omaha, AR is the 2nd largest followed by Omaha, TX. Omaha, IL and Omaha, GA are both very tiny.

[DMRyan]

I've been through Omaha, Missouri and it's nothing more than a few houses on a very scenic hill. It's in far northern Missouri and I'm not sure it was ever incorporated.

[StreetsOfOmaha]

Funny story about that...

This fall I was in Branson Missouri. My sister and I were working out in the fitness center of the resort we were staying at and there's this guy in there. Of course, he starts hitting on my sister, as most guys do (gag ) and he asks where we're from. Of course, I say "Omaha", no mention of state (Because Omaha's too good to tag the state on the end, right?). So then the guy is like, "Yeah, I drove through Omaha one time. Not a very big town, is it? It seemed pretty dead with not much to do," or something to that effect. I said nothing, but of course was REALLY frustrated and angry with this guy for being so "ignorant". Anyway, come to find out later that Omaha, Arkansas is in the far northern part of the state, near the Arkansas/Missouri border, which is where we were in Missouri. Omaha, Arkansas was less than 20 miles away, so of course, the guy, being from Branson, would assume that's what we meant. So I turned out to be the "ignorant" one .

[DTO Luv]

The OWH did a story a few years back about the othee Omahas. The one in Georgia was little more than a trailor park. One of the smaller Omahas (TX or AK) has sent some students on field trips to the big Omaha to see what it's like.

[projectman]

I would venture to guess that some of the tiny Omaha old timer historians will try to say their Omaha was named first. I can't imagine since the Big O was named after the Omaha Tribe. I don't think there were other version of the Omahas but I could be wrong. Im not sure if the other Omahas are "Above all others on a stream".

It would be interesting to hear the stories around how each one got it's name. I'm sure there are 100 versions.

[DMRyan]

This is a fun thread and I learned a lot from it. Thanks for the links projectman.

[eomaha]

A site patron dug this up...

From the Day After 9/11/2001:

In its song "Omaha," the rock group Counting Crows vaguely described the city's location as "somewhere in middle America."

Oh, really?

It is if you're talking about Omaha, Neb.; Omaha, Ill.; or maybe Omaha, Ark.

But what about Omaha, Texas, and Omaha, Ga.?

Yes, the Big O shares its name with four Little O's.

Although comparatively puny, the lesser - known Omahas have much more than a name in common with the big - city brother after which two of them are named.

Like Omaha, Neb., three are border towns; Omaha, Texas, is the exception.

Like Omaha, Neb., residents of the other Omahas love football (Texas), watch their entertainment dollars flow to another state (Arkansas), shop at a large local furniture store (Illinois) and sometimes pine for the past (Georgia).

And most of them know as little about us as we know about them.

As Omaha, Texas, Mayor John Whitecotton says, "We know we share the same name, but that's about it."

Let the introductions begin.

Omaha, Texas

Mayor Whitecotton's retirement revolves around the three G's: golf, gardening and governing.

Whitecotton, 78, has plenty of time for hobbies in this aging and politically apathetic town. A morning spin around the village in a squad car and a few hours in his office afterward are about all Whitecotton needs to keep in touch with his community.

"We're just here," he says in a thick Texas twang.

The town comes alive on fall Friday nights, however, to cheer the Pewitt High School football team. Residents still talk about Pewitt's state title two years ago and wonder if the new coach will bring another one.

In a state where high school football is king, being a coach is a pressure - packed position. Pewitt's new coach recently asked Whitecotton if he'd be popular with the fans. Whitecotton assured the coach that "if you win, you will be."

"It's like selling cars," Whitecotton says, "either you do or you don't."

Residents aren't nearly as passionate about politics. Whitecotton ran unopposed in the last election. No one applied to serve on the three - member City Council, so the town does without one.

Like many other small towns, Omaha must deal with an exodus of its young people to big cities and colleges. Not that Whitecotton blames them for bolting to Dallas or attending college at Texas A&M University in College Station.

"There's nothing for them to do here," he says. "Working on roads or being a clerk in the bank is about the best we got."

Not all is bad in Omaha. Residents can get a decent piece of catfish or a plate of jambalaya at the Cajun Cowboy Restaurant, although they can't wash dinner down with a beer. Omaha resides in a dry county.

The lack of alcohol, though, probably helps keep Omaha just as its residents like it, Whitecotton says.

"We're just a real quiet community."

Omaha, Ill.

This town doesn't have a bar, but it resembles one. Just like the fictional tavern Cheers, everyone here knows everyone else's name.

"A few years back, you couldn't spit on the sidewalk without somebody knowing about it," Omaha Mayor Joe Sadler says. "You'd leave the keys in your car and your house unlocked and nothing happened.

"That's slowly changing, but we're still a pretty close community."

Other changes have occurred more rapidly. The coal mines that used to sustain the local economy closed 15 years ago, about the same time the few operating oil wells dried up. Now the village's economic fate mostly rests with farming.

After the coal - mine closings, the town's three restaurants were boarded up, one of its two grocery stores fell by the wayside, the railroad tracks were ripped up and the grain elevator closed. The town still boasts a lumberyard and a sizable furniture store that takes up two city blocks, one on each side of Main Street.

Still, Omaha's population has remained largely unchanged. The lack of amenities isn't an issue to people who enjoy knowing their neighbors and treasure quiet country.

The town's only brush with the big time comes when Utah Jazz basketball coach Jerry Sloan visits. Sloan grew up in nearby McLeansboro and played sports against Omaha teams as a youth.

He occasionally attends auctions in Omaha during the summer, sometimes accompanied by Jazz star Karl Malone. Both men go about their business relatively undisturbed, Sadler says.

"Everybody knows Jerry," he says. "They don't really treat him like a celebrity. He's just a regular person."

Three years ago, Sloan endeared himself to the community by contributing items for a fund - raiser for three Omaha families whose children had died in a car accident.

Those trying times remind Sadler of the benefits of living in a close - knit community.

"For a little - bitty town, we got along pretty good."

Omaha, Ark.

Omaha, Ark., is the most scenic Omaha. Nestled in the Ozark Mountains, the town's residents bask in the beauty of their surroundings.

As one resident says, "If I don't have anything to do, I like to just sit outside and look around."

Besides a pair of lakes, the view includes a stream of cars headed to Branson, Mo., a country and oldies music entertainment mecca. Highway 65 to Branson recently was rerouted around town. While it returned peace and quiet to this mountain town, it did so at the risk of lost tourism dollars.

Hazel and Arthur Rose were most directly affected by rerouting the highway. They've run a convenience store on old Highway 65 for 38 years.

The construction project, which took place two years ago, hurt their business in some ways but has been a benefit in others, Hazel Rose says.

"We don't get the big trucks like we used to. We've slowed down from what we used to be, but we're still going strong. Our local business is what sustains us."

Locals pride themselves in supporting education. The town recently helped finance a new million - dollar gymnasium for its high school.

The only thing that creates a big stir in town other than an Omaha Eagles basketball game is the local beauty pageant. It's sponsored annually by the Omaha Volunteer Fire Department.

"Girls come from all over," Rose says, meaning they come from all over the county. "It's a very big deal."

That's one of the few things that brings tourists to town now that the highway has been rerouted, although a group from Omaha, Neb., recently decided to check out their city's namesake.

Rose says the group, returning from a Little League baseball tournament in Arkansas, toured the town and told her about their Omaha.

"I just know it's a really big town," Rose says, referring to Omaha, Neb., "a lot different than what we are."

Omaha, Ga.

Omaha, Ga., has seen better days.

This once - bustling town used to support a hotel and a few restaurants and saloons, but its population has been dwindling for decades.

Now most of its 116 residents live in mobile homes. The community's decline was punctuated recently when the police made a $60,000 drug bust.

"People in Omaha are peculiar nowadays," says Blanche Morrison, 75, the town's oldest resident. "You never know what's going to happen next."

Morrison moved to Omaha in 1946 when she married. She keeps most of the town's history in her head and never tires of sharing it at length.

Morrison says Omaha originally was to be named Fitzgerald, after the family that settled the town. The problem was that Georgia already had a town named Fitzgerald.

A traveling salesman from Omaha, Neb., suggested the new name when he passed through town.

For the town's 100th anniversary in 1991, Morrison wrote to the other Omahas to find out more about them. People from each city wrote back, including a resident of Omaha, Ala., one of a handful of other cities named Omaha that no longer exist.

Morrison read the letters with a mixture of interest and sadness. The other towns were thriving or holding their own, while hers seemed destined to become the next extinct Omaha.

Tragedy has been a part of the town's history from the beginning, Morrison says. Many early settlers were killed by Creek Indians.

Some residents believe a part of the city is haunted because they see ghostly lights at night.

"But I've never seen any of that," Morrison says.

Despite the drug bust, declining population and possible paranormal activity, Omaha clings to its spot on the map.

"We're still here," Morrison says, "and hopefully, we'll still be here in 100 years."

Omaha, Texas

Population: 999

Name: Pulled out of a hat in 1886.

Big event: watermelon festival in sister city Naples.

Most popular restaurant: The Cajun Cowboy, for catfish.

Omaha, Illinois

Population: 280

Named after: Omaha, Neb., by a railroad worker in 1871.

Big event: Strawberry Festival.

Notable figure: Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan visits frequently.

Omaha, Arkansas

Population: 228

Named after: the Omaha Indian tribe, sometime around the turn of the last century.

Big event: Beauty pageant.

Entertainment hub: Branson, Mo., 15 miles north

Omaha, Georgia

Population: 116

Named by: a traveling salesman from Omaha, Neb. in 1891

Notable resident: Confederate soldier named Page, who was erroneously reported dead three times.

Our Omaha Stacks Up

Population: 390,007

The name: Chosen in 1854 to honor the area's American Indian heritage. It means "upstream people."

Main tourist attraction: Henry Doorly Zoo. (In Omaha, Ill., it's Kave - in - rock, a hole in the ground on the Mississippi River where bandits such as Jesse James lived. Omaha, Ark., has the Ozark Mountains and Bull Shoals Lake, famous for its rainbow - trout fishing. Omaha, Ga., has Florence Marina State Park. The mayor of Omaha, Texas, just laughed when asked to name his town's tourist hot spot.)

Notable residents, past and present: Billionaire Warren Buffett. (In Omaha, Ark., it's millionaire Claude Parish, who has an Arkansas cancer treatment center named after him. In Omaha, Texas, it's baseball player Randy Moore, a member of the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame. He played in the National League in the 1920s and 1930s.)

Main entertainment hub: Old Market. (Compare that to Pewitt High School in Omaha, Texas - high school sports are big in Texas - the Easy Stop in Omaha, Ill., the local grocery store where residents gather, and Branson, Mo., for Omaha, Ark. Omaha, Ga., has none.)

Mayor: We have the only full - time mayor in Mike Fahey. (In Omaha, Texas, it's John Whitecotton, a 78 - year - old Army retiree. Omaha, Ill., has Joe Sadler, part - time mayor and full - time truck driver. Omaha, Ark., has Michael Roberts, a volunteer mayor who works at an auto - parts store. Omaha, Ga., has none.)

Main sports fan following: Husker football. (Comparable to Texas' Dallas Cowboys; Georgia's Auburn University and Alabama college football; Omaha, Ill., and Omaha, Ark., have only high - school sports.)

Biggest annual event: College World Series.

Most recent government project or purchase: We got a convention center and arena. Omaha, Texas, got the Jaws of Life for its rescue unit. In Omaha, Ark., Highway 65 was recently diverted around for 7.8 miles to keep Branson - bound tour buses out of town and to give Omaha residents the peace and quiet they value.

[projectman]

That's great Jeff. You gotta love it.

[StreetsOfOmaha]

Great find, Jeff!

I suppose we should be flattered that two towns have been named after us .

[edsas]

I always thought the Counting Crows song sounded a little too "down home" for the Big O. Maybe they were singing about the one in Illinois.