Business & Economics

The landmarks of Omaha's past reveal a history of industry, innovation and change. The Hotel Fontenelle, the Omaha Athletic Club and the Medical Arts Building disappeared in the wake of changes remaking downtown after World War II. Jobbers Canyon, a vital part of the city's wholesale district, was sacrificed to ConAgra's headquarters. Peony Park closed as suburban sprawl prevented its expansion, and changing leisure patterns took residents farther away for their amusement park experience. The stockyards finally closed in 1999, ending a long chapter in Omaha's history. Author and historian Janet R. Daly Bednarek charts the legacy of Omaha's lost history through its landmarks.

Sugar beets are as tenaciously rooted in Nebraska's history as they are in its soil, especially in a seventy-mile stretch of the North Platte Valley that extended into eastern Wyoming. The state's first processing facility opened in Grand Island in 1890, boasting the largest mill in the world. The height of the beet boom occurred in the early part of the twentieth century as Wyobraskan towns courted factory locations as feverishly as rival sugar companies competed for territory, and an irrigation network turned the region into America's Valley of the Nile. Some rail lines have disappeared from the map, while catastrophes like the Scottsbluff and Bayard sugar bin explosions and the Gering Molasses spill will never be forgotten. From neglected beet dumps and abandoned rail spurs to silos ready for future harvests, explore Sugar Valley's heritage with Lawrence Gibbs.

Nebraska's craft beer scene may be relatively young, but the state's rich brewing history stretches back to the 1800s. Tyler Thomas of NebraskaFoodie.com presents the whole story, from quenching thirsts in small towns before Prohibition to homebrewers going commercial and launching the nation's first winery/microbrewery combination. From bourgeois to blue collar, the craft breweries thriving today have distinct and entertaining stories. What drives them all are passionate people pouring their hearts into great beer, which they share one pint, pitcher or growler at a time.

The area that would become Washington County was first settled by the explorers, trappers, and fur traders who traveled by steamboat along the Missouri River to an area inhabited by the Otoe, Missouri, and Omaha Indians. These settlers were pioneers of German, English, Danish, and Irish ancestry who migrated west in search of a better life. They came by steamboat, flatboat ferry, the occasional canoe, on horseback, in wagon teams, and sometimes by foot, venturing into the vast great plains of the frontier. They staked their claims, built sod and hewn-log homes, and traveled on the first post roads using old Indian trails. From the timberland along the river, they pushed westward into the lush rolling hills of red top, timothy, clover, and prairie grasses and tilled the virgin soil to build their futures. It would be another 15 years before the railroad broke ground. These brave men and women journeyed westward, traveling with all their possessions, into the untamed territory that they would later call home.