Sheelytown: Polish Immigrants, Meat Packing, and a Neighborhood Lost

2364 S 29th Street, 2368 S 29th Street, 2532 S 24th Street, 2708 S 24th Street, Belitz Tavern, Big Fred’s Bar, city meat market, Clanton’s Grocery, Cook Packing House, Dinker’s Bar and Grill, Dupont Pharmacy, Dupont School, El Museo Latino, Falstaff Brewery, Field Club Historic District, Hanscom Inn, Hanscom Park, Herman Merten, Idle Hours Tavern, Immaculate Conception Church, Jim Dahlman, john sheely, Joseph Sheely, Kozal Grocery, Little Poland, Maney Milling, nick Dargaczewski, Scheely Tavern, Sheely Brothers Packing House, Sheelytown, Shop Rite, St. Paul’s Church, Stoysich House of Sausage, The Polish Home, Union Stockyards

January 25, 2024

Built surrounding the Sheely Brothers Meat Packing Plant, Sheelytown was an immigrant neighborhood first settled by the Irish, then the Polish. Then came the interstate.

The first Europeans to occupy the area that became known as Sheelytown were Irish immigrants who settled the area starting in the 1860s while helping build the railroad. Meanwhile, David Cook founded the first meatpacking business in the area in 1871, predating those in South Omaha. It was located next to the railroad tracks at 27th and Martha Street, just outside the city limits in a brush-filled area. Its location was selected because the city prohibited the dumping of packing house waste within five miles of the city. Within two years, it was packing 3,000 hogs annually.

1870’s Durham photo looking northwest from 14th and Douglas. While I don’t see the Sheely Brothers Meat Market, this is the area where it was located and should give a good idea what the area looked like.

The children of German-Jewish immigrants, John and Joseph Sheely were born in Pennsylvania and reunited in Delaware, where they entered the meat business. By 1856, they relocated to Omaha and opened the City Meat Market at 259 Douglas Street. In 1880, the butchers purchased the Cook Packing House. By the time the Sheely Bros. Packing Company became the first substantial meatpacking plant in Omaha, Czech and Polish immigrants began settling in the area and gradually displaced the Irish population.

A house in Sheelytown at 2919 Castelar Street then and now. Photo on the left courtesy of Omaha World-Herald.

The Polish immigrants who worked for the Sheelys established an invisible boundary around their neighborhood, from about 24th to 32nd Street and from Martha to Vinton Street. The poor families that lived in the area were viewed by outsiders as dirty and uncivilized. Despite that, they developed a reputation for working hard and playing hard. With most of the men working for the packing plant, it developed into an unofficial company town named Sheelytown for the brothers who owned it.

Outsiders went out of their way to avoid the rough-and-tumble neighborhood, but when they did enter, it was at their own peril. One account tells of an Irish boy who entered Sheelytown to pick up a Polish girl for a date, only to be beaten by a local boy who claimed to have “rescued” her. Even walking to nearby Hanscom Park could result in a beating, as Sheelytown children ruled the park, as well as the nearby Field Club, where many worked as caddies.

Durham Museum photo looking east on 29th and Dupont. The building on the right is Shop Rite Super Market. The streetcar tracks can be seeing going north and south.

At its peak, the Sheely Bros. slaughtered 15,000 hogs, 5,000 sheep, and 1,200 cattle annually. After John retired in 1883, Joseph continued to operate the business until the packing house caught fire during the winter of 1886. The blaze, observers said, was only detected because it smelled like a hog roast. It was never rebuilt due to the growing dominance of the South Omaha stockyards and meatpacking plants.

Photo of Hanscom Inn at 2368 S 29th St in the building that Dinker’s currently calls home.

The area was briefly incorporated as Park Vale in 1886 before Omaha’s first mass annexation swallowed it up in 1887. Despite the loss of the plant and both Sheely brothers, the Sheelytown name stuck.

1914 Durham Museum photo of a group of school children and teachers standing in front of DuPont School on 29th & Martha.

Sheelytown even had its own mayor, the most well-known of whom was Nick Dargaczewski. A saloon owner and blacksmith, he was a man who could be counted on to deliver votes for Omaha’s cowboy mayor, Jim Dahlman. Known for ending his political rallies in Sheelytown, Dahlman claimed the working-class neighborhood as his home, though he lived a few blocks north at 29th and Hickory Street.

In 2022 the Omaha World-Herald published this photo of St. Paul’s Church. The photo was provided by Joyce Synowiecki.

Sheelytown was also the site of an 1895 dispute between Bishop Richard Scannell and a rogue group of parishioners over the independence of St. Paul’s Polish Church that turned violent. When the rogues were forced to surrender the building, they burned it to the ground. It was later replaced by Immaculate Conception Church at 24th and Bancroft Street.

1919 Exterior of South Central School at 25th and L St. This would later become the Polish Home. The building still stands and belongs to El Museo Latino.

The start of Prohibition in 1920 marked the end of an era in Sheelytown, as its taverns and dance halls were forced to close. One resident was quoted as saying that “even brawling ceased to provide fun during those dark years.” Despite this, the Polish population continued to grow, reaching 14,000 by the 1940s. Most were drawn to the area by jobs in the stockyards, meatpacking plants to the south, and the railroad. Omaha became home to one of the largest concentrations of Polish Americans west of Chicago.

1928 Durham Museum photo of Immaculate Conception Church at 24th and Bancroft.

While Sheelytown rebounded after Prohibition for the next few decades, the end was near. In the early 1960s, the city announced plans for Interstate 480 to cut through what it called a blighted Sheelytown neighborhood. Residents fought back but, as is often the case, failed in part due to a lack of political representation and power. Among the most outspoken was Herman Merten, a 47-year-old station engineer and father of six. In 1961, Merten was forcibly removed from his home at 2879 Frederick Street while sitting in his chair. Houses and small businesses between 28th and 29th Street were demolished, Merten’s included. His family, like many others, was forced to move after the neighborhood was cut in half. Sheelytown never recovered, and many residents relocated to either Little Poland or Golden Hill to the south and west.

1961 Durham Museum photo of Herman Merten being carried out of his house.

Despite the turmoil, the Polish Home at 4701 South 25th Street aimed to keep the community together while serving as its cultural center. The building housed a library, offered language classes, showed films and plays, and hosted dances, wedding receptions, and political rallies. It also served as a gathering place to enjoy traditional cuisine while listening to polka bands.

Today it is difficult to identify all of the businesses and landmarks that made up Sheelytown. That said, below is a list of places I know existed.

2532 S 24th St – Stoysich House of Sausage
2708 S 24th St – Immaculate Conception
2457 S 27th Ave – Kozol Grocery
2463 S 27th Ave – Maney Milling
2470 S 27th Ave – Idle Hour Tavern/Belitz Tavern
2351 S 29th St – Shop Rite Super Market
2364 S 29th St – Clanton’s Grocery/Dinker’s Bar
2367 S 29th St – Dupont Pharmacy/Idle Hour Tavern
2368 S 29th St – Hanscom Theater/Hanscom Inn/Big Fred’s/Scheely Tavern/Dinker’s Bar & Grill
2401 S 29th St – Didham’s Hall/Micek’s Tavern
25th and Vinton – Falstaff Brewing
29th and Arbor – Kudlacz’s Grocery
29th and Martha – Dupont School

One of very few holdovers is Dinker’s, a bar and grill best known for its hamburgers, long on tradition, with a mural on its southern wall that vividly captures its history. Sheelytown started as a company town that was never formally its own. It earned its reputation the hard way through loud street dances, three-day weddings, colorful nicknames, and a chip on its shoulder. Urban renewal killed it.

Photo of a street dance along 29th St and in front of Dinker’s at 2364 S 29th St before it moved to its current location.

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