Omaha Exploration

For nearly a century, the endangered building located at the southwest corner of 20th and South Streets in the Brown Park neighborhood was home to three different Bohemian businesses.

While it is most widely recognized as being home to the beloved Pleskac Bakery, the building at 2001 South Street was first home to John Franek’s Saloon. Born in Bohemia, Franek immigrated to the United States and built a small corner store around 1896. Also known as Franek’s Hall, the establishment was robbed three times within a year, prompting the family to install a burglar alarm. After it was triggered in 1911, Franek and his son exchanged gunfire with the would-be robbers, causing one to be killed while the other was wounded. The Franeks moved from this building around 1914.

Beyond operating the saloon, Franek worked as a musician and band leader, led the local labor union, and served on the South Omaha City Council. He passed away in 1922, though his bar remained open through at least the 1950s. Frank Vanicek followed, operating a bar from this building until prohibition went into effect in Nebraska in May 1917. By that time, he had transitioned to a soft drink parlor before moving his business elsewhere. He later opened a confectionery business before passing away at just 48 years old in 1928.

Joseph Pleskac was trained as a baker in his native country. He immigrated to the United States in 1910 where he found work at Welch’s Bakery. Soon afterwards, he opened his own bakery at 20th and Q Streets, but by 1919 he relocated to the one-story corner store that John Franek had built.

Pleskac Bakery would go on to become a South Omaha institution during its 65-year run serving the community that surrounded it. Perhaps the most notable feature of the bakery is its Deco Moderne storefront, which was likely added in the 1930s when the federal government promoted such updates, in part, as a way to help stimulate the economy during the Great Depression. These types of storefronts emphasized sleek design and featured curved glass and smooth surfaces while utilizing aluminum, glass block, and marble.

After its founder passed away in 1949, Anna, the matriarch of the Pleskac family, continued to run the bakery alongside her children George and Helen, in addition to son-in-law James Zitka. The baking duties fell to George and Zitka while Helen worked out front on the retail side of the business.

Despite suffering Anna’s death in 1963, the bakery continued and remained as popular as ever due to their insistence on using the same recipes and methods its founder had learned in the old country. In an interview with the South Omaha Sun, George suggested that theirs may have been the only bakery in town still using an old-fashioned hearth oven. George went on to say that it offered no temperature control and, as a result, there was zero margin for error. He was so experienced by that point that he knew exactly how long each item needed to bake.

According to the Omaha World-Herald, Omaha had as many as 20 Czech bakeries at one time, but that number dropped to just two by the early 1980s. The other, Masek Bakery at 1627 South 13th Street in Little Bohemia, closed in 1982, followed by Pleskac Bakery in 1984. While Pleskac has been closed for more than 40 years, its memory lives on for those who remember its Bohemian rye bread, breakfast rolls, drop cookies, and kolaches.

While the building has been utilized as storage in recent years, it has deteriorated and may be at risk. For now, it is one of the last intact Deco Moderne storefronts remaining in the city.

This is the third article in a series featuring endangered buildings. This series is in collaboration with Preserve Omaha.

Sources

• U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 – Ancestry.com
• U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 – Ancestry.com
• 1920 United States Federal Census – Ancestry.com
• 1930 United States Federal Census – Ancestry.com
• 1940 United States Federal Census – Ancestry.com
• Ancestry.com – 1900 United States Federal Census
• Email, Shelley McCafferty, City Planner, 01/26/2026
• Beacon – Douglas County, NE – Report: 0728150002
• Omaha World-Herald archives