It was primarily settled after annexation by the United States by migrants from the South, many of whom arrived before the American Civil War.

Omaha was first named as Morristown in 1880 by former Confederate Lieutenant Thompson Morris; it was a stop on the new St. Louis Southwestern Railway, which spurred the town's development as a trading center.

In 1886, a group of seven men from Randolph County, Alabama drew names from a hat to pick a new name; the winner, Hugh Ellis, was allowed to rename the settlement after a town in his home state, and he chose Omaha.

During the twentieth century, Omaha was the site of a shipping operation that sent millions of these seedlings to destinations throughout the United States.

[5] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2), all land.