-by Greg Hoots- When one hears about Prohibition, the image that comes to mind is the decade of the “roaring twenties”, complete with gangsters toting machine guns and wild nights in the […]
Prohibition Blues: The Life and Times of Bill Page
Cold Case: Murder on Eight-Mile Road
-by Greg Hoots- William Thomas Smale came to Kansas in 1869 as a 14-year old youth when his family immigrated to the United States from Canada. Smale’s father was a farmer, and […]
Photo Friday: The Sweeney Bridge
-by Greg Hoots- This is a photograph of the Sweeney Bridge, an iron bridge under construction over the Kaw River in early 1911. The bridge was located in Kaw Township in Wabaunsee […]
Photo Friday: The Alma Colored Band
-by Greg Hoots- As the small towns of the Flint Hills began to develop between 1880 and 1900, one of the needs felt by the early settlers was to have a city […]
The History of Wabaunsee County Newspapers
-by Greg Hoots- In April of 1867 Alma, Kansas became the county seat of Wabaunsee County, following two contested elections which found Alma and Wabaunsee vying for the placement of the county’s […]
Tornado Strikes Eskridge
-by Greg Hoots- April 12, 1911 began like many spring days for the residents of Eskridge, Kansas as a strong, relentless wind was blowing from the southwest and a hint of clouds […]
The Birth of a Town: Alma
Alma, Kansas is a thriving small town located in the center of Wabaunsee County and serves as the county’s seat of government. The town’s history dates to the middle 1860s when the […]
Alma Bottling Works
-by Greg Hoots- There are few of us that have never enjoyed a cold bottle of “soda pop” on a hot day. That simple pleasure has become a big business in the […]
The History of the Alma Salt Works
-by John Winkler- Editor’s note: This manuscript was written by Wabaunsee County pioneer, John Winkler shortly before his death in 1907. Winkler was scheduled to speak from the manuscript at a meeting […]
A Hardware Legend
-by Kathy Hendricks, WCHS Museum Curator- Alma, Kansas, known as the “City of Native Stone,” had its birthplace at what is today the intersection of Missouri and 3rd Streets. The county’s first courthouse, […]
