Category: Early History
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Hidden Cellar Discovered Beneath Museum Annex
Recently, while maintenance was underway in the Wabaunsee County Historical Society’s annex building, located at 223 S. Missouri Street in Alma, Kansas, a hidden underground cellar or “cave” was discovered under the annex floor. The cave, built of laid limestone, featured an arched-ceiling design and included a long stone staircase which led from the inside…
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The History of the Alma National Bank
-by Greg Hoots- The Alma National Bank enjoyed a prominent place in the history of the business community of Alma, Kansas, boasting a rich history in the very roots of the town. The Alma National Bank, founded in 1898, had its origins in the Alma State Bank, established by Alma businessman and photographer, Louis Palenske. Palenske,…
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The Alma Hotel: A Chronology
-by Greg Hoots- Joseph Brandt was born in Germany in 1828 and immigrated to America in the mid-1850s, settling first in Wisconsin where he met his wife, Christena, the daughter of Prussian immigrants. The couple was married in 1858 and raised a family in Wisconsin for 20 years before moving to Montana in the late…
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Modern Woodmen of America Log Rolling, August 30, 1900
-by Greg Hoots- Modern Woodmen of America is a fraternal organization founded in 1883 in Lyons, Iowa by Joseph Cullen Root. Root was an esteemed businessman who had been very successful in a variety of enterprises ranging from operating a bookstore to the management of multiple flour mills and a grain elevator. Root later engaged…
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Prohibition Blues: The Life and Times of Bill Page
-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 “speakeasy”. The era of Prohibition was a period of American history between 1919 and 1933 in which alcohol manufacture, sale, and possession were…
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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 the family settled on 160-acres of land located six-miles east of Eskridge, Kansas in rural Wabaunsee County. In the late 1870s William married…
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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 County and crossed the river into Pottawatomie County about three miles south of St. Marys, Kansas. There was an interesting history leading to…
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The ‘Alma Colored Amateur 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 band to play for public events and celebrations as well as for dances and private affairs. By 1900 there were a half-dozen city…
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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 courthouse. The momentous event did not make its way into the newspapers. In the earliest days of Alma, growth was slow, and the county was…
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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 could be seen along the western horizon. By early afternoon, clouds had filled the sky above Wabaunsee County, and the first thunderstorms, accompanied…