Category: Photographs
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Hecker Bros. Traveling Medicine Show
Today’s Photo Friday is a real rarity, a view of a traveling medicine show taken between 1890 and 1900 at Alma, Kansas by Alma photographer, Gus Meier. An arena with bleachers has been erected for the show, and individual medicine salesmen have tents along the south edge of the grounds. This medicine show was owned…
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Derailed
In the history of Wabaunsee County, among the significant events which shaped the county’s development and growth were the coming of the railroad in 1880 and the subsequent addition of a second railroad seven years later. For a century the railroad provided transportation, commerce and employment for the citizens of Wabaunsee County. When one considers…
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Alma Portland Cement Works
Photographer Tom Parish visited the site of the Alma Portland Cement Works, a late-19th century manufacturing enterprise, located near Alma, Kansas. Parish photographed the remains of the large kiln where ingots of limestone aggregate were fired into cement clinkers. Closed in the early 1900s, the cement works remains a monument to the work of the…
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A Tale of Two Photographers
-by Greg Hoots- Louis Palenske was born in Richardson County, Kansas Territory in 1858 (renamed Wabaunsee County in 1859) in a log cabin on the banks of Mill Creek, the son of German immigrants Frederick and Caroline Palenske. Louis was the second white child born on Mill Creek, preceded only by his brother, August. Louis…
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August Ohst, Artist
Today’s featured photo includes two views, both taken in 1888 by Louis Palenske, of his good friend, artist, August Ohst. August Ohst was born in Ratzeburg, Germany in 1851 and came to America in 1880, studying art in New York City before moving to Alma, Kansas in 1883. Ohst spent the next half-century practicing his trade…
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Eskridge City Park Bandstand
After Wabaunsee County’s incorporated towns were established from the 1860s through the 1880s, the towns began to recognize the need for a park for the recreation and enjoyment of their citizenry. By the dawn of the 20th century, most of the towns had established a park, easily accessible by walking. At the same time, virtually…
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Railroad Trestle Construction
Hi, Everyone, It’s Photo Friday again! I have two photos taken of the construction of a railroad trestle. The location is unidentified beyond the assumption that it is in Kansas. These are interesting photos in many respects. The small crew and lack of heavy equipment impresses me. I’m not sure who may have been braver,…
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Wabaunsee Tavern, Lake Wabaunsee
Welcome to Photo Friday. We have two photos today from lifelong Eskridge resident, Dean Dunn, both taken at Lake Wabaunsee in the early 1940s. These views are both of the Wabaunsee Tavern, which operated a small luncheonette on the north shore of the lake, near the beach. For more views of Lake Wabaunsee, visit our…
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Gasoline Gallery
Before the development of the convenience store and the concept of self-service gasoline pumps, there were thousands of small gas stations across Kansas that pumped fuel, washed the customer’s windows, checked the oil, repaired tires, sold sandwiches and soda pop, and provided a venue for local men to loaf. Architecturally, the stations were often tiny…
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All Indian Trails Lead to Lawrence Photos
In 1926 Kansas photographer Louis Palenske was living and working in Burlington, Kansas when it was announced that Native Americans from across the country would be attending a four-day dedication of a new football stadium at Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas. The event was advertised under the name, All Indian Trails Lead to Lawrence. While Lawrence…