Category: Photographs
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Dover, Kansas
Dover, Kansas is located on Kansas Highway 4 in the southwest corner of Shawnee County, just a half-mile east of the Wabaunsee County line. Dover has long been a trading center for residents of southeast Wabaunsee County.
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The Barns of Wabaunsee County
Wabaunsee County enjoys a rich ranching heritage which is reflected in the many expansive barns which adorned the landscape. All of late 19th century and early 20th century barns had large hay lofts to accommodate the storage of loose hay. Later, the loft provided storage for small bales of hay. Barns which had cupolas attached…
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Under Construction
Few things have changed more in our lives than construction techniques for buildings and bridges. These photographs capture the construction of Wabaunsee County’s infrastructure, including the building of commercial buildings, churches, schools and bridges.
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Construction of the Wabaunsee County Courthouse, 1931
In 1931 Wabaunsee County constructed a new courthouse on the block bordered by 2nd Street, and 3rd Street, Iowa Street to Kansas Avenue in Alma, Kansas. The county had levied a one-mill property tax beginning in 1928 to raise the money for the courthouse construction. The building cost $148,357.57 to build, but no indebtedness was…
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Volland, Then and Now
Photographer and graphic artist, Tom Parish has created a collection of Volland, Kansas “re-photographs” which merge the images from historic photos with those taken today. Parish uses early Otto Kratzer photos from the Wabaunsee County Historical Society’s collection and then photographs the exact location today, from the same angle and point of view. Then, Parish…
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Paxico
A Tale of Three Towns: Old Paxico, Newbury and Paxico By Doug Hiegert The land we know as Kansas, along with most of the Central Plains in 1850, was unorganized territory with various Indian reservations in what is now the state. Kansas Territory was opened to white settlement on May 30, 1853, and in 1859, Wabaunsee…
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McFarland
Located in the beautiful Mill Creek Valley, McFarland was founded by S.H. Fairfield in June of 1887. The town was platted at the junction point where the Rock Island Railroad branched Northwest to Denver and the Pacific coast, and southwest toward the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Fairfield named his new town “McFarland” after his friend…
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Maple Hill
The name “Maple Hill” was coined by Isabella (Bourassa) Higganbotham, who was appointed the settlement’s first postmaster on May 1, 1862, providing mail service to the few families in the area. Maple Hill Township was established ten years later. Settlement increased dramatically with the arrival of several wealthy Eastern families. William A. Pierce, son of…
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Lake Wabaunsee
Learn more about the story of Lake Wabaunsee by clicking the link below: The Early History of Lake Wabaunsee: 1933-1945
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Harveyville
Harveyville, Kansas was founded in 1880 by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, who platted the town with the completion of the ATSF-owned Manhattan, Alma & Burlingame Railroad. There had been settlers living in the general area of Harveyville for some 25 years before the town was formed. Henry Harvey and his sons homesteaded…