William A. Pitt and fellow settlers from Trier, Germany, first settled near Carr Creek, but flooding encouraged them to relocate to the top of a nearby hill. They called their settlement Pittsburg and, later, Tipton.
This study examines the town of Toronto, in Toronto Township, Woodson County, Kansas. The town was founded in 1869, and because of its location, it was at a disadvantage in terms of growth when compared to towns surrounding it. The town’s population…
It is not exactly clear what became of the forgotten settlement known as Tuscarora Lake; however, clues from the town’s past can be examined to better expose the reality behind Tuscarora Lake’s demise. The ending of Tuscarora Lake was directly…
This is a brief history of Twin Mound in Douglas County, Kansas. It focuses on the life and near misses of the community from 1857 to the post office closing in 1903. This history utilizes newspaper articles, plat maps, and site research and…
Volland was a town that almost met its end when the railroad it heavily depended on for commerce and revenue became obsolete due to new technology. Against all odds, however, the town would survive and experience a rebirth. This study incorporates…
This essay examines the military career of William Henry Harrison McCall, a typical Union officer in the American Civil War. Once the conflict ended, McCall participated in one of the most famous engagements with hostile Indian warriors in American…
This study uses two Justice of the Peace record books to correlate patterns in early Wabaunsee Co., crime rates with major regional and national events. The results of this study show spikes in crime rates following events that put strain on the…
This study examines the town of Waco, in Salem Township, Sedgwick County, Kansas. It was classified as a town between the dates of 1870 and 1905, but it continues to survive as a community to this day. The town declined due to restricted access to…
Waconda Springs no longer exists, its memory still lives on. Stories are told by those who remember the sacred site and those who had lived it. Nowadays with all the historical landmark laws, Waconda Springs would have never been bulldozed down.…
The history of Wakarusa, a town in Shawnee County, Kansas, located about eleven miles south of Topeka, dates back to the 1850s. Its name originates from the Wakarusa River valley, land that was originally inhabited by the Pottawatomie Indians. The…
Swedish settlers founded Walsburg in 1866, naming it after nearby Walnut Creek. A small Swedish community grew there for decades. However, after the Union Pacific Railroad left town in 1935, Walsburg declined and became a lost community.
This study examines how humans, coyotes, and black-tailed jackrabbits interacted under drought conditions in Kansas during the 1890s. Using newspapers, scientific studies, and commissioner’s records from Clay and Riley counties, the study tells the…
Following is a brief but engaging history of the community of Waterloo, Kansas in Galesburg Township of Kingman County and its arboretum that still persists today. This study uses photographs, newspaper articles, maps, and written histories.
Webster was a failed railroad town that, despite its unity and perseverance, was sacrificed to the creation of Webster Reservoir. This case study includes photographs, maps, and interviews from Mrs. Jean Lindsey, local historian, and Mrs. Patty…
Many small towns in Kansas had a shared dairy commons. The author of this study connects the commons in Westmoreland, Rock Creek Valley, with the strong German and Sudetenland settler culture; he also traces the life of the commons and its eventual…
With Germanic and possibly surviving medieval European culture ways implanted in Pottawatomie County, a shared rural slaughterhouse in early Westmoreland provides clues. From oral accounts only, the author locates the site of the original…
Founded in 1881 by individuals of German Heritage, Wheaton grew to a town with three newspapers and made early technology advancements of telephone poles and gas generator. Although the town has dwindled and the school consolidated with Onaga, the…
The lost town of Whiskey Point is located in Geary County, Kansas. It was an “Island” community known to cavalry soldiers for its saloons, brothels, and restaurants. The town disappeared after the Provost Marshall dumped barrels of whiskey into the…
At the ridge of the Flint Hills in Morris County lies the rural community of White City, Kansas. Today, with 618 people, White City is still a viable community, but it bears little relation today to the regional consumer and mercantile center it…
The White Rock Valley in Republic County saw Indian violence from both the Cheyenne and the Pawnee. This essay traces the founding of the town of White Rock City and its decline during the railroad years. The vital early years of the town are…
The author uses historic newspaper reports, census records, city directories, and historic advertising to recreate the Chinese community found in Wichita, Kansas around the turn of the century.
This document includes the following: a brief history of the Wichita Kansas segregated school system, including avoiding integration in the 1950’s. The study also addresses the legal process of integrating the Wichita schools in the late 1960’s. It…
Northwest of Manhattan, Kansas, in Riley County is the location of a valley once called Wild Cat, not only filled with beautiful trees and rolling hills but with the quietness of a community that was once inhabited by many.
