Mabel Dunham did much to preserve the history of Bethany Church while an active member. Her personal memoirs and weekly column in the Clay Center Times newspaper bring to life the love and devotion the community felt for their small rural Kansas…
At the latest estimate, Kansas may have nearly 9,000 vanished, named communities. These places had many faces: small crossroads villages; depot mail drops on rail lines, lingering communities that coalesced around a church, rapidly-fading religious…
By definition, a township is a geographic division of six square miles that acts as a subdivision of a county. A township does not actually have to include a town to qualify as a township. Thus Five Creeks, located in Clay County, Kansas, is known…
Gatesville was named for Lorenzo Gates, who settled on Mall Creek in the fall of 1857. There was a school, a post office, and a railroad, but no town was ever established, even though it was an essential hub for livestock shipping.
In 1868, Hillside Schoolhouse was built to withstand time. It had thick, limestone walls and was built on a hill, hence the name. Most Hillside students came from farm families, and were mainly of English descent.
Idana is a small community with a large heart for its church and people. In 1887, the Idana Presbyterian Church began and has remained strong ever since. The church’s centennial in 1987 brought people from Idana back home, traveling from as far as…
Before the advent of the automobile, Iwacura arose out of necessity to disperse mail and save souls. James Henry Geist established a post office and the United Brethren Church was built nearby. Both served local farms in the area when it was an…
This is a study of the currently viable small town of Longford, Kansas, in Clay County. It traces the history of the town from its founding as a railroad community on the ATSF line heading west through its survival today. Sources include interviews…
The story of one missionary’s journey around the world, eventually ending in Kansas and the founding of a town, incorporates biographies, census data, genealogical research, photographs, plat maps, and personal interviews.
Mulberry was once a Clay County township with thriving stores, hotels, and other businesses, a place where settlers could come with new ideas and prosper. At the same time Mulberry settlers were chasing the new "American Dream" they…
Oakhill, Kansas, located in Oakland Township in southwest Clay County, may appear to be just another Kansas town. However, the history of this little place paints a unique picture that is unlike other vanishing communities in Kansas. Many Kansas…
Playing a major role in the railroad industry throughout the middle portion of the country, Sherman was a community inhabited by a wide range of ethnic groups. It saw a boom in economic activity but unfortunately, fell victim to a common die out of…
Swedish immigrants established the first homestead in what became Garfield Township in 1868. Churches provided the foundation of the Swedesburg community, which overcame the Great Depression, both world wars, and a 1973 tornado.
This paper explores the agricultural history of Clay County, Kansas, and the African American workers who persevered during the time. Sources used were newspaper articles, the class reader, websites, and a book about Broughton, Kansas.
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…
The author creates a vivid picture of turn of the century rural life as often impoverished, harsh, and filled with economic loss. He examines the unusually high suicide rate among young farmers who lost their land in the Panic of 1893. This study…
Analyzing contagious disease records kept by physicians in two contiguous Kansas counties, this study reaches interesting conclusions about the role of the railroads in early twentieth century Kansas. Rail lines are suspected disease vectors. The…
During the 1860s, Indian tribes raided frontier settlements across the plains, most notably the Cheyenne in North Central Kansas. Numerous counties in Kansas felt the scarring effect of the raids; however, the counties of Jewell, Mitchell,…
This paper is an in-depth documentation of where Kansas falls into the grand scheme of photography as the trend of hobby photography swept across the nation and the globe. This is accomplished by examining the different kinds of cameras that were…
This study analyzes the cases of smallpox in Clay County, Kansas, between the years of 1900-1925. Evidence suggests proactive prevention methods were used to limit and eventually eradicate Smallpox. Data and information is drawn from county disease…
Orchid Ramsey was a small-town African American girl born in 1910. She went on to marry Leon Jordan, a prominent Kansas City Civil Rights activist, and take over his position in Missouri’s General Assembly for sixteen years after his assassination.…
