This is a short history of the hotel and mineral springs community that once existed on land owned by the William Blasing family, Zeandale Township, Riley County, Kansas. Although not actually a town, Blasing Springs was a thriving enterprise…
With the general store as the heart of town, Bodaville served as both a home and a stopping point for travelers. Sources for this study include interviews, newspapers, maps, photographs, and firsthand accounts of the town of Bodaville.
This paper examines the history of Eureka Lake, a short lived resort southwest of Manhattan, Kansas.
This study will focus on Lasita, Fancy Creek Township, Riley County, Kansas. Lasita is an example of a typical turn of the 20th century rural town where the railroad influenced the establishment and prosperity of the town, and the automobile and…
Two towns located five miles apart make for instant rivals. Located in Riley County, the towns of Leonardville and Riley competed to establish a post office and attract the attention of a railroad. Leonardville won the first battle and boomed while…
The lost community of Magic, located in Riley County, Kansas, was settled by immigrants from Germany in a process of chain migration. The community’s population steadily began to decline in the 1930s and was eventually consumed by the expansion of…
This study is about the small town of May Day, Riley County, Kansas. It includes interviews, early maps of the town site, and photographs of how the town stands right now.
This paper chronicles the story of Henry Moehlman and the development of Moehlman Bottoms in Riley County, Kansas. Includes effects of natural disasters, early Kansas rural education, historical photos, and present day maps and pictures of Moehlman…
This is a study of Poliska and Tauromee, Kansas. These two towns, in the vicinity of Manhattan, Kan., only lasted two-three years, due to several factors, including the ever-growing city of Manhattan, which basically sucked both towns in. This study…
The Ashland and Lower McDowell Creek communities were settled towards the end of the 1800s, but contained a variety of cultural and economic differences. St. Joseph’s Catholic Church worked as an agent to resolve these differences. This study, using…
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.
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.
The decay of Winkler was the loss of not having a railroad run through the town site. A railroad running through a town almost guarantees growth and survival for small towns in Kansas. Glen Stockwell, a local resident near Winkler during the 1930s,…
Zeandale, to many who have lived in Riley County, Kansas, for any length of time, is just that one road to the east that one rarely finds reason to take. Turning on to Zeandale Drive, I found myself in this exact position, unable to bring to mind…
The author compares three types of Welsh communities found in Kansas to determine when the Welsh language ceased common usage. A variety of historic documents were used to make this determination.
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…
Using the case study of Jeremiah "Jerry" Mitchell, this study documents the early history of Manhattan Bottoms and the African American community located there.
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…
This paper explores the history of Kansas State University's Black Student Union, which was founded in 1968 by black K-State athletes as a site of solidarity in a time of social upheaval and racial progress. The author analyzes the founding of…
