Greenwood County
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There were 11 weekly newspapers in the county. If sufficient electric fan contracts could be made, the town was to have a day circuit next summer. Prospects were good for a telephone line from Eureka to Emporia, at a cost of $2000. A rich find of zinc was reported on the John Willis farm, five miles northeast of Eureka. Several "hop tea" sellers had contributed shekels to the city fund. Soybeans was a new drought resisting crop, imported from Japan.
The Eureka Commercial Club was organized in March with Edw. Crebo as president. A meeting was held in the courthouse in January to organize a mineral prospecting company. An attempt was made by some person or persons to destroy the Christian Church by fire. The mud was so thick and deep that Al Frazier had to put four horses on his bus, then it was all they could do to pull it.
The ownership and management of the Herald passed from Z. Harlan to George E. Tucker on January 20, 1900 and the paper was changed back to a six column, published on Friday. A 10-foot roadbed of crushed rock was laid on Main from Fifth to the tracks at a total cost of $200. The completion of the stone arch bridge at Gleason's ford was celebrated on June 6. The salary of the street commissioner was raised from 12 to 15 cents an hour; the marshall received $25 per month and the night watchman, $20.
A baseball team, the "Eureka Blues," was organized. $6000 was raised in Eureka to prospect for gas. Greenwood was the banner cattle county in the state. Eureka Gas Company was formed in June and the city council granted it a franchise. Gas was reached in December at a depth of 1255 feet. A new Populish paper, Toronto Times, was started with the press work done in Yates Center.
The school levy was 15 mills. The Madison News was established by George Wood and George Gilman. They later bought the Madison Star and consolidated the two papers. Greenwood County had a new crop - angora goats - in the southern part of the county. Approximately 1500 people attended the celebration of the new Ladd bridge in Fall River township. Thursday, August 9, was the day Eureka commenced to drill for gas. The first blow of the drill was at 4 p.m. A telephone line was being built from Howard to Severy and was to continue to Eureka.
Cement and brick sidewalks had made their appearance in Eureka. All buildings on the west side of Main in Reece were destroyed by fire on September 6. A new 900-lb fire bell had been purchased by the city. A disastrous tornado visited Hamilton in September. Theo. Roosevelt visited Eureka on September 30 and spoke to 4000 people assembled at the depot. Greenwood County had 119 school buildings with a value of $90,900. The Piedmont Methodist Church was destroyed by fire in December.
Citizens National Bank opened its doors for business on January 2. Eureka schools had no commencement in the spring of 1901. Reason - no one to graduate. It was necessary to skip one commencement in order to catch up with the enlarged course in high school, from a three year to a four year school. The Eureka Club was formed in Jan. with a membership of 60, for social advantages and mutual improving. The first firemen's banquet was held February 26. Theo. Fischer opened a feed store with Max Stuelpner occupying the rear of the building with a plumbing and tin shop.
New hitching posts had been installed west of the courthouse. The Entre Nous Club opened the city library on April 23, located over the Citizen's National Bank. It contained 600 volumes. The street commissioned reported 62 wagon loads of tin cans, rocks, barb wire, barrel hoops, etc. had been hauled to the dump from in front of resident houses and side streets. The Lutheran Church spent $1000 to remodel the building. An entire business block in Madison was destroyed by fire in July. A large hotel building in Fall River burned in August. Eureka and Madison had their first telephone connection in September. The Episcopalians had erected a new church on North Main and bids were being received for the erection of a new $2000 Catholic Church on the present site. Electricity was off four weeks while repairs were being made. A 40 ft. smoke stack had been installed at the waterworks plant. Local ice dealers had put up 1800 tons of ice for the summer season.
The Herald moved to its new quarters (the present location) on Jan 3 in the building formerly occupied by the Law Harness Shop. The new office was neither elaborate or beautiful but was sufficient to the demands. The Severy Commercial Club was organized in January. Soldiers were being recruited for service in the Philippine Islands. The automobile craze had hit Eureka and a salesman was in town talking to prospects. Two automobiles were in Eureka in May - the first to ever visit the town. A number of people were given rides and figures on machines, should they decide to buy. Another company was organized to prospect for minerals in the Flint Hills.
The city turned down a $15,000 bond proposition for school purposes. Dr. D.W. Basham moved from Neal to Wichita in April. The State Bank of Hamilton opened in April. A Commercial Club was organized in June. Hamilton was again scorched when a merchandise store and postoffice were burned for the second time in two years. The cornerstone for the new Catholic Church was laid August 10 and the church was dedicated November 16.
After a previous unsuccessful attempt to find gas, Eureka finally discovered the mineral at 380 feet on August 6 and a 10-year franchise was granted. A second gas well was struck in September. Several thousand people were in Eureka in September for the reunion of the Grand Army of the Republic. A new lumber yard was erected at Fifth and Main, to be later known as the Rock Island Lbr. Co. Piedmont had a new publication, Piedmont World, edited by G.W. Burrows. A rural route, known as the Coal Springs route, was established at Severy.
Electricity was now turned on at 5:30 a.m. and burned until sunup, for the convenience of early risers. Water wells had been completed near the pumping station and city water patrons were assured of an abundance of water. A prospecting company from Kansas City was soon to bore for oil in the Flint Hills (they started drilling in March, 1903).
The coal famine had its clutches on Eureka. The Quincy State Bank opened in January. Ground was broken for the new Free Baptist Church at Union. Eureka received two new rural delivery routes on February 2 - the first to be established hers. Order of the Eastern Star chapter was installed at Severy in March. Wires were being strung for more street lights.
On April 16, the Herald appeared in a brand new dress and new headgear. The new dress weighed about 350 lbs. and cost more than any of the glad rags seen ambling piously to church the Sunday before. Nobody in Eureka had worn a dress as long as the Herald - the old one had done service for 35 years.
Land was being leased for oil and gas. Several oil wells were being sunk in Greenwood and Woodson counties. Southeast Eureka was hit hard by a tornado on May 22 with 30 residential properties damaged, eight totally demolished. Another twister swept across the county in Oct. The First National Bank of Toronto opened its doors for business in July. With the July 16 issue, George G. Wood became a co-worker and partner of George E. Tucker in the Herald. Twenty-five business houses in Eureka agreed to close at 7:30 each evening except Saturday. The old Presbyterian Church at Fourth and Main, which had been a landmark to citizens of Eureka for 20 years, was torn from its foundation and moved to Pine street to be used as a barn.
In October, the Herald went to a twice-a-week publication, edited on Tuesdays and Fridays. Madison opened its new Opera House on Nov. 16. The new city park, to be located at the foot of Main, Oak and Elm streets, was soon to be a reality. The Greenwood County Fair Assoc. was organized in November. The site of the grounds joined Eureka on the southeast. Ten men and 20 horses, under the direction of J.S. Davis, were at work filling in ditches, plowing, scraping and trying to transform prairie land into modern fair grounds.
Horse stables had been erected at the fairgrounds and an amphitheater, 96 feet long with a seating capacity of 1200, was soon to be built. Good Greenwood County beef cattle were bringing $5.35. The new Methodist Church at Severy was dedicated April 17. Land in Otter Creek township was being leased for oil. Eureka's population was 2500.
Heavy rains caused about 10 feet of the newly constructed vault wall on the north side of the courthouse to collapse. The Eureka postmaster received $1900 per year. Petitions had been presented to the city for a sewer system. The board of education was asking for a larger high school building. An election was held in July and the bonds carried 395 to 386. The building was to cost $25,000. The site selected was in the Bitler block, across the street south of Sill's Grove.
The Home National Bank in Eureka opened in August with G.S. Sallyards as president, Samuel Holmes, vice-president, and Elwood Marshall, cashier. The Sorosis Club was organized in September. The Herald issued a daily during the county fair in September. Five thousand people attended the opening day of the fair. A motorcycle on the streets in October caused almost as much attention as a box of monkeys. The owner was averaging 120 miles per day on his trip from Wichita to Missouri. A congregation of free Methodists was organized in Climax in December.
In July, Eureka sported two automobiles. The citizens of the staid old town were completely upset on seeing F.B. Graham come tearing down the street in a 24 hp double action center fire, three-seated touring car. He purchased the machine in Topeka and it was made there by the Smith Bros. The third horseless carriage to appear in eureka was a 10 ho Cadillac, purchased by C.W. Hale.
The second annual Greenwood County fair was held in August. Several gas lights were installed in stores. Dr. W.S. Moonlight located in Eureka in August. School opened in the new high school in September. The building, of native stone and compressed brick, was dedicated on October 13. Eureka merchants signed a petition to close at 6:30 p.m. The Eureka Marble and Granite Works started up in January.
Eureka had a male chorus of 22 members. A.L. Shultz started a newspaper at Quincy, the Quincy Enterprise. On October 6, the Herald went back to a weekly paper. The Electric Light & Power Co. started burning gas under its boilers and did away with coal for that purpose. The big cottonwood trees were removed from the courthouse square and the flying cotton from that particular section was no more. the county had placed a bounty of three cents on crows.
A sewer system was established in Eureka. An earthquake was felt in January. The Eureka Poultry Assoc. was organized in February. W.P. Bell had added two bathrooms to be run in connection with his barber shop in the Hotel Greenwood. A good flow of oil was struck at Severy in February, at a depth of 1250 feet. The academy had hired a Miss Michel to teach Manual Training. there were 1620 wagons in Greenwood County and 1294 pleasure carriages, with 9,269 horses.
Salaries for rural teachers were a bit higher this year - $40 per month. R.E. Teichgraeber had completed the new grain elevator. Severy was to have an opera house. The postoffice was moved to Third street. Linen handkerchiefs were five cents; lead pencils, four for one cent; flannel, five cents per yard; hair brushes, 19 cents; and Mennen talc powder, 15 cents.
A theatrical company, the Buster Brown players, refused to perform in Eureka after getting a squint at the opera house. The M.A. Miller store moved to the Collins block. The Frisco depot at Fall River burned to the ground in February. The Missouri and Kansas Telephone Co.'s new office and the installation of the new central energy system in Eureka was celebrated on April 11. E.P. Riggle opened a new general merchandise store in Utopia.
A movement was started to get a hospital for Eureka. It was opened during the year, a building 30 by 50 feet, two stories, with 16 rooms and basement, located on North Main, opposite the courthouse (north) (the present location of the Darling Apartments). Dr. E.J. Norman was the resident physician.
A desirable two-story frame residence, with four bedrooms, bath, dining room, parlor, kitchen and piazza could be erected for $3500. L.E. Bright opened a clothing store in the Crebo block.
Eureka was fast becoming an automobile town. Two fine touring cars were received by Ralph P. Robins (a 40 hp Pope-Hartford model) and Dr. W.T. Grove (a 22 hp Buick). Geo. K. Jackson had a machine on the way, a Duplex Stanhope with 40 inch solid rubber wheels, built much on the style of an ordinary buggy. The "honk wagon" brigade would soon no longer cause the natives to turn their necks when a car passed. A city ordinance was passed limiting the speed of automobiles within the city limits to six miles per hour.
Second street was reserved for autos during the fair. Charles Smith purchased the Greenwood Hotel in August. The cornerstone for the Pleasant Plains Methodist Episcopal Church was laid on Aug. 12. The Eureka Broom and Brush Factory moved to Emporia.
Crebo & Fischer grocery store moved to the new Crebo block. Rural Route 5 began operating out of Eureka on November 1. Piedmont had a new depot. Eureka High School football team was Southwestern Champions after defeating Wichita 18 - 0. The roller-skating fad had hit Eureka and the hall over Clark's drug store was being prepared for a rink and dance hall. The young people and those not so young were rapidly learning to keep their equilibrium on the little steel wheels. Another rink was opened in a tent west of the courthouse. This was later converted into a summer theatre.
Eureka had a show - a five-cent moving picture and illustrated song show in the room south of Morris' Drug Store. The business was sold to J.G. Baxter in February. Fire escapes were installed at the high school. Ordinance No. 372 gave the fire chief an annual salary of $25 and the assistant received $20. Each fireman was allowed $1.00 per run if the apparatus was hauled a distance of two blocks from the station.
Eureka had its first Chautaucua in July in the city park. John Cochran joined the ranks of the gasoline-buggy brigade. He bought a 12 hp Victor runabout and was busy all week getting onto the whims of the machine. Claude Ruggles had purchased a Wagner motorcycle to deliver mail but the steed acted so badly he was forced to return to town and again resort to his trusty horses. One of the new cars, an 18 hp Buick, made the trip from Kansas City in 14 hours, or at the rate of 14 1/2 miles per hour. T.J. Souders had purchased three cars and a Holsman motor buggy. C.E. Moore joined the exponents of the steering wheel with a file little Buick runabout. The first steam auto for Eureka, a big White Stanley Steamer, was owned by G.W. Barrows. Will Peters had purchased a new Maxwell and now there were about 15 cars in Eureka.
Kansas held its first primary election in August. The city ordinance whereby all horses on Main street must be securely tied to a solid object was being enforced. An electric piano was installed at the Electric Theatre, owned by Baxter. Leopol Vanhaverbeke had purchased the Eureka Greenhouse from D.B. Fuller.
Chas. C. Ladd and Clarence Bailey were owners of a new grocery store in town. The Greenwood County Improved Stock Breeders Assoc. was organized in March. Dr. L.G. Van Voorhis located in Eureka to practice the profession of veterinary medicine and dentistry. Max Stuelpner was awarded the contract to install a steam heating plant at the courthouse. The cost was $2000. The T.J. Souders garage (the first in Eureka) located on South Main, was opened for business in June. With nearly 20 cars in Eureka and vicinity, the outlook for future business was bright.
The Christian Church at Reece was dedicated July 11. James Young opened a tailor shop in Eureka. The cornerstone for the new Methodist Church in Utopia was laid in August. H.D. Hover had taken his matched driving team to the American Royal. The McCaslin store opened in Oct. A new hitching rack of heavy hedge posts set in concrete was put up north of the courthouse for the benefit of country people.
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