Sedgwick County History "Illustrated Wichita History, 1868-1880" "An Early History of Wichita" by Kos Harris, 1914
The common-place acts of today,
the tittle-tattle of yesterday and
the things passed by the unheeded
tomorrow may be hunted up, preserved and treasured by future
generations.
The Daughters of the American
Revolution, of Wichita, in this
spirit, have prepared this booklet
to preserve Early Wichita, to enable those who shall come after,
as they walk upon the sidewalks,
drive on the paved streets, look
upon the splendid buildings created by the wealth of this generation, and enjoy the pub-
lic parks, to, in some measure, call up the past and comprehend the poor beginnings, and early struggles of the
pioneers, who founded a town on buffalo grass, rank with
sunflowers, far removed from commerce and railways,
and as a fruit of their industry, ambition and faith, beheld
a city that provoked the envy of the elder towns of Kansas, became the admiration of all beholders and is now
the one commercial City of Kansas, whose future will
bring a thousand blessings to those who shall be its citizens, when "we things that are now" have become as dust
of ashes.
Some buildings, shown in this booklet, were built at
a time when the total taxable value of Sedgwick County
was less than the value of the Schweiter Building.
The gathering together of the old photographs herein
has been a labor of months by the Daughters of the
American Revolution, of Wichita, and as years come and
go, those who possess them will not only prize them, but
will hand them down to their children and grandchildren,
as heir-looms.
To write the early history of Wichita would make a
volume, and therefore, only data is given of things preserved in an hundred other places to verify which would
take days of time and hours of weary labor.
The Wichita Town Company was formed at Emporia,
Kansas, April 27th, 18(58, and had for its object the land
North of Central Avenue and West of Lawrence Avenue
to Waco Street.
Greiffenstein's Plat of the City of Wichita, was South
of Central Avenue, West of Lawrence and North of
Douglas Avenue. The Town Plat
of the City of Wichita, composed
of that part of the City West of
Lawrence Avenue and North of
Douglas Avenue, platted by Munger and Greiffenstein, by mutual
agreement, was filed on the 25th
day of March, 1870, and became
the Original Town of the City of
Wichita.
Greiffenstein's Addition and
English Addition, South of Douglas
Avenue, and Mead's Addition, East
of Lawrence Avenue, were thereafter taken into the City
and comprise a portion of the City of Wichita. The West
Side, under The Wichita Town Company, was taken by
Trustees, under the laws of the United States, and thereafter was annexed to, and became a part of, the City.
When Greiffenstein built the Eagle Block, Douglas Avenue was indistinguishable from
the sunflowers and buffalo grass, both North and South
of it.
There is a legend that Douglas Avenue was to be one
hundred feet wide, but by carelessness and a wet rope,
it was staked out so as to be one hundred and fourteen
feet wide.
There is also another legend that when Greiffenstein
built the Eagle Block, no one thought anything about the
chimneys until the building had reached above the second
story. This discovery required the tearing down of a
portion of the building and rebuilding the same. The
stone in the old Eagle Block was obtained from a quarry
about three and one-half miles North of Wichita, and there
was not enough stone to complete the building and this,
so far as known, was the only stone quarry ever discovered in Sedgwick County, Kansas.
Among those who inhabited the Townsite in about
1867, were Greiffenstein, J. R. Mead, Eli Waterman, H. W.
Vigus and wife, D. S. Munger, Durfee and Ledrick. Mrs.
Vigus, so far as known, was the first white woman of the
Townsite of Wichita.
Originally, Greiffenstein had a trading post on the
Cowskin, near where old Jamesburg was located in 1865.
Shortly afterwards, Jesse Chisholm, who was part
Indian, established a ranch about three miles Northwest
of the City, between the Big and Little Arkansas Rivers
and in 186.5, Dvrfee and Ledrick started their ranch on
the banks of the Little River, near the site of the old
Woodman homestead on Waco.
The location of the town of Wichita became known
as Wichita, though not platted until sometime thereafter.
In the summer of 1868, the postoffice was first established, with Milo B. Kellogg as Postmaster.
Between what thereafter became Douglas Avenue and
First Street, a ferry boat line was established across the
Arkansas River.
In July, 1870, Wichita was incorporated as a town.
On April 3, 1871, the town became a city of the third
class. Of the city officers elected at that time, only
Dr. Fabrique, one of the Councilmen, and H. E. Vantrees,
Police Judge, are yet living in 1914.
In May, 1870, the first bakery was opened on the site
of the present Baltimore Hotel, by E. H. Nugent. J. P.
Allen opened the first drug store on Waco Avenue, North
of the old Woodman residence, in 1870.
In June, 1870, was the first term of the District
Court of Sedgwick County, Kansas. This court was held
in the second story of a livery stable on the West side
of Main Street, near the corner of Third Street. At that
time, the resident attorneys of Wichita were Judge H. C.
Sluss, Rueben Riggs and P. T. Weeks.
In the winter of 1871, the Land Office was removed
from Augusta, Kansas, to Wichita.
The first newspaper established in the City of Wichita was by W. B. Hutchinson and Fred Sowers, called
The Vedette, in 1870. Subsequently, The Wichita Eagle
was established on April 13, 1872, by Col. M. M. Murdock,
and The Wichita Eagle became a daily paper on May 21st,
1884.
In October, 1872, Floyd and Sowers founded The
Wichita Daily Beacon. This paper was ahead of the town
and died in its infancy.
History says it was in June, 1871, that Abilene and
Wichita became rivals for the Texas cattle trade.
In 1874, Wichita shippsd, according to data, somewhere near seventy thousand head of cattle.
In September, 1871, the last large herd of buffalo
passed through Sedgwick County from the Northwest and
came within ten miles of the City on the West.
On March 15, 1872, the Santa Fe Railroad was completed to Wichita.
On June 12, 1872, the old toll bridge, shown in the
cuts in this booklet, was opened to travel.
In February, 1875, Wichita had its first big fire on
North Main Street, the loss of which was Twenty Thousand Dollars, which was a large amount in that day.
In December, 1875, another fiie occurred on North Main
Street, the loss of which was Fourteen Thousand Dollars.
In 1878, by a quotation in an historical book, the
Occidental Hotel, now the Baltimore, was the only three
story building in Southwest Kansas.
May 28th, 1880, the Frisco Railroad was completed
to Wichita.
In April, 1871, an ordinance was enacted by the City
of Wichita, that all saloons should close at 12 o'clock,
midnight, on Saturday and not
open until four o'clock A. M. on
Monday morning. This would indicate that the dram drinkers at
that date were "early risers."
Also, about the same time, an
ordinance was passed that no hay
should be stacked on any lot
North of English Street, South of
Third Street, East of Water
Street or West of Lawrence Avenue, or any lot fronting on Douglas Avenue.
The Catholic Church in Wichita was organized in
November, 1872, by Bishop L. M. Fink of Leavenworth,
Kansas. The Baptist Church in Wichita was organized
May 26th, 1872.
In 1878, there was a school building in the fourth
ward, one in the first ward and one in the second ward.
The fourth ward building was built in 1870, the first
ward building on South Lawrence Avenue, in 1877, and
the second ward building on Wichita Street, in 1877. The
entire seating capacity of these school houses was four
hundred and fifty.
The old Douglas Avenue hotel was built in the late
fall and early spring of 1872 and stood on the corner of
Water Street and Douglas Avenue, on the site of the
present Pennsylvania Hotel.
The first bank opened in Wichita was by W. C.
Woodman & Sons, in 1871, and subsequently became
known as The Arkansas Valley Bank, but the first organized bank in the City of Wichita was The Wichita
Savings Bank, organized in 1872. In 1877, The Farmers
and Merchants Bank was organized by Col. H. W. Lewis.
This bank subsequently became what is now known as
The Kansas National Bank. The old Empire or Tremont
House, shown in these cuts, was erected on the corner of
Third and Main Streets. The two story back part was
built by William Greiffenstein prior to 1871. Subsequently
in 1871 and 1872, the three story front was built by James
G. Barnwell, through a contractor by the name of Fred
Martsolf. This building was subsequently moved to the
corner of Douglas and Emporia Avenues, and thereafter
moved on South Emporia Avenue and later was torn
down.
The pastor of the Baptist Church, in January, 1873,
was the Rev. J. C. Post of Fort Scott, Kansas. The first
pastor of the Catholic Church, in January, 1873, was the
Rev. F. P. Swenberg, formerly of Prairie City, Kansas.
Rev. Swenberg was succeeded in 1874, by Rev. J. C.
Shurz. The first Catholic Church was dedicated under
the title of Saint Aloysius.
St. John's Episcopal Church was organized in 1875.
The First Christian Church of Wichita was organized in
1880; the First Methodi-st Church in 1872. Of this last
named church, the Rev. J. F. Nessley was the first pastor.
The German Methodist Episcopal Church was organized
in 1876. The First Baptist Church was organized in 1872.
The first Masonic Lodge was organized October 19th,
1871, the first Odd Fellows Lodge in 1872 and the Kights
of Pythias on November 25, 1881.
The Wichita Turnverein was organized in 1871. This
Society built the fiist theatre in Wichita, which was situ-
ated on the corner of First and Market Streets and was
called Turner Opera House. The Old Settlers Association was organized October 27th, 1877. The first Fair
Association of Wichita business men was organized in
April, 1873, with William Mathewson as president. This
association had forty acres of land, near L. W. Clapp's
residence, which was lost to them by the foreclosure of a
Four Thousand Dollar mortgage and within three years
the land sold for Eight Hundred Dollars an acre. The
first brass band was organized in 1871. Fred Schattner,
who was City Clerk for several years, was the first
leader.
In 1883, a letter was written by a then very prominent citizen of Wichita, an excerpt from which is as
follows:
"The child and perhaps the man, now lives in Wichita,
who will pass along its streets and listen to the hum of
commerce in a city of Twenty Thousand people."
The letter provoked a smile when written and it
does now, when read.
In detailing dry, historical facts, it is more than an
art to be truthful, wound no one's feelings and at the
same time, be interesting.
Wichita in the early days was cosmopolitan; every
shade, hue and color of society was here. There was but
little distinction among the people and the gatherings in
old Eagle Hall and the Turner Opera House, were attended by all Wichita.
The Old Settlers Ball and Dinner on February 22nd
of each year, was quite an event. Neither silks, nor
dress suits were much in evidence and during the rage
of the spelling schools old Eagle Hall, at the Boston
Store corner, was the only room in town in which to
house such meetings. The opening of Turner Hall Opera
House was one of the greatest society functions that ever
happened. When this building was built, Ten Thousand
Dollars in bonds were issued, due in five years, and
every man who took a Fifty Dollar bond got a free
ticket for the first night's big show. These early days
were the days of the one night stand on the coal-oil
circuit, and occasionally, a week stand of Simon & Kendall. Simon & Kendall always gave a dance on Saturday
night after the week's show and furnished the music and
on one occasion, after the play of Othello, in which Desdemona was strangled, she arose from her death couch,
with chalk all over her face, and led the grand march.
In 1883, the first street cars were put on the street,
the cost of which road and equipment was Sixteen Thousand Dollars and they had three cars, two and one-half
miles of track and twelve mules; the line ran West on
Douglas Avenue to Main Street, North on Main Street
to Murdock Avenue; East on Murdock Avenue to the old
Santa Fe Depot. Col. B. H. Campbell offered a wager
of One Hundred Dollars that the thing would bs in the
hands of a receiver in six months. Two years afterwards. Col. Campbell bought a half interest and thereafter this was sold for One Hundred Thousand Dollars.
In 1887, the street car company got an electric franchise, and paid out Three Hundred Thousand Dollars.
Then came that peculiar mile-stone in our history, called
the Boom; that great epoch when paupers became millionaires and subsequently the balloon collapsed and the
millionaires became tramps. After this, the Three Hundred Thousand Dollar street car plant sold for 10 % of its
cost and fourteen years afterwards, the new company was
paying Sixty-five Thousand Dollars annual taxes to the
City of Wichita.
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This website created Dec. 2012 by Sheryl McClure. 2012-2013 Kansas History and Heritage Project
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