Places

Jones Trust grants funds for exterior preservation work at historic Arvonia

July 20, 2022 Submitted

Arvonia Historic Preservation Society is the recipient of a grant that will support the exterior restoration plan for the Arvonia Township Hall and Arvonia Calvinistic Methodist Church. Announced June 28, 2022, The Walter S. and Evan C. Jones Testamentary Trust, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee awarded the $30,000 grant to AHPS, as a designated fund of the Emporia Community Foundation.

Susan Evans Atchison, AHPS president, said the gift brings the organization closer to the funding needed to reach a goal of completing exterior preservation of the structures.

“On behalf of the board of directors, and all of our volunteers, I would like to thank the Walter S. and Evan C. Jones Testamentary Trust, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee for its commitment to community roots and the importance of preserving these historic buildings for future generations, and incredible gratitude for their continued generosity to this geographical area for so many worthy charitable causes,” Atchison said.

Mi’Chielle Cooper, AHPS board member, said the grant will open opportunities for the organization to direct other fundraising toward Welsh-American historical programs, educational activities and community events.

The Arvonia School, Calvinistic Methodist Church, and Arvonia Township Hall are listed on the Kansas Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places. Arvonia was founded as a Welsh community in 1869.

K-31 to close July 25 near Osage City for highway realignment project

July 19, 2022 Wayne White

The Kansas Department of Transportation plans to close a portion of state Highway 31, beginning Monday, July 25, in Osage County, weather permitting. The closure is just east of Osage City and will span approximately seven miles from South Indian Hills Road to U.S. Highway 75.

The closure is part of the K-31 realignment project, and the highway is expected to be closed until early November. Through traffic can follow a marked detour on U.S. Highway 56 through Burlingame and Scranton. KDOT uses state highways for official detour routes for safety, weight and maintenance concerns.

KDOT urges all motorists to be alert and obey the warning signs when approaching and driving through a highway work zone. For more information about road construction projects across Kansas, see www.kandrive.org or call 511.

Gravestone specialist teaches preservation techniques at Burlingame Cemetery

July 09, 2022 Wendi Bevitt

Participants in cemetery preservation workshop gather at Burlingame Cemetery. Photos by Wendi Bevitt.

Fifty people gathered at Burlingame Cemetery, June 8, 2022, to learn how to preserve gravestones and monuments. Jonathan Appell, of Atlas Preservation, presented the free cemetery preservation seminar.

Participants reset a Civil War marker using a tripod lift.

For the past 20 years, Appell has worked to preserve gravestones and monuments across the United States, and is the leading preservationist in his field. With his work, Appell has developed simple and effective hands-on techniques and encouraged others to preserve America’s burying grounds. His workshop is part of a cross country tour to complete 48 gravestone preservation workshops in 48 states in 48 days, teaching people how to clean, repair and reset gravestones and monuments in their own backyards.

The Burlingame workshop was attended by individuals of varying backgrounds, representing a majority of the towns in Osage County, and communities from Kansas and Missouri. Several large monuments were leveled, many more cleaned, and one mended.

The event was video documented by Wade Fowler, also known as the Millennial Stone Cleaner, who plans to post the video to his YouTube channel at a future date. Also in attendance were social media personalities, Alicia Williams (aka Lady Taphos) and Amanda Brown (aka Healthy Headstones) who provided additional educational support at the event. The event was sponsored by the Osage County Historical Society and Buried Past Consulting.

Melvern works together to honor service members on Memorial Day

May 31, 2022 Contributor

By Bella Reeser, Club Reporter
Melvern Jr. Highline 4-H Club

Mud boots and rain coats were needed, but nothing stopped the Melvern community from coming together to honor those at the Melvern Cemetery who have served our country. On Saturday, May 28, 2022, members of the community placed flags on the graves of local community members who had served.

Grateful citizens work together to honor those who have fallen

May 27, 2022 Contributor

Sprinkles and mud puddles didn’t stop local adults and youth from coming out May 26, 2022 and together decorating Oak Hill Cemetery, near Quenemo, Kan., for Memorial Day. Youth helpers included Bella Reeser, Olivia Lacey, Levi Arb, Gentry McNally, Gradey McNally, Braelyn McNally, and Allie Reeser. Adults not pictured, Caleb McNally, Mike Reagan, Heidi Arb, and Dwayne and Lori Meiers. Photo submitted by Bella Reeser.

Euclid Lodge donation helps Osage County’s past to be remembered

May 04, 2022 Submitted

L.D. Nicolay and fellow Euclid Masonic Lodge members Charles Hanna and Paul Oldham present a grant to Osage County Historical Society members Eileen Davis and Ann Rogers; member Bunny Givens, right. Courtesy photo.

The Osage County Historical Society received a $1,000 grant from the Euclid Masonic Lodge, Lyndon, Kan. Representatives presented the check to members of the historical society, Eileen Davis and Ann Rodgers. The grant will be used to help develop and execute new educational programming for children and families.

Reading schoolmates invite alumni and staff to annual banquet

April 21, 2022 Submitted

The Reading alumni banquet will be held Saturday, June 4, 2022. Registration begins at 5:30 p.m., and dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Reading School gymnasium. Olpe Chicken House is serving the meal and there will be musical entertainment. Anyone who attended or worked at Reading School is invited. The cost of the meal is $18 per person. Attendees are asked to mail reservations and payment to Reading Alumni Association, PO Box 44, Reading, KS 66868-0044. Deadline for reservations is May 15, 2022.

Arvonia School kicks off 150-year celebration with outdoor concert

April 12, 2022 Submitted

The Arvonia Historic Preservation Society has plans for several events for the 150th anniversary of Arvonia School. The celebration will begin with a concert by Tina Barrett and Zak Putnam.

Everyone is invited to attend the outdoor concert 4:30 p.m. Sunday, April 24, 2022, in front of the Arvonia School, and bring lawn chairs or blankets and a picnic, snack and refreshment of choice.

Located in the Welsh settlement of Arvonia, Kan., is the Arvonia School. Built in 1872, the school is one of the few remaining buildings designed by pioneer Kansas architect John G. Haskell. It is one of the earliest-known architect designed schools in the state. The building was constructed by Welsh craftsman James Rice. It has become a Kansas icon, immortalized in the art of photography and legend of the region. The school is on the Reigister of Historic Kansas Places and the National Register of Historic Places. The building has been restored in the past several years.

In case of rain, the concert will be moved to the township hall. For more information, contact Susan Evans Atchison at 620-794-3917. Arvonia is located four miles north of Lebo and is on the southwest side of Melvern Lake.

More activities are planned this year to celebrate the beautiful historic school building, including another concert in the fall.

Overbrook Rural High School plans May 27 all school reunion

March 30, 2022 Submitted

The Overbrook Rural High School All School Reunion is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. Friday, May 27, 2022, at Overbrook Public Library.

Registration is $5 per person, payable at time of event. No meeting is planned, just light refreshments, conversation and reconnecting.

All ORHS alumni, teachers and spouses are invited. To register, call or text 913-972-0974.

Coalition meets to consider Osage County’s historical resources

March 11, 2022 Submitted

The quarterly meeting of the Osage County Historical Coalition was held Feb. 23, 2022, at the Carbondale Library. This coalition is a group of historical societies and other entities interested in creating public awareness and preserving the history of our county.

The meeting began with considering the benefits of what Freedom’s Frontier can do for historical tourism in our county.

Next, Lynsay Flory, programming director for the Osage County Historical Society, told the group how they could access educational programming through OCHS for use in events.

Upcoming events in the county such as the Scranton and Carbondale sesquicentennial celebrations, as well as St. David’s Day events for Arvonia were discussed.

The next coalition meeting will be hosted by the Burlingame Schuyler Museum at 6 p.m. June 14. Individuals involved with historic preservation in Osage County are welcome to attend.

Information thanks to Wendi Bevitt.

Senior Center Update: Nutrition site to celebrate 50 years of Meals on Wheels

March 07, 2022 Senior Center

A Midland Pace representative will be at the Osage County Senior Center, March 11, 2022, to help anyone that needs to fill out Medicaid papers. Call the center if you would like to have the representative help with this.

AARP will be doing taxes at the center. They only have 30 appointments available. Anyone needing tax assistance is asked to call the center to schedule an appointment, 785-219-2440.

Osage County Public Transportation has had a lot of new faces.

At the Osage County Senior Center, visitors can usually find the following activities ongoing on these days and times. All are welcome to join in.

Monday through Friday, 9-10 a.m. Exercise class.
Monday, 8 a.m.-12 p.m. Sewing.
Monday 9-11 a.m. Painting.
Monday, 5:30 p.m. Pitch, bring a snack if you like.
Tuesday, 12:30-3:30 p.m. Mexican Train, usually played every day.
Wednesday, 8 a.m.-12 p.m. Sewing.
Wednesdays are ceramics day, but usually always on the first Wednesday of the month.
Thursday, 9-11 a.m. Painting.
Friday, 10-11:30 a.m. Bingo; bring a $5 gift bag, everyone wins.

The senior center is a commodities distribution site. Patrons are asked to note that income limits have been raised for eligibility for the commodities program. For all eligibility requirements, contact the center. Anyone in Osage County who thinks they might qualify for the program, but can’t get to the senior center to pick up commodities, is asked to call the center.

East Central Kansas Area Agency on Aging nutrition site located at the senior center is managed by Vicky Tittle. Tuttle is reminding patrons the agency will be celebrating 50 years of Meals on Wheels with a special menu of roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, carrots, roll and apple crisp, on Wednesday, March 23, 2022. Anyone wanting to join the celebration that day is asked to reserve their spot by March 21. In addition, Tuttle reminds everyone they are welcome at the site anytime, Monday through Friday, but are asked to call the site at least 24 hours prior to day they would like to eat. To contact the nutrition site, call 785-528-4170.

For more information about the senior center, call director Tammyra Swift-Fager at 785-528-1170, or stop by 604 Market St., Osage City, Kan.

Hidden History: Kentuckians seek Kansas townsites to escape bigotry of their homeland

March 05, 2022 Wendi Bevitt

At the time Kansas Territory was opened for settlement in 1854, there were two prime spots on the Santa Fe Trail in what would become Osage County – the crossings at Switzler Creek and 110 Mile Creek. Both locations had been actively used for trade by the Shawnee Tribe until their removal from the area that year. These crossings were quickly snapped up by the earliest settlers in the county to be used for their access to trade.

Switzler’s crossing became the location for Council City, a predecessor to Burlingame, and was established by Northerners intent on making Kansas a state free from slavery. The crossing at 110 Mile Creek would be settled by Southerner Fry McGee. Not long after, other settlements with similar hopes sprung up nearby along the same trail corridor. These towns were established by individuals also with Free State motivations, but seeking freedoms from other discriminations as well.

When the first counties in Kansas Territory received their boundaries in 1855, the northern most part of what would be Osage County was included in Shawnee County (although the county would not be officially organized until 1858), and Burlingame had aspirations to become the county seat or even the capital of the future state. Another developing city that desired to become the county seat for Shawnee County was Prairie City (not to be confused with the Prairie City that was located in Douglas County).

Prairie City was borne out of a desire to live without fear. In August 1855, the city of Louisville, Kentucky, an election day erupted in anti-Catholic violence that became known as Bloody Monday. The riot was led by local Democrats and followers of the Know Nothing Movement, who in their proclaimed patriotism shunned those that were not like them. The Know Nothings were originally known as the Native American Party, a group that sought to organize native-born Protestants and promote traditional values. In Louisville, this manifested itself in anger and discrimination against Catholics and anti-slavery advocates, causing a series of riots and deaths of many German and Irish Catholic immigrants.

Hidden History: Barclay, Osage County’s forgotten Quaker community

January 28, 2022 Wendi Bevitt

A Quaker influence has been in Osage County since the state was opened for settlement in 1854. Even before that time, however, the Quakers were active in Kansas Territory as missionaries to the Native American tribes. Quakers took the belief of “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” literally and believed that all races were equal. At the Kansas Quakers missions, followers sought to bring the Christian faith, as well as education, to the tribes.

Their position in the missions gave them early access to the newly opened lands after the signing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Their early presence here also put them in position to take a role in laying the groundwork for Kansas to be admitted as a free state. Nearly from the time slavery was introduced to the United States, the Quakers had objected to the institution of slavery. Quaker beliefs prohibited them from any force in the matter, so they found another way to take an active role in the fight against slavery – such as the Underground Railroad. In our area, Quaker missionaries were in Osage County early on, but later moved into Wabaunsee County, where they established known stops for the Underground Railroad.

The next major influence of the Quakers in Osage County would not occur until more than a decade later. When a treaty in 1859 shrunk the Sac and Fox reservation, nearly 140,000 acres of the premium parcels of the former reservation lands were snapped up by government officials and land speculators. The largest portion went to Seyfert and McManus Company, acting in conjunction with the Reading Iron Works, of Reading, Pennsylvania. John McManus was also tied to the railroad, and because of his varied interests, sought to open coal mines in the county.

Governor congratulates Carbondale for award of sidewalk improvement funds

November 30, 2021 Submitted

Project to provide pedestrian access to school, library, downtown

CARBONDALE, Kan. – Today, Gov. Laura Kelly congratulated the city of Carbondale for receiving $167,287 in cost share funds as administered through the Kansas Department of Transportation. The recently funded project will provide sidewalk improvements near critical public buildings in Carbondale.

“Congratulations to the City of Carbondale for receiving $167,287 in the latest round of Cost Share funding,” Kelly said. “By working with our local partners to invest in our communities, our Cost Share program is improving road safety, mobility, and helping recruit new families and businesses to our state. This project is proof that when we work together to make smart investments in our foundation, all Kansans see results.”

A component of the Kelly Administration’s 10-year, bipartisan Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program, or IKE, the Cost Share program is designed to help rural and urban areas advance transportation projects to improve safety, support job retention and growth, relieve congestion, and improve access and mobility. The city of Carbondale was among 20 transportation construction projects selected for the fall 2021 Cost Share recipients.

“This will improve the entrance into the community and the foot traffic, said Carbondale Mayor John Ryan. “We anticipate additional biking and walking, as well as safer access for our students.”

The project will provide sidewalks on Third Street from Carbondale Attendance Center, which serves fourth through eighth grade students, to the Carbondale City Library, and on the north side of Main Street, giving safer pedestrian access to adjacent businesses, including the local grocery store.

“Currently, kids walk in the street,” said Ryan. “This will connect our downtown district to the school and other sidewalks in the area.”

Pedestrians cannot safely access the public library at the northeast corner of Third Street and Main Street in Carbondale, as North Third Street does not currently have a usable sidewalk, nor does the north side of Main Street. There are sections on these streets that have no sidewalk and sections with cobblestone or brick have become overgrown and unusable over time.

The road to Santa Fe featured on KTWU

November 20, 2021 Submitted

Spotlighting the Santa Fe Trail during its bicentennial, The Road to Santa Fe airs at 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 22, 2021, on KTWU/Channel 11, in Topeka. Produced by Dave Kendall, a former host of the “Sunflower Journeys” series, the documentary explores the forces that spawned the trail and shaped its development. Jennie Chinn, executive director of the Kansas Historical Society, joins a number of knowledgeable historians who tell the story.

In 1821, a group of traders from Missouri ventured to Santa Fe, then governed by Mexico.Trade soon grew in what became a seasonal movement of covered freight wagons rolling back and forth. In 1846, the “Army of the West” marched down the trail after Congress declared war with Mexico. The Americans took control of Santa Fe, and by war’s end, most of northern Mexico was ceded to the United States.

As the military presence along the trail increased, so did tensions with Native Americans, which eventually led to their forced removal from the plains. Conflicts that escalated into civil war also occurred along the trail beginning in the 1850s. In 1880, when the rails reached Santa Fe, commerce on the trail came to an end, closing a pivotal chapter in American history.

“As our nation continues to grapple with issues surrounding our relationship with Mexico as well as our relations with Native peoples, we might benefit from a better understanding of how these relationships evolved,” said producer Kendall. “Those who seek to clarify our notions of who we are as Americans will find it helpful to place this into an historical context that spotlights the forces and philosophies that guided the westward expansion of the United States.”

Burlingame Library: Rescue grant provides materials fund for community patio

November 12, 2021 Submitted

Workers prepare the site for the Burlingame Library’s new community patio. Burlingame Library photo.

The Burlingame Community Library was recently awarded a $25,000 American Rescue Plan Act grant for the construction of a community patio. This project was made possible by the State Library of Kansas and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The patio, to be located to the west of the library, will be completed this fall. The rules of the grant do not allow for funds to pay for construction or labor so the library is looking for volunteers to help with pavers and pergolas. Anyone interested in helping out is asked to call the library at 785-654-3400.

The Burlingame Friends of the Library will host a community patio fundraiser – bingo and soup supper with dessert bar is planned for Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021, at the Schuyler Community Building. The soup bar opens at 5:30 p.m. and bingo begins at 6. Choice of soup, dessert, drink and two bingo cards will be offered for a $10 donation. Mascot pecans will be available for purchase. The Friends will also have their annual cookie and baked goods sale, beginning at 10 a.m., Dec. 4, during Burlingame’s Country Christmas. This year Christmas crafts will also be added.

The Burlingame Library has also been selected as one of 100 libraries to participate in round three of Libraries Transforming Communities: Focus on Small and Rural Libraries, an American Library Association initiative that helps library workers better serve their small and rural communities. This competitive award comes with a $3,000 grant that will help the library with their Longest Table event planned for the spring of 2022.

The library has also added several items to the Library of Things, so be sure and stop in the library and check out what’s available. Following the library’s Facebook page, Burlingame Community Library, is also a great way to see new items that have been added to the collection.

For more information, stop by the library at 122 W. Santa Fe Ave., Burlingame, Kan., or call 785-654-3400.

Osage County Historical Society: Setting out on the road of least resistance

October 12, 2021 Submitted

Osage County Historical Society annual meeting and community gathering will be Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, at Burlingame Schuyler Museum, 117 S. Dacotah St., Burlingame, Kan.

The society will hold its business meeting at 4:45 p.m., followed by a soup supper at 5 p.m. The featured speaker will be local historian Wendi Bevitt, who will speak at 5:30 p.m. on “The Road of Least Resistance: Osage County and the Santa Fe Trail”.

Tickets for the event are $15 each or $20 for two tickets; available at the Osage County Historical Society, the Burlingame Schuyler Museum, or by calling 785-828-3477. Tickets will also be available at the door.

Old photo, age unknown, shows downtown Burlingame in the past. Courtesy photo.

Carbondale plans grand opening ceremony for new library

September 08, 2021 Submitted

Members of the Carbondale community form a human chain on Aug. 29, 2021, to move books and materials from the old library to the new one, in preparation for the library’s grand opening on Saturday, Sept. 11. Courtesy photo.

The Carbondale City Library will hold a grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the completion of the new building’s construction. The ceremony will be 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, at 302 Main St., Carbondale.

The new 6,000-square-feet building features seating for more than 100 people, study areas, group meeting rooms, and a multi-purpose room, including a kitchen for future classes.

The ceremony will include remarks from Board of Trustees President Lonnie Hinck, Library Director Heather Garrison, and elected officials. Refreshments will follow with a craft activity for children.

Additionally, the library will be closed Aug. 28-Sept. 10, 2021, to migrate the collection into the new building and install all new technology.

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