Known as the "Air Capital of the World," Wichita, Kansas, has been continuously associated with aviation longer than any city in the world. The city's inventive and entrepreneurial spirit made an early mark on the aviation and aerospace industries. From the first hot air balloons floating over the wheat fields to the major aviation corporations that still call the city home, Wichita has been associated with the wonder of flight, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2003. The images in this book document the evolution of flight and its subsequent effect on the cowtown that dared to dream it could become an international center for aviation.
Haunted Lawrence
9781625859204
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Founded in 1854 as an abolitionist outpost, Lawrence is a seemingly unassuming college town with a long history of hauntings. A ghostly guest never checked out of the Eldridge Hotel's mysterious room 506. Sigma Nu's fraternity house, the former home of Kansas's eighteenth governor, is still haunted by the specter of a young woman. Learn the tragic stories of Pete Vinegar, George Albach and Lizzie Madden and uncover the devilish truth behind the legend of Stull Cemetery. Author Paul Thomas reveals the ghoulish history behind these stories and many more.
Marshall County
9781467113014
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The Oregon-California Trail carried more than 100,000 settlers west over the prairies of the future state of Kansas in the mid-1800s. Pioneers and Pony Express riders crossed the Big Blue River at Independence Crossing or at Frank Marshall's ferry near present-day Marysville. In 1846, members of the Donner Party discovered and named Alcove Spring, now one of 20 county sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Kansas Territorial Legislature established Marshall County in 1855. After the Civil War, rich soil and abundant water attracted farmers, and its location attracted railroads and industry. Today, the same occupations still sustain the 16 towns and villages. As the Gateway to the Flint Hills, the county's rolling hills are dotted with picturesque prairie, woods, limestone outcrops, rivers, and creeks. Even though the county is a crossroads for modern highways US 36 and US 77, pioneer wagon ruts are still visible in Marshall County.
Wabaunsee County
9780738560779
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In 2009, Wabaunsee County will celebrate its 150th anniversary. Although Wabaunsee County was first created in 1855 by the Kansas territorial legislature as Richardson County, it had no county government and was attached to neighboring Shawnee County in legal jurisdiction. In 1859, the legislature renamed the county Wabaunsee, after the Potawatomi Indian chief, and in March of that year, the first election for county officers was held. The county lies in the heart of the Kansas Flint Hills, and it boasts some of the most beautiful landscapes in the state. While located only 30 miles from the state capital in Topeka, it retains its rural atmosphere, even today. The largest of its seven incorporated towns has less than 1,000 residents. The earliest settlers lived among large populations of Native Americans. During the Civil War, the Underground Railroad operated actively in the county. In 1880, the first railroad was built in the county, and the towns along its line boomed. When a second line was introduced in 1887, the county saw its greatest growth. Today residents enjoy the breathtaking beauty of the rugged Flint Hills, lush pastures, and fertile bottomland sustaining the local economy as it has for a century and a half. A large section of highway across the county has been designated the Kansas Native Stone Scenic Byway, and tourism has begun to play an increasingly larger role in the county's economy.
The Carey Salt Mine
9780738561806
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In 1923, Kansas governor Johnathan Davis traveled to Hutchinson to dedicate Emerson Carey's new rock salt mine whose shaft provided access to an ancient salt bed 650 feet under the earth's surface. The Carey Salt Mine, advertised as "the most modern in the world," served as a companion to Carey's already-existing evaporation plants. Miners used the newest technology to blast and crush the mineral into gravel and haul it to the surface to provide rock salt for livestock, industries, and roads. Throughout the 20th century, thousands visited Carey's mining operations. Ever since the day Governor Davis presided over the opening ceremony, the Carey Salt Mine has served as a landmark for Hutchinson and helped shape its identity as "the Salt City."
African Americans of Wichita
9781467114813
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The African American community of Wichita is as old as the city itself, dating back to early pioneers, cowboys, and business figures. Once relatively integrated, Wichita became more segregated as the 20th century unfolded. In response, African Americans developed a lively neighborhood downtown with its own businesses, churches, schools, and organizations. World War II brought new populations to work in the aircraft industry and set the stage for profound changes. In the 1950s, a younger generation of leaders challenged racism and discrimination, unleashing a period of change that was both hopeful and painful. In recent years, the African American community has become more complex, with generations of established families joined by recent transplants, emigrants from Africa, and children of mixed marriages. While challenges remain, African Americans are more visible than ever before in local life, evident in politics, business, sports, and education.
Emporia State University
9780738598741
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On February 15, 1865, eighteen anxious students gathered on the second floor of a stone building belonging to School District No. 1 of Lyon County to begin their quest for learning at the Kansas State Normal School. It was less than two years after Gov. Thomas Carney signed the bill creating what has become one of the most renowned teacher education universities in the nation. Despite economic setbacks and the loss of the main building to fire in the 1870s, the normal school attracted students from every county within the state. By the end of 1892, the board of regents reported that the Kansas State Normal School was the largest in the nation. In 1923, the school's name was changed to Kansas State Teachers College, recognizing its importance in teacher education. Today, Emporia State University continues to offer outstanding academic programs and an energetic campus environment that has been changing lives since that day in 1865.
Kansas Wesleyan University
9781467125840
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On September 15, 1886, Kansas Wesleyan University opened its doors for the purpose of higher education. Through strategic plans and successful fundraising campaigns, the campus has grown and evolved remarkably over the past 130 years. The university has employed numerous skilled and passionate faculty members who mentored students toward academic success. As each academic year passes, the school marks notable achievements with pride in areas of academics and athletics as it also stays on the cutting edge of science and technology. Although Kansas Wesleyan has endured struggles, challenges have been promptly met with innovative leadership that laid the groundwork to propel the campus forward, demonstrating perseverance and resilience to craft a lasting legacy. As alumni expand throughout other communities, they carry the university with them. The images within this pictorial history illustrate the university's institutional history and the enduring Coyote spirit.
Post Rock Country
9781467112482
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Rush County, at the south end of Post Rock Country, was organized on December 5, 1874, and named in honor of Capt. Alexander Rush, Company H, of the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry. The first settlers arrived in 1869 and established homesteads along Walnut Creek near the Fort Hays–Fort Dodge Trail. With few trees on the vast, dry prairie, settlers searched for alternative building materials. Post Rock, a unique limestone bed that sat within inches of the surface, was so well used and became such a curiosity that it gave rise to the Post Rock Museum in 1963.
Lansing Correctional Facility
9781467112468
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Since 1868, the Lansing Correctional Facility (formerly the Kansas State Penitentiary) has stood watch over what would become the city of Lansing. Designed by Erasmus Carr, architect of the Kansas State Capitol, the prison is the oldest in Kansas. In the beginning, it housed male and female inmates from Kansas and Oklahoma, as well as inmates serving federal sentences. Today, the facility's population of minimum, medium, maximum, and special management custody offenders is approximately 2,400. Leavenworth County has also seen the addition of the United States Disciplinary Barracks, United States Penitentiary-Leavenworth, and Corrections Corporation of America-Leavenworth, making it the only county in the country to host a state, military, federal, and private prison. Images of America: Lansing Correctional Facility features photographs of the early days, when inmates were on the "silent system" and could not speak to one another, to more modern times when rehabilitation has become an important component of prison life.
Kansas Beer
9781467140119
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Prohibition came early to Kansas in 1881, driving more than 125 breweries out of business or underground. Refusing to even vote on the 1933 national repeal, the state remained dry until 1948, with liquor by the drink finally being approved in 1987. Lawrence’s Chuck Magerl worked with the legislature to pen new laws allowing something (little known at the time) called a “microbrewery.” Chuck started the state’s first brewery in over a century, appropriately named Free State Brewing Company. John Dean of Topeka’s Blind Tiger Brewery counts more awards than any other brewer in the state, including Champion Brewer at the World Beer Cup in 2014. Props & Hops Brewing, in tiny Sylvan Grove, is owned and operated by an enterprising pilot who also owns and operates a crop-dusting business on the weekdays. Author Bob Crutchfield explores the state’s breweries and recounts the Sunflower State’s hoppy history.
Salina's Historic Downtown
9781467110037
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Salina got its name from the Saline River that flows north of town. Its founders were a close-knit group of Scotsmen related by blood or marriage; most came to America from southwestern Scotland between 1839 and 1854 and settled in Randolph County, Illinois. Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune sent correspondent William A. Phillips from Randolph County to Lawrence, Kansas, to cover the turmoil caused by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and the doctrine of popular sovereignty. The residents of Kansas were to choose whether the territory would come into the Union as a slaveholding or free-soil state. To affect that outcome, both Southerners and Northern abolitionists sent colonies of settlers to Kansas Territory. Out of this conflict was born the Salina Town Company. William A. Philips, his brother David, his sister Christina, and his brothers-in-law Alexander C. Spilman and Alexander M. Campbell, along with close friend James Muir, preempted a 320-acre town site in north central Kansas in 1858. From humble beginnings grew the largest commercial center in the area: Salina.
Liberal and Seward County
9780738582795
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From towns like Liberal and Beer City to Kismet and Arkalon, Seward County has been the home of a tough, yet imaginative, people. Seymour Rogers, who homesteaded in the southern portion of the county, hand-dug a well and provided travelers with free water. Before long, the "liberal well" became the town of Liberal. The late 1880s saw settlers making their way to southwest Kansas to claim their 160 acres and hopefully fulfill their dreams. Farmers, ranchers, newspaper editors, shopkeepers, and a few ne'er-do-wells populated Seward County. Liberal became the county seat after a battle between what are now the ghost towns of Fargo Springs and Springfield. Horrific dust storms, grinding depressions, blizzards, and droughts tested the pioneers. Those that stayed were eventually rewarded by returning rains, the discovery of oil and gas, and the construction of a B-24 Army Air Base. With a spirit borne of those sturdy pioneers, the people of Liberal and Seward County have come a long way.
Saline County
9781467111836
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Early Saline County was a land rich in Native American history. Only a few settlers migrated to the area prior to the railroad development that started in 1867. Milling and grains, livestock, and even gypsum mining all influenced the growth of Saline County. Salina became a prominent city, whereas Hedville and other towns were altered, almost lost, as the railroads continued to build and change their depots, creating boom and bust economies in the county. Tornados, fires, droughts, and floods challenged the hardy souls who called this area home. Salina and the towns that have survived the booms and busts have a robust history.
Wichita Haunts
9780738582870
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Shadowman is seen roaming the grounds at Cowtown. The blacksmith touches investigators in his shop. The former church on Hillside Street has a friendly ghost named Belle. These are just a few of the characters that linger in Haunted Wichita. Wichita grew from the prairie as a cattle town into "the Peerless Princess of the Plains." Influenced by bold settlers, the city reflects the American spirit of capitalism and manifest destiny. Explore the haunted history of Wichita through supernatural tales from Cowtown, the Delano District, theaters, and hotels. Most are authentic haunted locations, as documented by Wichita Paranormal Research Society (WPRS) and Paranormal Research Investigators (PRI).
Baseball in Wichita
9780738533162
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The art of baseball is evident at Wichita State University's Eck Stadium. The bronze sculpture, "Put Me in Coach," overlooks the stadium entry. Behind it a 70-foot mural, the longest of its kind at any university ballpark, depicts WSU's storied baseball history. The art of baseball has also been evident on Wichita's playing fields for well over a century. During and after the Civil War, baseball quickly spread across the nation. When Wichita was incorporated in 1870, the town and the game were ready for each other, and Wichita had its first professional nine the following decade. Baseball in Wichita tells the story of local baseball at all levels-amateur, collegiate and pro-in words and images dating from the 19th century to the present day.
Mulvane
9780738598710
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Mulvane sits on the Sedgwick/Sumner County line, adjacent to the Arkansas River, and is roughly 10 miles south of Wichita. It was founded in 1879 by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway on the rail line that comes south from Wichita and evolved as a railroad town and agricultural community. It has survived floods, droughts, tornadoes, and fires and is now the home of over 6,000 residents. Mulvane is a progressive city filled with people who have a keen eye on the future while celebrating their past. Thousands of residents and visitors come to town during the third weekend of August for the annual Old Settlers Days celebration, which has taken place each year since 1873; the event was actually established before the town was incorporated. Images of America: Mulvane offers a glimpse of the people and events of the past that helped shape the present of "The City of the Valley."
Southwestern College
9781467114820
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Southwestern College is located in Winfield, Kansas, on a prominence that overlooks the Walnut River Valley. Determined to bring education to the plains of Kansas, Methodist leaders founded the college in 1885. These early pioneers and their successors built beyond their dreams, creating a strong, unique, and vital institution that has produced close to 25,000 Moundbuilders across the globe. Today, that Moundbuilder tradition educates thousands of students at the main Winfield campus and online.
Celebrating Kansas Breweries
9781467151924
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A Tour of the Kansas Beer Industry
Breweries in the state of Kansas are opening at a fast pace, in communities from Council Grove to Olathe. As the industry grows, the opportunities for craft beer fans to enjoy the communities and beer abound. Check out Ryan Triggs and Nick Feightner at Tall Trellis Brew Co. where you can enjoy a pint while sitting next to hop bines. Visit Fields & Ivy Brewery, the only brewery in the state with an active grain silo. Author Michael Travis traveled for a year and visited every brewery, capturing the heartbeat and story behind the owners and head brewers who make the magic happen.
Kansas University Basketball Legends
9781626193758
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The University of Kansas's men's basketball team is one of the oldest and most successful in the history of college basketball; the very inventor of the sport, Dr. James Naismith, was KU's first coach. Its long and illustrious history began in 1898 and includes some of the biggest names in the game, from legends like Wilt Chamberlain to secret weapons like Andrea Hudy, the only female strength and conditioning coach in the division. Longtime Jayhawk enthusiast Kenn Johnson offers up a unique and in-depth look at the players, coaches and other personalities who helped make the University of Kansas basketball program the unparalleled tradition it is today.
Kansas Music
9781626191778
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Despite its sparse population, Kansas is well represented in the annals of music history. The state claims some of the most popular acts from the past century, including Kansas, Count Basie, Big Joe Turner, Martina McBride, Melissa Etheridge and Charlie Parker. A wide variety of genres plays and prospers here, from blues to bluegrass. Beloved venues from mega-festivals like Walnut Valley to jam sessions just off the front porch preserve the state's tuneful heritage. Join Deb Bisel in celebrating this lyrical legacy, from Home on the Range to Dust in the Wind and beyond.
Lansing
9780738561929
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Founded by Civil War veteran William Lansing Taylor, Lansing is home to a population quickly approaching 11,000 residents. It is also home to the Lansing Correctional Facility (formerly the Kansas State Penitentiary), the oldest prison in Kansas. Designed by Erasmus Carr, architect of the Kansas State Capitol, the building has stood watch over the area for more than 140 years. As one will find, Lansing and the prison have grown together and mutually benefitted each other. Lansing is also home to Mount Muncie Cemetery, one of the oldest cemeteries in the state. It is the resting place of several famous people, including Fred Harvey. The photographs in this book are glimpses into time of a small village with one-room schools to a bustling community with one of the busiest north-south highways in Kansas.
Mayday Over Wichita
9781626190528
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On the cold Saturday morning of January 16, 1965, a U.S. Air Force KC-135 tanker carrying thirty-one thousand gallons of jet fuel crashed into a congested African American neighborhood in Wichita, Kansas. When the fire and destruction finally subsided, forty-seven people--mostly African American children--were dead or injured, homes were completely destroyed and numerous families were splintered. As shocking as it may sound, the event was seemingly omitted from the historical record for nearly fifty years. Now, historian D. W. Carter examines the myths and realities of the crash while providing new insights about the horrific four-minute flight that forever changed the history of Kansas.
Arkansas City
9780738560496
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Arkansas City: People, Places, and Events is a continuation of the story of Arkansas City. The first Arkansas City told a general history of the community and its origins, the major events that occurred, and the people who built and shaped the community. Arkansas City: People, Places, and Events delves deeper into the early pioneer history of this Kansas town. It covers more of the major founders who came into Osage territory not only making a home but creating a thriving community, major entertainers and athletes who lived and played in Arkansas City, law enforcement origins and events, and organizations that helped support and shape the area.
Arkansas City
9780738552408
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Arkansas City has often been called "the gateway to the West." The name lends a lot to describing the town--a town that was founded as a border town to Indian Territory, a major trade hub to the Indian agencies in Indian Territory, and a major transportation center for those wishing to travel through the territory and farther west. Arkansas City started off as a small town with false-fronted stores but became a bustling community where the people were forward thinkers and pushed for quality and modernization in everything they brought to the city whether that was business, industry, or entertainment. Arkansas City is known for the Cherokee Strip Land Rush of September 16, 1893, interaction with the Native Americans in Indian Territory, farming, ranching, and aircraft. Although Arkansas City was a civilized community, it was a city on the fringe of a lawless and unsettled territory where outlaws lurked and Native Americans were forced to settle. People loaded their wagons or went by train to cross through Oklahoma to Texas, New Mexico, or Arizona, leaving from Arkansas City. Due to Arkansas City's location, interaction with major figures and events in history, and its importance to travel farther west, Arkansas City was truly "the gateway to the West."
