-by Greg Hoots- Elmer Jones was born on January 17, 1878 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. His path to the American West is undocumented, but by 1895, the seventeen-year-old youth had arrived in […]
The Life and Times of Hickory Jones
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The Early Career of Photographer, Dave Mathias, 1955-1965
-by Greg Hoots- David “Dave” Mathias was born on May 6, 1937 in Reading, Pennsylvania, the son of David and Margaret Mathias. When Dave was five-years-old, his parents divorced, and for seven years he attended a series of elementary schools, as his mother moved several times during and immediately after World War II. In 1949 […]
Photo Friday, July 10, 2020: Banner Photo, Mid-Kansas Milling, 1904
-by Greg Hoots- Times have changed. Numerous times, in my role as a photo historian, I’ve heard people say, “we don’t have any old photos, my folks never owned a camera.” Other […]
Photo Friday, July 3, 2020: Eskridge City Park Bandstand, 1915
It’s Photo Friday! I have an interesting photo for you today. Last week I acquired this real photo postcard produced by M. L. Zercher of Topeka, showing the bandstand at the City […]
Steinmeyer Bros. Garage, Alma, Kansas
-by Greg Hoots- In the 1910s, a wave from the future swept across America. The automobile arrived in the cities and small towns, alike. Ten years earlier, most people had never seen […]
Phelps Oil Company, West Plains, Mo.
-by Greg Hoots- I was born at Christa Hogan Hospital in West Plains, Missouri in the middle of the 1950s. I don’t remember any of the event, although my mother had a […]
Bridging the Kaw
-by Greg Hoots- The Kansas River demarks the northern edge of Wabaunsee County, creating a meandering dividing line between the county and its neighbor to the north, Pottawatomie County. For more than […]
The Curious Case of Postcard Photographer, John Bowers
-by Greg Hoots- John Bowers was born in 1865 in Minnesota, the son of a farmer. In about 1879 John left Minnesota to move to Topeka, Kansas where he took residence with […]
The Peter Thoes Barn
-by Greg Hoots- Peter Thoes was born in 1821 in a small village on the river LaBelle Mosille on the western edge of Germany. After Peter’s birth, his parents, Johannes Thoes and […]
Sixteen Days in August and Other UPS Stories
-by Greg Hoots- Author’s note: I spent more than thirty-three years as a package car driver for United Parcel Service, working from the Topeka, Kansas center. I made many good friends while […]
Flint Hills Special 