-by Greg Hoots- The year 2020 has been historic by any measure. There were many firsts and worsts. At our home in Kansas City, Kansas, my wife, Cheryl and I were fortunate […]
A 2020 Kansas Butterfly Garden
Gandy Dancing on the Rock Island, McFarland, KS
-by Greg Hoots- McFarland, Kansas was a railroad town, literally. The town was located, designed, and platted to accommodate the intersection of various lines of the Chicago, Rock Island, & Pacific Railway, […]
Photo Friday, August 14, 2020: Real Photo Postcard, Paxico, Kansas, 1905, “Born in Africa”
It’s Photo Friday! I have a great photograph for you today. It’s a real photo postcard which I added to my collection last week, taken in Paxico, Kansas, circa 1905. It’s an […]
The Life and Times of Hickory Jones
-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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 