-by Greg Hoots- A casual look at the history of Wabaunsee County and the Kansas Flint Hills might lead one to think that most of the County’s earliest homes and other buildings […]
Cabin Fever
A Flint Hills Story by Victor Palenske
Editor’s note: Victor Palenske, born in Alma in 1903, authored this story in 1973, recalling his youth in Alma. Palenske’s penchant for details is amazing and insightful. This editor has added period […]
The History of the Alma National Bank
-by Greg Hoots- The Alma National Bank enjoyed a prominent place in the history of the business community of Alma, Kansas, boasting a rich history in the very roots of the town. […]
The Alma Hotel: A Chronology
-by Greg Hoots- Joseph Brandt was born in Germany in 1828 and immigrated to America in the mid-1850s, settling first in Wisconsin where he met his wife, Christena, the daughter of Prussian […]
A Day in History: August 30, 1900, Modern Woodmen of American Log Rolling at Alma
-by Greg Hoots- Modern Woodmen of America is a fraternal organization founded in 1883 in Lyons, Iowa by Joseph Cullen Root. Root was an esteemed businessman who had been very successful in […]
Prohibition Blues: The Life and Times of Bill Page
-by Greg Hoots- When one hears about Prohibition, the image that comes to mind is the decade of the “roaring twenties”, complete with gangsters toting machine guns and wild nights in the […]
Cold Case: Murder on Eight-Mile Road
-by Greg Hoots- William Thomas Smale came to Kansas in 1869 as a 14-year old youth when his family immigrated to the United States from Canada. Smale’s father was a farmer, and […]
Photo Friday: The Sweeney Bridge
-by Greg Hoots- This is a photograph of the Sweeney Bridge, an iron bridge under construction over the Kaw River in early 1911. The bridge was located in Kaw Township in Wabaunsee […]
Photo Friday: The Alma Colored Band
-by Greg Hoots- As the small towns of the Flint Hills began to develop between 1880 and 1900, one of the needs felt by the early settlers was to have a city […]
The History of Wabaunsee County Newspapers
-by Greg Hoots- In April of 1867 Alma, Kansas became the county seat of Wabaunsee County, following two contested elections which found Alma and Wabaunsee vying for the placement of the county’s […]
Flint Hills Special 