Few things have changed more in our lives than construction techniques for buildings and bridges. These photographs capture the construction of Wabaunsee County’s infrastructure, including the building of commercial buildings, churches, schools […]
Building History
Construction of the Wabaunsee County Courthouse, 1931
In 1931 Wabaunsee County constructed a new courthouse on the block bordered by 2nd Street, and 3rd Street, Iowa Street to Kansas Avenue in Alma, Kansas. The county had levied a one-mill […]
Volland, Then and Now
Photographer and graphic artist, Tom Parish has created a collection of Volland, Kansas “re-photographs” which merge the images from historic photos with those taken today. Parish uses early Otto Kratzer photos from […]
Mount Mitchell Heritage Prairie
– by Michael Stubbs – The Mount Mitchell Heritage Prairie Preserve is a 50-acre hilltop prairie dedicated to Captain William Mitchell and the Connecticut Kansas Colony. Located three miles south of Wamego […]
Alma’s Oldest Building, Palenske Hall
The oldest surviving building in Alma, Kansas is today known as Palenske Hall, named after Fred Palenske, the benefactor of the Wabaunsee County Historical Society. The building was built in 1873 for […]
Delivering Ice, Alma, Kansas
Herman Tenbrink, right, unloads blocks of ice for Alice Johnson’s drug store located at 227 Missouri Street in Alma, Kansas. Charles Johnson, center, is standing on the back of his horse, circa […]
WCHS Completes Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board Grant
Greg Hoots, of the Wabaunsee County Historical Society has completed work on his grant project, Preserving Memories: Digitizing History, which digitizes over 400 photographs and manuscripts belonging to Alma photographer and businessman, […]
The Cold War in the Flint Hills
– By Greg Hoots – For four years in the early 1960s the Flint Hills of Wabaunsee County was home to one of America’s weapons of global destruction, an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile […]
The Early History of Lake Wabaunsee: 1933-1945
– By Greg Hoots – In 1925 the Kansas Forestry, Fish and Game Commission was formed, and soon that agency began constructing state lakes across Kansas. In Wabaunsee County, a group of […]
Otto Kratzer and His Great Western Adventure
– By Greg Hoots – The dawn of the 20th century found America hungry for motorization. In the 1890s the first powered motorcars were being developed in Europe by German engineers Karl […]
