This rare image of men loading a barn loft with loose hay was taken at the Fred Steinmeyer farm, located five miles south of Alma, Kansas. The hay carrier had huge steel jaws […]
Photo Friday: Haying at the Steinmeyer Barn
Louis Palenske Archives Presented on Kansasmemory.org
The digitized photos and manuscripts of Alma photographer Louis Palenske have been included in the Kansas State Historical Society’s digital archives and presented on their website, Kansasmemory.org. The collection represents 390 new items […]
Video: Volland Memories, The Kratzer Films
In 2015 the Kansas Humanities Council awarded a grant to the Wabaunsee County Historical Society to fund an exhibition of photography by Volland, Kansas shopkeeper and photographer, Otto Kratzer. The project also funded […]
The Birth of a Town: Alma
Alma, Kansas is a thriving small town located in the center of Wabaunsee County and serves as the county’s seat of government. The town’s history dates to the middle 1860s when the […]
Photo Friday: Herman Richter
Herman Richter was born in Germany in 1854 and immigrated to America in 1879 with his brother, Reinhold Richter and sister, Mrs. William Schroeder. Richter established a home in Alma and engaged […]
Alma Bottling Works
-by Greg Hoots- There are few of us that have never enjoyed a cold bottle of “soda pop” on a hot day. That simple pleasure has become a big business in the […]
The History of the Alma Salt Works
-by John Winkler- Editor’s note: This manuscript was written by Wabaunsee County pioneer, John Winkler shortly before his death in 1907. Winkler was scheduled to speak from the manuscript at a meeting […]
Photo Friday: Hecker Bros. Traveling Medicine Show
Today’s Photo Friday is a real rarity, a view of a traveling medicine show taken between 1890 and 1900 at Alma, Kansas by Alma photographer, Gus Meier. An arena with bleachers has […]
Derailed
In the history of Wabaunsee County, among the significant events which shaped the county’s development and growth were the coming of the railroad in 1880 and the subsequent addition of a second […]
Photo Friday: Soda Fountain Memories
One of the iconic businesses that existed in most Kansas towns of the 20th century was the local drug store and pharmacy. The business, itself, underwent great changes as the patent medicine […]
