Brick streets debated

100 YEARS AGO

(1912)

Mr. Runyan, editor of the Arcadia Searchlight, was in town yesterday on business. He is a son-in-law of the late Wiley Bolinger of this county and lived here some 25 years ago. For over 20 years he has been practicing medicine and doing pharmaceutical work at Arcadia. A couple of years ago he got into the newspaper business without intending to do so, and has since been giving Arcadia a mighty fine little paper.

The annual meeting of the Bourbon County Farmers' Institute was officially opened this morning by President J.G. Crist at the Y.M.C.A. There was a large crowd of farmers., as well horsemen of this city and surrounding towns. Among the audience were the agricultural classes of the Fort Scott High School, who were dismissed from their classes so that they could attend the institute. Prof. G.C.Wheeler, of the Kansas State Agricultural College, gave a talk on horse judging.

75 YEARS AGO

(1937)

Fort Scott's dairy celebration Wednesday will be its greatest industrial tribute. The registration booth, a giant milk can, goes up squarely in the center of the intersection at Wall and Main streets. The registration booth is in the form of a giant milk can. No sooner had the booth been opened than the stream of early registration started. At mid-afternoon, 150 persons had registered. Wednesday noon Main Street will become one long dining room. Hundreds upon hundreds of visitors, all interested in dairying, will eat dinner at a table three blocks long right down the center of Main Street. The food will be cooked on 10 stoves along the sidewalks. The guests will be this community's milk producers and their families. Entertainment will be provided by the Fort Scott band and bands from the surrounding area.

50 YEARS AGO

(1962)

Photo caption: "'Hub of the Community' -- The mercantile store, the hub of community life in the good old days is depicted here with these pioneering gentleman -- Bachum Rhodes -- surrounded with the top products of the 1890s. On the shelves are Granger twist chewing tobacco, Duke's Mixture, Dr. Price's baking powder, Pattyjohns, a timetable of Missouri, Pacific and Frisco, and O.N.T. sewing thread cabinet. Also shown are containers of beans and various items sold from bulk. One of the unidentified men is holding a horsewhip. The store was Nelson and Weedon's, located at 124 E. Wall. The two bearded gentlemen standing in the rear are believed to be the proprietors of the store, C.M. Nelson and M.B. Weedon."

25 YEARS AGO

(1987)

The Historic Preservation Association of Bourbon County appeared at Wednesday's special meeting of the Fort Scott Planning Commission to present its plan to solve a long-debated dilemma in Fort Scott -- what to do with bricks streets.

The group, which advocates the preservation of brick streets, recently mapped and measured the streets and developed a plan members say will help preserve the majority.

The plan was presented by Fred Campbell Jr., HPA president, and Dave Irvin, a local architect and HPA member. Irvin said there are 14.4 miles of brick streets that have not been overlaid with asphalt.

The Planning Commission was asked by the City Commission to develop a general plan to deal with brick streets, which will be included in the comprehensive plan.

The brick streets were built from about 1870 to the 1930s. They were maintained properly until the advent of asphalt.

It was only recently that we began to understand the significance of the brick streets and have tried to preserve them," Campbell said.