ROSEDALE, AN INDEPENDENT CITY - MAYORS FOR THIRTY-FOUR YEARS - A PICTURESQUE LITTLE CITY - ROSEDALE SCHOOLS - CHURCH HISTORY - A CITY OF HOMES - A GREAT MEDICAL SCHOOL AND HOSPITAL - RAILROAD TERMINALS - THE OLD ROLLING MILL - OTHER INDUSTRIES - A PIONEER FOR KANSAS GOOD ROADS - BONNER SPRINGS, THE ANCIENT QUIVIRA - THE FIRST COMMERCIAL CENTER - THE FAMOUS FOUR HOUSES - THE TIBLOW FERRY - THE CELEBRATED SPRINGS - TOWN ORGANIZED - CITY ORGANIZED - DISCOVERY OF NATURAL GAS - LAKES AND PARKS - CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS - FIRST RURAL MAIL DELIVERY THERE - OTHER TOWNS IN WYANDOTTE COUNTY.

Rosedale, with a population of 5,960 by the 1910 United States census, is the only Kansas municipality at the state line in Wyandotte county that has failed to give up its identity and be annexed or merged into the larger city, Kansas City, Kansas, which now covers the eastern part of Wyandotte county in the fork of the Missouri and Kansas rivers. Wyandotte, the old City of Kansas City, Kansas, and the ambitious city of Armourdale, all gave up their individuality in 1886 and were merged into Kansas City, Kansas. Argentine, the busy city on the south of the Kansas river, gave up on January 1, 1910, and came into the same municipal fold. Then historic old Quindaro, Chelsea Place, Midland Park and other adjoining communities were absorbed.

But Rosedale, at this writing, is a separate city, and, although some of its citizens favor annexation, there is little likelihood that such a thing will soon come to pass. The high bluffs on the south side of the Kansas river have been a barrier to intercommunication, by direct highway or street railway, between the peoples of the two cities, and although the limits adjoin there never has been that community of interest that would make one city and one people of the two corporations.

Rosedale proper covers a small area, so far as its corporate limits extend, but in reality it is one city from the southern boundary line of Kansas City, Kansas, to the northern line of Johnson county, extending from Kansas City, Missouri, on the east more than two miles west. It is a part of the territory that was occupied by the Shawnee Indians and the half-century before Rosedale was builded was rich with historic interest.

Rosedale was platted, in 1872, by James G. Brown and A. Grandstaff, then owners of the town site. The description of the area was: "South half of the southwest quarter of section 27, northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 34, township 11, range 25 east; also a strip of land on the south part of the north half of southwest quarter of section 27, township 11, range 25 east."

A boom of the town was commenced in 1875, as the Kansas City Rolling Mills were located there in that year. It was not until the year 1877, however, that the city contained the necessary population of six hundred to demand a government under the act authorizing the creation of cities of the third class. On August 3rd, of that year, Judge Hiram Stevens ordered an election for the 28th of that month, which resulted in the selection of the following city officers for the ensuing year: Mayor, D. S. Mathias; councilmen, John Hutchison, Sr., Henry Juergens, William Bowen, John Haddock and Benjamin Bousman; police judge, Edward Blanford; city clerk, William Dauks.

Since that time Rosedale has continued to maintain a municipal government under which it has grown to its present proportions, and the men who have served as mayor, with the dates of their election, are named herewith:

The original town was located entirely within the then quiet peaceful valley that was almost entirely surrounded by high bluffs whose summits and slopes were covered with forest trees, while from the valley to hilltops, in every ravine and crevice and covering every, rock, banked high, was a perfect bower of wild roses. From this Rosedale derives its name.

When first laid out Rosedale was small and between it and Kansas City were miles of farms, and it was a busy, bustling town, everybody made money and everybody spent it, and there was a rollicking, jolly appearance of prosperity evident upon every hand. But the rolling mill failed in business, moved away and Rosedale discarded her appearance of prosperity and gradually lapsed into a state of decay. But this was not to last. The phenomenal growth of Kansas City in the eighties began to be felt in Rosedale, and new people moved in, taking the place of those who left with the mill, until, in 1897, Rosedale's population reached 2,200. About this time the city was changed from third class to second class and then the real and substantial prosperity began. Newell E. Smith was elected mayor and served four years, and in rapid succession followed a water works system, owned by the city. A telephone exchange was established, and instead of seven telephones there are now over two hundred and fifty. The old gasoline street lamps gave way for arc lights, and the old fourth class post office has been abandoned and a strictly modern and first class office established in its stead, with carrier service, both city and rural. The principal streets have been paved with modern pavement and a sewer system is being built. Besides all these there have been builded mills, elevators, railroad yards and railroad shops, factories and business houses, and the state of Kansas is now erecting a medical college to be surrounded by a group of hospitals and a training school for nurses. In time this will be the greatest medical institution of the west.

The board of education in Rosedale is composed of ten members. Two are selected from each of the four city wards and two are selected from the outlaying districts. In 1907 the city possessed a high school building, erected the year before at a cost of $25,000, and three ward schools. Twenty-five teachers were employed in these schools and the enrollment was about 1,230 for the opening day. In 1906 twenty-two teachers were employed, with 1,220 enrollment. There are four teachers employed in the high school. George E. Rose was superintendent of schools.

The First Methodist Epicopal[sic] church of Rosedale, Kansas, was organized in the winter of 1879, with a membership of thirty, and the first pastor in charge was C. W. Shaw, formerly of Sabetha, Kansas, who, being a carpenter by trade, built the old church located on Henning avenue, which was dedicated July 5, 1880. Services have been held continuously in the church from that time until the present. Realizing that the old church had outlived its usefulness, being too small to accommodate the Sunday school and seeing the need of a larger and more commodious building, steps were taken to build a new stone church on Kansas City avenue, and on the 6th of October, 1907, the corner stone, was laid by the "Old Men's Association." On March 29, 1908, the new First Methodist Episcopal church was dedicated, with a membership of three hundred.

The Walnut Street Methodist Episcopal Church South is one of the oldest and most prosperous religious organizations in Rosedale. The church is at Walnut street and Florence avenue. It has a membership of about 400 and the pastor, in 1911, was the Rev. John K. Beery.

Other Methodist churches are the African Zion, at Bluff street and Lafayette avenue, the Bethel church at 245 Valley street, and the Wesley Chapel, colored, at Shawnee avenue and Summit street.

The Baptists have five churches: The Rosedale Baptist at Southwest boulevard and Wyandotte street; the Pleasant Valley Baptist, at No. 1013 Bluff street; the Baptist Mission, at No. 346 South Row; the Colored Baptist, at No. 537 Tangent avenue.

Other religious denominations represented are: The Congregational church, in Maple Leaf addition; Malvern Hill Latter Day Saints church, at Forty-second street and Hudson avenue; Bethsada chapel, at Forty-second and Fisher avenue; the Christian Alliance Mission, at Thirty-fifth street and Southwest boulevard.

The Holy Name Catholic church, at Kansas City avenue and Shawnee boulevard, is the oldest church in Rosedale. It has a beautiful stone edifice and a good parochial school. The Rev. Father Dornseifer is the parish priest.

Rosedale is now a city of pretty homes, neat business houses, banks and offices, well paved streets, sewers, sidewalks, churches, schools, railroads and industries that combine in the making of a busy little city. The Southwest boulevard built as a great highway from Main street in Kansas City, Missouri, to the southwest, runs through Rosedale. It was given to the city in the early days by Dr. Simeon B. Bell, pioneer advocate of good roads and Rosedale's wealthiest citizen and benefactor. It is traversed by a Metropolitan street railway line to the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, and also by the Interurban railway to Merriam, Shawnee and the southwest.

The secret societies of Rosedale are represented by the following: Interstate Lodge, I. O. O. F.; Council No. 647, Knights and Ladies of Security, Modern Woodmen of America, No. 6062; the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and the Nu Sigma Nu medical fraternity.

ELEANOR BELL MEMORIAL HOSPITAL.

The Eleanor Bell Memorial Hospital and the Medical School of the University of Kansas, built in the last five years, have brought recognition to Rosedale throughout the United States as a seat of learning in medicine and surgery. These institutions were made possible by the benefactions of Dr. Simeon B. Bell, and, although only a part of the great plan has been worked out, the buildings already erected and equipped have cost more than $100,000. It is in the hospital, the laboratory and the clinical school that many noted cases are treated, and many of the celebrated discoveries beneficial to science are made.

Rosedale has many things that distinguish it as being something more than a mere place in which to reside, or as a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. The Saint Louis & San Francisco and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroad systems have their extensive terminals along the valley through Rosedale, with their yards, shops, roundhouses and terminals contributing to the employment of labor, as well as to the industrial and commercial life of the city.

The buildings of the Kansas Rolling Mill Company, which once occupied all the Turkey Creek valley near where Kansas City avenue now turns to the west, have disappeared one by one. The old mill once employed 1,500 men. It was built in 1875 for the purpose of working over old railroad iron. The village grew up around it. There were no street-car lines then to hurry the people of Rosedale to the business section of a big city nearby, and it was an up-hill drive to Westport, the closest place. So the rolling mill company had its store. The mill used to be one of the sights, and parties would drive out to see the redhot rails re-rolled. The railroads used iron rails in those days, and as they were worn down new ones were made by working old ones over. The mill also made stoves and other articles of iron in common use.

The mill proper closed in 1883, as a result of legal disputes among the members of the company. The old buildings stood idle for some time. Then part of them were torn down and others were moved across the tracks of the railway yards, and re-opened by the Kansas City Wire and Iron Works. The property has now been taken over by the Illinois Steel Company, which held a mortgage on the wire and iron works. The machinery has been sent to St. Louis. The old building is to be torn down and the ground fenced up.

Rosedale has three elevators which handle a large portion of the grain shipped to Kansas City over the railroads. They are known as the Memphis, Frisco and Rosedale elevators. The Arms & Kidder flour mill and the Kimball Cereal mill are two important industries. The Auto Fedan Hay Press Company has a factory in Rosedale.

The Indiana Silo Company has a manufacturing plant near the Southwest boulevard and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroad yards, and is one of the newest of the city's industries.

Rosedale has four post office sub-stations, five parks, two banks, six halls, one hotel, one newspaper, two lawyers, ten physicians, four artists, two architects, forty-one contractors, a volunteer fire department, and a live Commercial Club. It is an ideal place for suburban residences, with good street railway and interurban service.

When Dr. Simeon B. Bell of Rosedale was practicing medicine, he endured hardships and suffered aches and pains while going to see his patients over roads that were rough, frequently muddy and often impassable. He became an advocate of good roads, and he has been hammering away at the subject for fifty years. He may properly be called the pioneer of the good roads movement in eastern Kansas. Years ago he helped to locate a road from the old Johnson Methodist Mission at Shawnee north to Argentine, Then he located a road along the Kansas river to the west. But the greatest undertaking with which he was connected was the building of the Southwest boulevard that now runs from Nineteenth and Main streets in Kansas City, Missouri, through Rosedale and on to Shawnee, nine miles below. But that was a long, hard fight.

Somewhere there is a half legendary story to the effect that the beautiful Quivira for which Coronodo, the Spanish explorer, searched in 1541 was found on the north bank of the Kansas river at the site of the present city of Bonner Springs, near the western line of Wyandotte county. An analysis of the circumstantial evidence leads to the conclusion that Coronodo and the forces under his command, entering Kansas at the southwest made their way in a northeasterly direction to the Missouri river to where Atchison now stands. Disappointed in their search up to that time for the fair Quivira, they passed down the Missouri river to the mouth of the Kansas to where the Indian village of Wyandotte was started a little over three hundred years afterwards. Thence Coronodo and his followers, charmed by the beautiful Kansas river valley, ascended that river sixteen miles. There they found the real Quivira and its famous springs, which they called Coronodo Springs and which in our time are known as Bonner Springs. It follows that Coronodo and his cavaliers spent the winter of 1541-2 at that place. They lived on the fish they caught in the river and the lakes by cutting holes in the ice, on buffalo their hunters killed on the high prairie to the north of the place, on deer they found in the woods, and on the abundant crop of fruits and nuts with which they were supplied by the Indians. Proof that the Coronodo band passed down the Missouri river to the site of Wyandotte is found in the historic fact that the cavaliers, among their weapons, carried and used as an implement of war halberds similar to the metallic Roman halberds. One of these, in excellent state of preservation, was unearthed by a Catholic priest near Leavenworth and another on the site of Kansas City, Missouri, by John Wilson, an archaeologist. These discoveries undoubtedly point to the conclusion that Coronodo and his men once wandered through Wyandotte county, and that two of their braves lost their lives - or their halberds - in combatting the savage foes.

But if the Coronodo story, plausable as it is and supported by much historic proof, is not sufficient to establish the claims of Bonner Springs as the oldest city in Kansas, there is still the proof positive that it was the first commercial center in Kansas. In the early fur trade, the means of transportation was along the water courses, in Indian canoes or other small water craft. Trading posts were erected throughout the country, and as the only means of transportation were as above stated, these posts must be on navigable streams. So it happened that Bonner Springs came into prominence about one hundred years ago as the headquarters for extensive operations in the commerce then carried on between the French traders and the Indians that peopled Kansas.

In 1764, August and Pierre Chouteau located in St. Louis and were the pioneers in this trade in the country west of the Mississippi river. They were soon in competition with the large companies operating from Canada. The skins of the beaver were the most sought for. They were found in great abundance along the streams, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Their habits made them an easy prey for the trappers. They were hunted from one stream to another, and so rapidly were they destroyed that in the short space of thirty years the trappers of these animals met on the headwaters of streams flowing into the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The Chouteaus rapidly explored the country and established their trading posts along the Missouri and Kansas rivers about the beginning of the nineteenth century, and the principal trading post for Kansas was the famous "Four Houses," located on the site of Bonner Springs. In 1808 they crossed the Rocky mountains and built a fort and trading post on the head waters of the Columbia.

The "Four Houses" stood on the high ground between the present Union Pacific and Santa Fe railway stations, commanding a fine view of the river, They were built of logs on the four sides of a square, so they might provide the protection of a fort in case of an attack by the Indians. Here the Chouteaus did an extensive business which was continued to the time of the coming of the Delaware and Shawnee Indians and the establishment of a trading post at Secondine, now Muncie.

Tradition has it that long before the first white man set foot on this soil the various tribes of Indians who inhabited the Kansas plains were in the habit of living at least a part of the year around these springs, which thereby gained the name of Indian Springs. There are several of the springs, each bearing a different name and each having a different water, but the name of Indian Springs applies to them generally. The medicine men of the Indian tribes usually brought all of their patients to these springs when the ordinary medicines failed to work, and the early settlers have heard many stories told of the great healing power of these waters for the red men.

For many years a ferry was operated by Henry Tiblow, a clubfooted Delaware Indian, and an official interpreter for the United States government. He lived in a log cabin which still stands on the west side of the city and is prized by the citizens for its historic interest. In November, 1870, the town was platted, John McDanield and his wife, Ellen, being proprietors of the townsite. With the Union Pacific railroad built along the north side of the river and the Santa Fe's line to Leavenworth crossing at that point, Tiblow soon grew to be a busy little town, with a brick school house, several flourishing business houses and dwellings. The site originally contained blocks, each subdivided into lots. The numerous fine springs of medicinal waters in and around the place suggested that it be made a health resort and a place for suburban residences for persons engaged in business in Kansas City.

CABIN OF TIBLOW, THE FERRYMAN AND INDIAN INTERPRETER.
(OLDEST HOUSE IN WYANDOTTE COUNTY.)

Accordingly the town of Bonner Springs, adjoining Tiblow on the east was laid out in November, 1855, by a company which included David R. Emmons, president, and James D. Husted, secretary. Philo M. Clark, then, as now a resident, was one of the principal promoters and members of the company and by him it was named for Robert Bonner, the New York editor and publisher of that day. The town company built the Coronodo hotel for the use of those who came to partake of the waters of the springs.

Shortly afterwards the town was platted into nineteen blocks of various sizes, and a large body of land was thrown into the beautiful Saratoga Park, which is so pleasing to the sight of passengers on the trains passing by. The company also purchased lands adjoining the town and from time to time new additions were laid out.

The growth of the town at first was slow, although the hotel was, in the summer season, crowded with guests. It was not until 1898 that Bonner Springs became a city of the third class, and Philo M. Clark became its first mayor; and for several terms he was chosen by the people as the official head of the city. Bonner Springs was peculiarly favored by geographical situation in many ways, but it was several years before the general public, and even the residents of Bonner Springs, were able to determine what the future might be.

Practically the beginning of the reconstruction and development of Bonner Springs was the discovery of natural gas some few years ago, and after the gas was discovered and brought into use things began to change rapidly. First a large brick plant was established directly east of the city limits for the manufacture of sand brick. Next the attention of capitalists and manufacturers was attracted by the large deposits of shale that could be used for the manufacture of cement, and the plentifulness of natural gas that was available for fuel. This marked another advance, and possibly the greatest of Bonner Springs, for it meant the building in a very short time, of the Bonner Portland Cement Company's plant, a mile east of the city, which is one of the largest manufactories of its kind in the world, with a capacity for making 2,500 barrels of cement each day, employing several hundred hands.

The company owns several hundred acres of lands along the rugged hills on the north side of the Kansas river in which there are deposits of shale and rock sufficient to keep the great mill going more than one hundred years.

At the present time the Bonner Portland Cement plant supplies the town of Bonner Springs, the Gray Brick manufacturing plant, and a large sanitarium, with natural gas for lighting and heating purposes. Their wells are of great depth and flow strong and steady, the company his sufficient acreage that they are reasonably assured of having sufficient gas to last them for years innumerable.

The surrounding country of Bonner Springs is one of a very rich agricultural nature, and since the advent of the promoters of industries, the town bids fair to become one of the most busy of the Kansas City suburbs. It is spoken of as a suburb because that is what it really will be upon the completion of the new electric line which is being built especially for the transportation of people to and from the health and pleasure resorts which will be completed soon. The possibility of Bonner Springs becoming the pleasure-seeking ground of Kansas Cityans is without a doubt probable, for it has two large lakes - Lake of the Forest and Lake of the Woods - which will furnish boating and fishing grounds, as well as the fine hotels and the numerous pleasures and the healing waters of the springs as attractions.

The town itself is well situated on a gently sloping hillside and is immediately backed by a beautiful forest which surrounds the lakes and valleys in which the springs are, and when the work is completed and the plans carried out that are now being put in force it will afford the best pleasure ground within any reasonable distance of Kansas City.

One other important feature of Bonner Springs is the large sanitarium just north of the city limits. This accommodates a great number of patients and is usually filled by health-seeking people who come there to rest and use the mineral waters which come from the several springs nearby.

Bonner Springs now is a busy little city with many thriving business houses, factories and beautiful homes. It has a magnificent high school and graded schools and three handsome churches - Methodist, Baptist and Christian. Episcopal services also are held there. It has a system of water works and, as before stated, natural gas supplied to its business houses and residents. A sewer system has recently been established, and the streets, once trod by the feet of many thousands of Indians who went there in the early days to trade at the "Four Houses," are now being paved. The city, by the census of 1910, had a population of 1,600.

Bonner Springs is the central point for the delivery of mail by the rural free delivery system for a large section of Wyandotte, Leavenworth and Johnson counties. It was there, sixteen years ago, that the first free delivery route in the United States was established by the post office department. At first it was merely an experiment, but it proved so successful that hundreds of rural mail routes were established in many states.

A busy little town along the line of the Union Pacific railway eleven miles, west of the mouth of Kansas river is Edwardsville. It was a station on the Union Pacific Railroad, in the sixties, and was named for Hon. John H. Edwards, who was then general passenger and ticket agent for that railroad and served as a state senator from Ellis county, Kansas. The land where this town now stands was once the farm of Half-Moon, a chief of some degree among the Delawares. He sold the land to General T. Smith, of Leavenworth and others, who in turn sold it to William Kouns. A post office was established there in 1867. The Methodist Episcopal church effected an organization in 1868, and had quite a large membership. In 1868, through the personal influence and direct labors of William Kouns, the county commissioners created the town of Delaware, in which Edwardsville is located. It was platted in 1869 - the proprietor being Mr. Kouns. Some time in 1870 the Christian church was organized. Composite Lodge No. 152, A, F. & A, M., was organized in 1872, but in 1877 surrendered its charter. The town now has a population of about seven hundred, a fine brick school house, a bank, several general stores, a blacksmith and wagon shop, a good depot, a telegraph office and a telephone exchange. It is in the center of the great potato and fruit-growing industry of Wyandotte county. Hundreds of cars of these and other products are shipped annually from this station.

The town of Muncie, on the Union Pacific railroad six miles west of Kansas City, Kansas, was formerly the old Indian town of Secondine, when Moses Grinter, the first white settler in the county, conducted a ferry for many years for the United States government military road from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Scott. The Delaware Indians once had a grist mill there, but it afterwards was abandoned. The story of this mill and the old ferry and Chouteau trading post, which are a part of the early history of the place, appears in other chapters of this work. Muncie is a mere village with a general store, but it is an important shipping point for the rich agricultural, gardening and fruit growing section. The Union Pacific recently acquired a large body of land at that place for outside freight yards.

Another station on the Union Pacific is Loring in Wyandotte county, at the west county line.

The town of Turner on the Santa Fe railroad nine miles from the mouth of the Kansas river, is so close to Kansas City, Kansas, as to be almost included within its limits. It is at the west end of the great yards of the Santa Fe and is surrounded by many small farms, gardens and orchards. It has a school and several stores.

Three miles southwest of Turner on the Santa Fe, in Wyandotte county, is the town of Morris, established in the eighties. It is the feeding station on the railroad for live stock entering the Kansas City stock yards and has pens and trackage sufficient for handling several trainloads of stock at one time.

On the Kansas City Northwestern division of the Missouri Pacific Railway is the quiet little village of White Church, historic because of its founding in the thirties by the Delaware Indians, told in the chapters relating to those Indians and the old missions. The town itself has grown little since first it became a rallying point for the Delawares, but around its cluster of dwellings and stores, the old M. E. Church South, and the Presbyterian church that was established in 1869, the post office and Masonic hall, are finely improved farms which make it a community of wealth and culture,

On the Kansas City-Northwestern Railroad, nine miles west from the mouth of Jersey creek at Kansas City, Kansas, and three hundred feet higher than that point, the town of Bethel was laid out in 1887 by the White Church Townsite and Improvement Company, David D. Hoag, president. It is about three quarters of a mile northeast of the town of White Church and one-half mile southwest of Bethel station on the Kansas City Western Interurban Electric Railway. It now contains a large general store, brick and terra cotta works, a railroad depot, telegraph and express office, a town hall, blacksmith and wagon shop, etc. It is very pleasantly situated, and, lying on the ridge, as it does, above the mosquito line, it is never infested with these troublesome insects. From this point can be seen Kansas City, Leavenworth, Parkville and other points in the distance. Bethel is designed as a suburban residence town for the two Kansas Cities. Many lots have been sold to parties in the cities, who contemplate building residences there.

Piper also situated on the Kansas City, Wyandotte & Northwestern Railroad, on the southwest corner of section 28 and the northwest corner of section 33, township 10 north, range 23 cast, was laid out in September, 1888, by L. E. Scott, Margaret Scott, John Waldron, Ella L. Waldron, W. S. Brown and S. A. Brown, the proprietors of the town site which embraced forty acres. The village contains two general stores, a blacksmith and wagon shop, railroad depot, telegraph and express office, etc., and a population of between two hundred and three hundred.

Other hamlets and stations along the Kansas City-Northwestern Railroad in Wyandotte county are: Vance, which also is on the Kansas City Western Electric; Menager Junction, at the west line of the county where the Leavenworth branch leaves the main line; Wallula, in the northwest part of the county; Maywood, two miles southeast of Piper. Each situated in a rich agricultural community, is supplied with general stores, schools, churches, telephone, telegraph and rural delivery service.

The principal town on the Missouri Pacific Railway, main line between Kansas City and Leavenworth, is the town of Wolcott, twelve miles above the mouth of the Kansas river in the northeast corner of Wyandotte county. It was platted as Conner in February, 1868, the owners of the townsite being Alfred and William Hughes. The town has been an important shipping point and it is well supplied with stores, hotels, schools and churches. When the Kansas City Western Electric Railway was constructed in 1902 the name of the town was changed to Wolcott, in honor of the first general manager of the line, Herbert Wolcott. The railway company constructed a great electrical power plant at the place which was used to supply the power for its line between Kansas City and Leavenworth. The power house was destroyed by fire four years ago. The company has its operating headquarters at Wolcott. The population is about four hundred.

The town of Pomeroy on the Missouri Pacific nine and one-half miles from Kansas City, Kansas, also on the Missouri river, was platted in 1871 by William P. Overton and Frank H. Betton, who were operating a steam flour and saw mill there. It contains several stores and a small cluster of houses. It is an important shipping point for dairymen who supply large quantities of milk for the city. The town has grown very little since it was founded forty years ago.

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