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Chase County Kansas Historical Sketches
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WELCOME TO COTTONWOOD FALLS
OUR COUNTY SEAT
Cottonwood Falls, county seat of Chase County, was incorporated by law, Feb. 6, 1858 by acting
Governor J.W. Denver. The incorporators were:
Columbus Hornsby, Q.N. Randolph, John Gilmore,
S.F. Tappan, Jr., G.W. Deitzler, A.D. Searl and
S.N. Wood. In 1865 there were 11 houses. Early
pictures show a few scattered houses on the prairie
mostly to the southwest of the Courthouse; however,
the Courthouse, built in 1871-72 stood at the head
of Broadway and each side of the street was lined
with business places. Over the years, the places
changed hands and the improvements can be noticed, but the names of those early owners still
linger in the memory of Chase Countains.
C.A. Coe's Corner Grocery, Smith Bros. -
''Good Things to Eat, Osborn's Grocery, Hank
Cahoone's, Dawson's, Morozzo's Market, Miller's,
Jim Way's, and today - Gibb's and the I.G.A. - all
names that helped to make history.
Some will remember the shoe repair shop and
harness shop that Louie Hillert had on the east
side, and there was M.M. Kuhl's Harness Shop. We
had Tin shops in the earlier days - H.S. Fritz, and
later Chas. Remy (all who knew him will recall
his cheery whistle.)
Johnson Bros. Abstractors had their office on
the east side (Bruce and Elmer Johnson), later selling to John E. Bell and John Frew. Later abstractors were Conner's (Abe and Ruth), John I. McClellan, and, today, we have Robert L. Carrier's.
Dry Goods stores many, will remember are:
Hildinger's, Martin Dry Goods Company, Henry
Long' s, Kieferle's and Kieferle-Busselle now
Busselle's.
These were on the west side of Broadway in the first block north of the Courthouse.
In the first block down on the east side was
E.F. Holmes Furniture, then L.R. Holmes who sold
to Ernest McKenzie - McKenzie and Sawtell - now
Croy's. E. Brown and Son were on the west side of
the street. In this same block, most Chase Countains recall Gregory Brothers Men's Clothing; Jim
Bell's on the west side of the street. Today, we
have Jim Bell & Son clothes for men on east side.-
In this first block down on the west side were
jewelry stores - G.E. Finley and Son and Ed. Brandley - later, Brandley's, then Van Dorn's - now Lou's
Gift Shop.
In the earlier days, Dr. J.W. Stone operated a
Drug Store, selling it to E.D. Replogle (on corner
where Exchange National Bank now stands), but
later in first block down on west side. Sidney Replogle followed in his father's footsteps, Cecil
Kuhl becoming a partner - now Billing Pharmacy.
W.B. Hilton operated a drug store on the west side,
also, which he sold to Wilcox Bros. - now Fred
Wilcox.
Hardware Stores were: Alford's Hardware, J.D.
McNee's, Scott Berkshire's, and Waddell's.
Chet Woodring's Meat Market on the west side
is to be remembered by most of us.
Real Estate dealers have had offices on the
street - A.J. Klotz, J.E. Bocook - "Dealer in Dirt,"
Carl B. Cowley, R.L. Carrier, and Whitt Laughridge.
Most of our attorneys have had offices on the
street - Tom Grisham, Grisham & Madden, P.F.
Cochran, Dudley Doolittle, S.R. Blackburn, Harry
O'Reilly, & Carl Ballweg. (Others were here for a
shorter period of time.)
In later years, Variety Stores came into existence: Ed. King, W.B. Simon, Garman's, Park's
Store and Bob Giger's Store.
In the one of the first pictures of Broadway, the old Eureka House is there, but not easily distinguished. In
1934, Wayne Keller bought it, tore it down and built
a garage and filling station. Location of other hotels is given in individual articles.
Over the Corner Grocery, years ago, Lottie
Murphy and Maude Strail had a Dress-making Shop;
and, in the room on the northeast was the Dentist
office of Dr. Brown. Dr. Harry M. Wilcox had his
dentist office above the Exchange National Bank,
later building the neat little office just north of the
Telephone office.
Many places of business have stood on the
corner of Broadway and Friend, the Masonic Temple
site - postoffice for a time - a restaurant, etc. This
was a gift from Robert Brash (Bobby Brash as he
was best known) of near Elmdale.
Off Broadway, on each side of the Courthouse,
there are places of business not shown in the Broadway pictures. Geo. F. Capwell had a Photograph
Gallery on the west side for years and years. On
the east of the Eureka House is a lumber yard (See
Article on same.) (Names of owners of lumber yards
in Cottonwood Falls include A.M. West and Sons,
West-Houghton, McDowell-Harmon, John Short, Burgner-Bowman, and Chase County Lumber Company, operated by Harvey L. Dahlberg.
In the block of the east side of the Courthouse,
we find a Filling Station and Garage, operated by
Harold Trayer at this time. Fred Riggs was once in
this station, and many others. John Short built, and
operated the John Short Motor Company, later the
Trayer-Jeff, and since Mr. Jeff's death, Trayer-
Chevrolet. Just south of this is the Midway Garage,
which has been operating since the early 40's.
( None of these are shown in the Broadway picture.)
Over the /ears, filling stations have been located
on about every corner; today, we have Harold's
Mobil Service, Standard Service Center, and the
Peach Oil Company on the east side, north of the
Telephone office.
For many years, the Calvin Mendenhall's operated a produce house where eggs, cream, poultry,
etc. were bought and sold on the east side. Henry
Schoap, Jr., was in business there for a long time,
later building and operating Valley Foods at a location just west of the Fair Grounds, or Swope
Park.
When E.B. Kellam sold his Livery Stable on
the corner where the Peach Oil Company is now
located, that ended the business in Cottonwood
Falls. Many will remember that H.F. Hoel had a
Livery Stable business there for several years.
The first Greenhouse in Cottonwood Falls was
owned and operated by Arthur Lawrence; it was located just west of town - at the foot of the hill west
of the Brown-Bennett Funeral Home. He ran this
for 26 years, or as long as he was able. The Anderson Greenhouse was located just at the bend of
the road north of the Cottonwood River bridge where
the Bates home once was. It was very successful,
but the big flood of 1951 caused them to move to a
new location on Highway K-177 at the east edge of
town. Ochs Flowers is a new business located in
the southeast part of town.
The latest and one of the greatest additions
to Cottonwood Falls is the Chase County Nursing
Center, located at the southeast corner of town, just
east of Highway K-177. It was built in 1969.
Chase County Centennial, 1872 - 1972
by Lorna Marvin
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