Pictures
Plat of Edmond, Norton Co. Kansas was registered by John D. Edmond of Leavenworth, Kansas, on September 3, 1879. It was known as the Original part of the town with two blocks going east and west and four blocks north and south.
An addition was platted to the east, known as Purvience’s, on September 6, 1881 by E. S. Purviance and his wife P. J. Purviance of Norton County. This added two more blocks east and west and three and one half blocks north and south.
The first school/church, new school, Christian Church and High School were built outside of the plats. The Edmond Cemetery is north of town.
History of Edmond, compiled about 1936 by seventh and eight grade Social Studies Class.
Some from newspapers, Ruth McMulkin in 1982, and yours truly.
Settlers of Port Landis after a few years moved to Edmond. The post office opened 3 June 1879, with Albert Weaver as post master and closed shortly after Mrs. Belden retired in May 1988..
The first store building was on the west edge of Edmond, which was the most important part of town then, it was a general store with Mr. Noah Weaver as proprietor. John D. Edmond, a traveling hardware salesman for J. F. Richards &Co. out of Leavenworth, Kansas, promised Mr. Weaver 1000 flour sacks if he would name the town after him. James Lobsitz, another store proprietor moved to Oklahoma and founded and named a city there, “Edmond” after his home town.
Edmond was incorporated in 1916. The first Mayor was Roy Woodward, and the councilmen were, Stephenson, Stickney, Pickering, Newbold, and Dr. Jaquiss. Mayors in there order were as follows: Jaquiss, Pickering, Reid, Bennett, Griffith, Bruinekool. The population of Edmond at the time of this writing,1936, was approximately 200 people.
The first electricity for the city was generated by a dynamo, located about one-half mile south on the Solomon River. This source of power furnished electricity during only twelve hours of the day, from 1:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight. A high line, which came from Lenora, was connected in 1931.
The first printer in Edmond was Mr. Beck, his paper was “The Edmond Echo”. Other printers have been: Kelly, Hibbs, Wills, McCoy, Stevens. The present editor is W. J. Wills and his paper is named “The Edmond New Leaf” published weekly on Thursdays.
At one time there were three livery barns. One of them located where the Bennett Hardware now is, burned, destroying several horses. Another was moved to the farm of Frank Griffith, where it is still used as a stock barn. Bennett Hardware, in the 1950’s lost all the roof, except the south part where a family was living, they were uninjured.
Densmore helped in the dedication of the first bank. A dance was given to celebrate the occasion, in the midst of the dance the lights were turned out and one man shot through the floor in the corner with a revolver. People screaming with fright, started jumping out the windows, taking the sashes with them. The Densmore crowd had a fine time, these same young men were the life of several surrounding towns.—This may not be the bank spoken of, but March 19, 1908 paper states: The new bank building is going up rapidly, it is being built from cement rock, with a brick front.
The Missouri Pacific Railroad came through in 1881. Early in this railroad’s history there were two depot agents, one for day, the other at night. Dave Ferris was the first section boss, and held the position until he retired. At the present time, we have a passenger train, which comes from the east at 1:20 P.M. and returns from Lenora at 3:05 P.M. The freight train comes every other day, and the Missouri Pacific truck comes on the days the train doesn’t. The present depot agent is Mrs. M.M. Wing. 2005-not even a track there now.
Baughman book of early day post offices stated that Edmonds office opened June 3, 1879, the day Port Landis closed.
. Some of the post masters and postmistresses have been: Davidson, Wray, Dean, Kidder, Gibson, Mrs. Stickney and Mrs. Johnston. The present one is Thomas McNeive, Jr.
Mrs. McMulkin wrote: An early church/school and meeting place was built in 1881 by Otto Dannevik from stone. The rocks hauled from four miles north of Edmond. The church was Congregational under the leadership of its first minister “Bonnet”. Many denominations worshiped there because it was the only church in Edmond. The building was sold to the United Brethren in Edmond and served its people till 1915 when a new U. B. Church was built two blocks east and one and one-half block south of the old building, on the corner of Fourth and Keith Streets. It is still being used for services in 2005.
Nov.9, 1905, The new Christian Church house will be 30X40, with an incline floor, steel ceiling and in various ways up to date and modern .By the 30th it was boxed up and partly roofed. June 21,1906-The church will be ready for occupancy as soon as it is seated. But now they have no pastor as Elder Early will be unable to fill appointment during the summer months as he is susceptible to sun stroke and his home is near Hill City. The church was to be dedicated Sunday, Nov. 4, 1906. Rev. J. J. Setliff of Ottowa will officiate. The church was closed a few years ago and the building sold in April 1995.
Some fires in Edmond
In 1915 on the North side of street, Stickney’s general store and all wooden structures on that block burnt. To the west of store was one of the old hotels and it escaped the fire, 2005 it is a family residence. The bank and another hotel, made of brick, had little damage.
1916 an Opera House was built, in February 1932 it was destroyed. Fire started under the stage. It was used for school activities and movies were shown in it. Then for a while movies were shown outdoors.
Nelson Elevator destroyed by fire in 1934.
February 1957, a half block was destroyed, which included the barber shop and residence, two more residences and the old central office on the west end of block was slightly damaged. The Edmond telephone exchange was transferred to a new building for dial service last Saturday, but the old switch-board was in operation for long distance calls. The equipment was moved to Norton this morning and calls are being channeled through Norton.
There have been a few houses and barns that burnt, and Edmond having no water system, the bucket brigade was their only hope of extinguishing them.
Schools
The first church/school and then resident, was built in 1881, and a new two story one built east of it, completed in August 1888. L. V. Davis did the carpenter work and S. M. Coursey the plastering. About 1911 a fire was discovered in the school and it took a number of men three hours to extinguish the flames. Some years later another fire was noticed during a thunderstorm, and men had to dip the water from the puddles caused by the rain, as the handle was broken on the water pump, it was just a small one this time. In1923 stucco was put on the outside. In 1921 a High School was formed and they used the top floor and grade school the bottom floor. A high school district was formed in 1930 and they moved to a new building three blocks east. The grade students also ended up in the high school building and an addition and basement with kitchen for serving lunch was added. The land and building of the grade school was sold and torn down in 1974. The last graduating class of high school was 1958 and at that time Edmond and Lenora Districts combined to make District #213, the grade school went to Lenora in 1976. The brick high school still stands in 2005, but in much disrepair.
The city purchased lots on the south side of Highway #9, August 1959, and have a nice roadside park Mr. and Mrs. Belden bought some lots at the west end for the post office, which was built in1976. It closed shortly after Mrs. Belden retired as post mistress in 1988.
The City of Edmond has sure changed since I was a child/adult living there. There is a speed limit sign, if there wasn’t, a person could blink an eye and miss the town.