Pittsburg, Kansas
In the winter of
1875 John B. Sargent and E. R. Moffett, both of Joplin, Missouri,
conceived the plan of building a railroad from Joplin to Girard,
Kansas. These gentlemen were engaged in lead and zinc mining
at Joplin, and were making money rapidly, and were looking for
an outlet for the product of their mines and smelters. In the
spring of 1876 the work was begun, and by the fall of that year
the grading reached the vicinity of Pittsburg, at which time
the town was laid out, as directed by Colonel E. H. Brown, who
had charge of the construction of the railroad. One hundred and
sixty acres were platted, and Broadway and Fourth streets were
graded, each one-half a mile. Forty acres from each of four sections
constituted the townsite, a section corner being the center of
the town. The land belonged to the Kansas City, Fort Scott and
Gulf Railroad, but was occupied and claimed as follows: The east
one-half of southeast quarter of section nineteen, and the west
one-half of southwest quarter of section twenty, were claimed
and occupied by George Dosser. On the latter tract he had a farm
house and other improvements. The northwest quarter of section
twenty-nine was claimed and occupied by Jacob Pugh, while the
east half of northeast quarter of section thirty was unoccupied,
but was claimed by Thomas Secley. All these tracts of land are
in township thirty south, range twenty-five, east of the principal
meridian. These with other lands were purchased by Messrs. Moffett
and Sargent, who also made satisfactory terms with the claimants
on the land.
The first house built on the original townsite
stood on the northwest corner of section twenty-nine, where now
stands the two-story brick block owned by John R. Lindburg and
occupied by W. E. Pierce as a drug store. The building was a
box house fourteen by sixteen feet, and eight feet high, and
was built by Martin Brown, and occupied by himself and his wife
as a farm dwelling. It was built in the summer of 1868. Mr. Brown
lived here about one year, when he sold his claim to a Mr. Esam,
who afterward sold to Jacob Pugh. The second house built was
a substantial frame dwelling, built by George Dosser, and stood
near the present site of the Waskey commission house, and was
occupied by him as a farm dwelling.
The first building erected after the town was
laid out stood on the corner of Fourth and Broadway. It was put
up for George E. Richey, and was occupied by him as a drug store,
Charles M. Gossin being his clerk. The building and lot was afterward
bought by John R. Lindburg, who moved the building away and built
a substantial brick, and the corner building has been occupied
as a drug store ever since. The first general store was built
by W. G. Seabury in the winter of 1876-7, and occupied with a
small stock of goods in the spring of 1876-7, with Neal
E. Wood as clerk. The first dry goods brought into the town
for sale belonged to W. G. Seabury. He had a store in Girard,
and when the new building was ready to be occupied and after
the store closed at night he and his clerk, N.
E. Wood loaded a few bolts of calico and other dry goods
and notions into a spring wagon and drove to Pittsburg, and when
morning came the store was opened for business. The first sale
was made to Miss Hortense Ferguson. Mr. Wood, the clerk, was
standing in the door, looking east, when he saw a lady on horseback
approaching with a basket on her arm. The contents proved to
be eggs, and were exchanged for a few yards of calico. Thus began
the mercantile business of Pittsburg, which has grown to immense
proportions, millions of dollars here being exchanged annually.
The postoffice was established in the fall of
1876 with George H. Richey as postmaster. He was succeeded in
March, 1877, by A.
J. Georgia, who continued to hold the office until April,
1884, when he resigned and A. E. Nau was appointed, who held
the office four years. The postmasters since Mr. Nau's term expired
have each held the office four years. They served in the following
order: O.
S. Casad, Charles Patmore, W. H. Yarcho and W. J. Watson,
the present incumbent. The name given to the postoffice was New
Pittsburg, there being a Pittsburg postoffice in Mitchell county.
The town being one name and the postoffice another caused much
confusion and trouble with mails. In 1880 C. Wood Davis. president
of the Pittsburg Coal Company, interested himself to secure a
change of name. He succeeded in having the name of the Pittsburg
postoffice in Mitchell county changed to Tipton, after which
the postoffice department dropped the "New"
and the name became Pittsburg.
In the summer of 1877 a frame schoolhouse of
two rooms was erected at a cost of twelve hundred dollars, this
being the maximum of bonds that under the law could he legally
voted. The house was built by Sanders, of Girard, Kansas. The
first school was taught by A.
J. Georgia during the winter of 1877 and summer of 1878.
The terms were for seven months.
The first marriage in the town was that of William
Weaver to Mattie Boyne, and was performed by John W. Jennings,
justice of the peace, and their daughter Josephine was the first
child born in the town.
Among those who came with the advent of the
railroad and who aided in making the town lively were C. S. Clanton,
Thomas McNealus, Newt Stewart and Neal Adams. Mr. Clanton started
a barber shop, but as he was not an expert in the business, he
soon sold out and entered the grocery business with a small capital,
but by sticking to the business built up a large trade and then
sold out and retired. McNealus had a habit of filling up on the
worst class of whisky, when he became a terror to the town. On
one occasion he attempted to drive Mr. Clanton from his grocery,
but found a pick handle was harder than his head and concluded
to leave town and make his stay permanent. He is now an honored
and peaceable citizen of Missouri; has been engaged in mining
in the lead and zinc fields about Joplin, and has made quite
a fortune. But in his prosperity he has not forgotten the early
days of Pittsburg.
Since the first schoolhouse was built, seven
other large brick buildings have been erected for school purposes,
aggregating about seventy school rooms. By act of the legislature
a State Normal Manual
Training School is located here, and occupies
one of these buildings. This school has been previously referred
to. Here the students, male and female, in connection with other
studies, are taught many mechanical trades. Cabinet making, carpentry
sewing, and all kinds of needle work, including cutting and fitting
garments, cooking and housekeeping in all branches, are taught—and
the young man or woman who graduates in these departments, is
fitted to take up, some lucrative employment, when he or she
leaves school.
The Zinc Industry
In the spring of 1878 Robert Lanyon came from
Peoria, Illinois, and began the erection of a zinc smelter. His
plan to bring the zinc ore, which is mined in large quantities
in and about Joplin, Missouri, and Galena, Kansas, to the coal
fields for reduction, proved an excellent one. With him came
S. H. Lanyon, who was a general overseer of the work. For three
years he remained one of the firm of Robert Lanyon &
Company. He then severed his connection, and began the erection
of zinc works of his own, associating with him his two sons,
Arthur and Alvin, both of whom are now connected with the National
Bank of Pittsburg.In the spring of 1880 the Granby Mining and
Smelting Company began the erection of zinc works on the west
side of Broadway, north of town, and two years later William
and Josiah Lanyon came from Mineral Point, Wisconsin, and built
extensive zinc works.The adding of smelting works to the mining
of coal gave Pittsburg an impetus that has never ceased. Business
enterprises of all kinds came in.
A large frame hotel was built by L. Stephens
on the ground where Biles' Brothers bakery now stands. Another
hotel was built on the corner of Fifth and Broadway on the spot
now occupied by the First National Bank. Both of these buildings
were burned. Then came the first brick building, erected by Kalwitz
and Vogle, which they soon sold, and built another. In the summer
of 1883 four brick business houses were built. John R. Lindburg
built on the corner of Fourth and Broadway, Brown & Brown
on the next block south, I. P. Waskey built across the street
the building now occupied by T. J. Evans, books and music, and A.
J. Georgia built on the corner of Third and Broadway.
The town company was organized with C. M. Condon
president, and B. F. Hobart secretary, who purchased the lands
owned by Moffett and Sargent. John W. Jennings, who had been
the agent of the old company, was succeeded by Major J. J. Rochison
as manager. Other tracts of land, contiguous to the original
town, were platted and put on the market and sold. New buildings
went up everywhere, and the town began to assume the appearance
of a city. In the fall of 1879 Pittsburg was incorporated as
a city of the third class. M. M. Snow was elected mayor and J.
R. Lindburg, W. McBride, F. Kalwlitz, P. A. Shields and D. S.
Miller councilmen. These were the pioneers in establishing a
city government. M. M. Snow was re-elected mayor in the spring
of 1880, and in 1882 was succeeded by H. C. Willard. The councilmen
who served with him were John R. Lindburg, A. J. Georgia, C.
S. Jennis, E. E. Eakin and J. R. Braidwood.
In the spring of 1882 the directors of the Granby
Mining and Smelting Company, of Granby, Missouri, held their
annual meeting in the city of St. Louis, an account of which
appeared in the St. Louis newspapers. At this meeting they resolved
to build zinc smelters. The item as it appeared in the newspapers
attracted the attention of the mayor and councilmen, who sent
an invitation by telegraph to the managers to come to Pittsburg
before locating. The result was the building of the Granby Smelting
Works. About this time S. H. Lanyon began the erection of a new
plant; then William and Josiah Lanyon built their works, which
were followed by two other plants, the St. Louis and the Wear.
Then Pittsburg was known as the coal and smelting city.
In the fall of 1890 Robert Nesch and John Moore
came from Atchison and embarked in the brick business, manufacturing
building and paving brick, which, proving of an excellent quality,
a contract was entered into with the city, by which they were
to pave Broadway for a distance of three-fourths of a mile. During
this time Mr. Moore retired, leaving Mr. Nesch in full control
of the brick plant, which has grown to large proportions. The
excellent quality of the clays found in and around Pittsburg
attracted the attention of manufacturers. Now two other clay-working
establishments are engaged in manufacturing. One turns out brick
to be used exclusively in building tall smoke-stacks for manufacturing
plants; the other makes drain and sewer tile, hollow blocks for
building and other products.
In the year 1888 Lewis Hull
and T. G. Dillon started a small packing plant [Hull & Dillon],
which has increased from year to year until now it is a large
industry.
So Pittsburg has in a few years grown from a
plat of bare prairie to a city of fifteen thousand inhabitants,
with all the modern conveniences. Five railroads carry her commerce.
Four wells, reaching to a depth of from twelve hundred to fifteen
hundred feet, furnish an abundance of pure water. The trolley
cars of the Pittsburg
Railroad Company, extending to Frontenac
on the northeast and Chicopee on the southwest, making a continuous
line of ten miles, furnish the transportation to the people;
while the railroad shops of the Kansas
City Southern Railway,
with the many other manufacturing establishments, furnish employment
to her people.
In her push for business the wants of the traveling
public have not been overlooked. The Hotel
Stilwell was erected
in the year 1890, and is one of the finest hotels in the west.
It is kept by O. K. Dean, who caters bountifully to the wants
of his guests. Other hotels are the Crescent, on the corner of
Third and Locust, Commercial, Third and Broadway, Phoenix, Fifth
and Locust, and other smaller ones scattered over the city.
Churches
No sooner had the town begun to grow, than the
several churches sought to secure a location. The Methodist Episcopal
was the first to build a house of worship. The building was erected
in 1880, of brick, and stands on the corner of Fifth and Pine
streets. It is now owned and used by the United Presbyterians,
Rev. J. H. Gibson, pastor. After selling their building the trustees
of the Methodist Episcopal church, in 1891, proceeded to build
a larger one, on the corner of Eighth and Locust streets, where
they now worship. Next after the Methodists came the Christian
denomination. They built and still occupy a commodious church
building across Pine street from the United Presbyterian church.
The Baptists built a small brick church on Walnut near Fifth
steet, which they sold to the German Methodists, and have since
built a fine church building at the corner of Seventh and Walnut.
The Presbyterians occupy their church building at the corner
of Eighth and Pine, while the Memorial Baptists worship on East
Tenth street. The United Brethren and Congregationalists are
in the south part of the city, while the Swedish Lutherans and
German Lutherans worship in their respective churches in the
eastern part of the city. The Episcopal is on West Euclid avenue.
The Bell and Home Telephone Companies run their
wires to all parts of the city, while the gas and electric light
companies furnish the people with light.
In 1881 H. C. Bruner built the first mill. It
stands on East Fourth street, and is a modern flouring mill.
Nearly all the secret societies are well represented:
Two lodges of Masons, two Odd Fellows lodges, one each of Ancient
Order of United Workmen, Knights of Pythias, Red Men, Woodmen
of the World and Modern Woodmen, Sons of Herman, Elks, Eagles,
and many fraternal beneficiary societies claim the attention
of Pittsburg citizens.
Two hospitals, the City [hospital]
and Mount
Carmel, minister to the wants of the sick, in connection
with two score or more of physicians.
The Standard Mercantile is probably the largest
store in Kansas, occupying a three-room department on the first
floor, with basement and second floor, while more than one hundred
other establishments are selling drugs, hardware, dry goods,
clothing, shoes, queensware, musical instruments and every other
kind of merchandise.
Water Works
One of the difficult problems that confronted
the earlier inhabitants of Pittsburg, was a supply of good water
for domestic and public purposes. Wells and cisterns were first
resorted to, but the water obtained by digging wells was generally
bitter and unwholesome. While cisterns were often dry from lack
of rainfall; so that a fire occurred all that could be done was
to carry out the goods and let the building burn. The furnishing
of water thus became a grave problem. Where was the water to
come from, necessary to put out fires, and furnish pure water
for domestic purposes? This was the question discussed in the
stores, on the street, and in the family circle, until it developed
into a call for a meeting to be held at the school house to discuss
the water question. About fifty men attended that meeting, and
there were several plans proposed. One was to purchase a large
tract of land along Cow creek, northwest of town, build a dam
across the creek, and levies on the sides, where needed to hold
the water, and with pumps, water mains and settling basins, prepare
and bring the water to the city. But as this plan would involve
an outlay of about fifty thousand dollars, it was not considered
feasible, and was abandoned. Other plans were suggested, among
which was the boring of deep wells, with the hope that an abundance
of good water might be obtained. This meeting was finally adjourned
to meet in one week. Accordingly, on the next Monday night, another
one was held and was largely attended. At this meeting reports
were heard from the various committees appointed at the first
meeting. After hearing the reports it was decided to adopt the
deep well plan, and a committee consisting of O. T. Boaz, A.
J. Georgia, S. H. Lanyon, D. Miller and H. C. Willard was
appointed to present the matter to the city council, and report
results in two weeks, at the next meeting. The council heard
the arguments in favor of the city boring a well, but refused
to take any action. The next move was to form a stock company.
A charter was secured, the shares fixed at ten dollars each and
subscriptions taken. Mr. O. T. Boaz was sent to Kansas City,
to contract with Mr. Swan to bore or drill the well, and in April
Mr. Swan was on the ground, with his drilling machine, and the
work began. A lot had been purchased on Pine street, just back
of where the Stilwell
Hotel now stands. For days, weeks and months
the work went on. At first only one thousand dollars was subscribed,
but when that sum was exhausted the stockholders would double
up their subscriptions, and, more money being in sight, the work
would go ahead.
Finally, in December the well had reached a
depth of one thousand two hundred and three feet, and in abundance
of water, of excellent quality, secured, at an expense of five
thousand dollars. By a vote of the stockholders the well was
offered as a donation to the city, provided she would proceed
to put in water works. But the offer was promptly rejected, under
the plea that the city would get in debt. In the following spring
A. H. McCormick, of Parsons, Kansas, who was engaged in building
water works, came to Pittsburg and offered to buy the well, provided
a test should show on unfailing supply of good water. A test
of ninety-six hours' continual hard pumping showed no diminution,
and the bargain was closed for the sum of three thousand dollars.
He secured a franchise from the city and proceeded to build the
works. Since then the property has changed hands twice, and is
now owned by L. M. Emerson of Titusville, Pennsylvania. Three
additional wells have been bored, averaging about fifteen hundred
feet each, and an inexhaustible supply of water obtained. The
water is practically pure, the analysis showing ninety-eight
and one-half per cent of pure water, the one and a half per cent
being solid matter consisting of chloride of sodium or common
salt, sulphate of lime, sulphate of magnesia and a trace of iron,
all wholesome products. The water when first pumped is heavily
charged with carbonate gas, which soon evaporates on coming to
the open air. This fact of the water being impregnated with carbonate
gas is the only evidence of natural gas at Pittsburg. The company
has recently built a large reservoir, into which the water is
pumped and exposed to the open air. Thus the question of an abundance
of pure water for all purposes was successfully solved by a few
of the enterprising citizens.
Courts
In the winter of 1899 the legislature of Kansas
created a common pleas court, to be held at Pittsburg and Galena,
in Cherokee county, to accommodate the large number of litigants
living at and near these places. The court was established by
the election of W. E. Sap, of Galena, judge. Some cases were
tried, and some parties sent to the penitentiary, but the constitutionality
of the law creating the court having been attacked, the law was
held to be unconstitutional, and the cases remanded back for
retrial.At the following session of the legislature an enabling
act was passed to permit an election being held to divide the
terms of the district court, so that alternate terms might be
held at Girard and Pittsburg. The election resulted in favor
of the change. Pittsburg then built a courthouse, and gave the
use of it free to Crawford county.
"A Twentieth Century History and Biographical
Record of Crawford County, Kansas," by Home Authors;
Illustrated. Published by Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago,
IL : 1905