In My Little Town

Newton, Kansas---After driving over 10,000 miles coast to coast and around the USA, I am home. Sort of. This is my home town. A traditional mid-west town, Newton, Kansas is complete with a Main Street where some kids grew up “dragging Main,” a large city pool in the center of a big widely used city park, a creek that winds thru town allowing kayakers to share the water with ducks and swan, and a good mix of historical markers along with new construction.

In the pioneer days, Newton was a Cow Town. A rough one. From 1871 to 1873 Newton came to be known as “bloody and lawless, the wickedest city in the West.”  During this time the railhead for three railroads, including Santa Fe were established here. In 1883, Fred Harvey, a famous restaurateur partnering his business in and around the railroad,  located his Harvey House Restaurant in the Newton depot. His restaurants became famous for the waitresses known as “the Harvey Girls.”  The current Newton Depot building was modeled after Shakespeare’s house on Stratford-on-Avon, constructed for $350,000 in 1929-30 during the depression!  But in 1956 the popularity of riding the rails and the Newton Station slowed down because more people began to travel by air.

The Santa Fe Railroad build and made Newton, its influence paved the way for the county to be named Harvey, the Middle school to be named Santa Fe and the High School mascot to be named the Railroaders, complete with a rocked out version of “I’ll be working on the Railroad.”

Immigrant Mexican railroad workers moved families to Newton giving the town a wonderful blend of mixed culture and the BEST Mexican restaurants ever! Growing up in a multi-cultural community, as a small child in the 60's, I knew nothing different; unusual for a Kansas town. Along with Mexican heritage, Mennonites moved in and wild saloons moved out. Fleeing Russia for religious freedom, the Harvey County area boasts one of the largest Mennonite populations in the country.  And no, unlike the horse and buggy Amish, not all Mennonites wear the caps, long apron dresses and  have long beards. I did however have to wear long dresses, three inches above the middle of the knee, which was torture during the mini-skirt clad fashions of the 70’s. Good enough reason to wear jeans when I could and escape to a private high school where I wasn’t so weird looking.

Dragging Main was a rite of passage for many. In the early years, the South turn around point was an original A&W Drive-in in the 1960’s, complete with Mama Burgers, Papa Burgers and Baby Burgers. The North side point was "Larry’s Drive-in" a competitor that was across the street from the coolest restaurant in town: "Cuckoo", inspired by the clock, the restaurant that had an A-frame roof and a large cartoon bird that would pop out of a window build into the top point. Today, that building is a car lot and two Sonics on each end of town replace the turn-around locations. Holiday parades also filled the street of Main as a community gathered to watch homemade floats and the marching band while children also set their hopes on candy thrown their way.

I spent two summers as a Lifeguard at the City Pool. It was more than a job it was a lifestyle. The full staff, including our manager, were between the ages of 16 to 21. So between working hours and on days off, we still hung out together. Even though our Mopeds were no match for a line of Harley’s in front of the only bar in town: The Legal Tender. We would back them in and turn the tire to blend in to the row of motorcycles, and join the frightening crowd to play packman and have a 3.2% beer. It was a time when drinking age was 18. However, we took our jobs very seriously. In the heat wave of one summer, with time and temperature from a local bank played over the loudspeaker announcing 115 degrees, we would have four guards on the stands and see over 200+ kids throughout the hours of 1-8pm. During those years, the city pool was THE place to be in the summer. Soon I realized that we were the City's kid-care service and babysitters.  But that's when lifeguard positions were coveted jobs and we were role models to many kids we saw daily. Today with more private pools at home, a city pool attendant told me they are a service to only about 80 kids a day.



Vintage photos courtesy of Historic Society*

*Midget Beltline ran until 1968

In the theme of our Santa Fe roots, the city park featured a small steam engine working train that circled the football and baseball fields. Named Midget Beltline, the train seems like a figment of my imagination closing operation when I was only 8. Lasting longer was a couple of caged Black Bears and a cage of Monkeys. Later a fenced in area that included Lama, donkeys and peacocks. Being the county seat, this park hosted our County Fair and 4H auctions as well as a near by small rodeo. This week brought big excitement with the anticipation of attending the carnival and escaping the threat of being thrown in Sand Creek by "the boys."

Sand Creek, with its muddy brown water could be dry or full.  We called it a creek, we referred to it as a river. In the winter it froze over making way for some ice skating or ice sliding that was never done with confidence because you didn't knew how thick the ice really was. In the past it was a natural unyielding river and in the summer of 1965 when a deluge of rain caused the water to rise flooding all of downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods. I remember my father taking me close enough to see powerboats speeding down Main Street. Today, with a better dam and improved city control of the creek system, the creek is gorgeous and full with walking/jogging/biking sidewalks lining its banks and steps and ramps lead down to the clean river for water activities.

The Carnegie Library still stands reminding me that as a small child, what seemed to be an endless set of steps, is simply a set of big building cement steps leading to the door. A new library replaced the Carnegie building years ago lending the historic building to be the town’s museum.  

The Santa Fe Railroad Depot still stands but is filled with private offices and even though Amtrak still services the town, the only passenger train: the “Southwest Chief” can only be caught at 2:45am daily!

The ROSS mill grain towers stood proudly in the center of town. An icon for as long as I can remember. My mother was a private nurse for the Ross family so I remember Mrs. Ross’s sweet personality and frail frame and Mr. Ross’s commanding presence and in time, his failing health as well as their special needs daughter playing endless games of Solitaire.  Their beautiful home and generosity towards our family is engraved in my mind. 

Long before the Ross family, my mom was a private nurse for Patty Knapp, a polio victim, who allowed me to come along and play. I was 4 years old and had never seen an automatic dishwasher. Patty, paralyzed from the neck down was so happy and inviting I was never scared of the huge bed and all the tubes keeping her alive. As an artist, she continued with her creative calling and with help from an assistant, or using a brush in her teeth she would paint. The Suderman twins, the coolest girls I had yet to meet, lived a few houses down and would ask me to come over to play and it was there that I was given my first can of pop that I didn’t have to share…it was all mine.  The selection was Shasta and I picked orange. Later on my trip I would meet someone my age that had cared for Mrs. Knapp decades later and she described Patty the exact same way as was in my memory. 

Wal-Mart moved in years ago, closing the old Alco and Gibson’s. A strip center at the edge of town leases recognized national franchised clothing and retail businesses causing the Main Street locally owned shops like Katydid, to close and the buildings to re-purpose themselves.

The one and only Main Street business that has let no time go by is Anderson’s Book Store. Established in 1892 Phil Anderson is the third generation owner and walking into the store allows you to walk back in time. Same floor, same ceiling, same shelves. Close your eyes slightly and squint past the modern books and it could be 1965 or 1978 or 1990 or 2005… This is the one location you can find the newly published book on the History of Newton. Mr. Anderson, an enthusiastic slim man with a full head of gray hair and a twinkle in his eye, allowed me to walk up the tiny hidden stair case to the balcony level used for storage that circled the store and shoot some photos down. This was a place that as a kid, one could only dream about venturing up to.  After choosing a life far away from this little town in Daytona Beach, Florida, being there felt validating. I was reminded that it was MY hometown and for just a moment, time stood still.

 



"100 Days Across The USA"...a long way from home on the California North Coast



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