Did You Know This About Geary County History?”
By Dr. Ferrell Miller
Geary County Historical Society Board Member
“The Historic House At 404 North Adams”
As mentioned in a previous article, some of the beautiful historic houses in Junction City will be highlighted in this space. Among other historic buildings around town, this could be part of a tour our readers may want to take during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Today’s historic house is located at 404 North Adams and is currently owned by Gery and Patti Schoenrock. The information comes from an article written for the “Republic” newspaper in 1979 written by Cheryl Troup. The house is located on Block 45, Lots 18, 19 and 20. The property was originally acquired by a mayor’s deed, dated 1860, which conveyed the land to Daniel and Angeline Mitchell. Mitchell was an early day surveyor and draughtsman (pronounced draftsman). Three years later he deeded the three lots to William Stickney of St. Louis for $300.
However, in 1866 the lots were deeded back to Mitchell for the same price. In 1872, James Streeter became the owner of the property until his death in 1886. At that time, the property included a house that was located on lots 15-20.
The north lots, without the house, were deeded to A.B. Jellison in 1929. Lots 18-20, which are the lots on which the Schoenrock house is located, were deeded by John C. Lee to H.P. Powers in 1920 for $2,125. Powers mortgaged it to George White for $8,000 for what appears to have been a construction loan since the house was built at that time.
J.J. Cole of Cole’s Department Store, who was a single man, bought the property in 1933 from A.D. and Maude Jellison. In 1938 Cole deeded it to Mae Wood, who was his sister. She lived there with her five grandchildren and their mother, Rosemary.
Dr. Mary Devin, retired Superintendent of USD 475 Schools, and the late Gary Devin lived in the house until 1975 when Stanley Abel, former Personnel Director for USD 475 Geary County Schools, and his wife, Grace Abel purchased the house.
The Shoenrock’s purchased the house from the Abels in 1977. The house is a yellow brick with a red tile roof built in 1920 by Hale and Lulu Powers at a cost of $25,000. Take a drive to 404 North Adams and see the beauty of this house that transferred ownership several times, but still maintains its charm as one of the beautiful historic houses in Geary County.
“The Opening of the Geary County Courthouse in 1900”
The Geary County Courthouse is located at 138 East Eighth Street. The Roman Revival building was commissioned May 20, 1899 and completed in May of 1900 at a cost of $35,000.
It was built by the firm of Ziegler and Dalton of magnesium limestone quarried in nearby bluffs. (Note Ziegler and Dalton was the same firm built the high school, which is currently the Geary County Historical Society’s Museum at Sixth and Adams Streets, the Civil War Memorial Arch at the corner of Sixth and Washington Streets, the George Smith Library at 103 W. 7th Street and the Zee Dee Building at 619 N. Washington Street in Junction City and the courthouse in Clay Center, Kansas).
The stone used for the Geary County Courthouse was so soft it could be hand sawed by the German and Swedish masons of the area. The architect, J. C. Holland, had designed similar courthouses elsewhere in Kansas, including Manhattan and Clay Center. Extensive remodeling of the interior was completed in 1899.
On June 14 of 1900, the public was invited to inspect their new Courthouse. The following invitation appeared in the local newspaper as follows:
“The Junction City Commercial Club invites you to inspect your new Courthouse and has prepared the following general program:
9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. inspect the Courthouse
2:00 p.m. there will be a dedication address by Judge O.L. Moore
2:30 p.m. there will be a band concert and speeches at the City Park
Everybody come out and have a good time. Per order of the Committee.
Court House.”
Well, that was the plan. However this dedication was postponed by the Commercial Club and the County Commissioners after consulting with each other and concluding that since the wheat harvest would be in full operation during mid and late June, a better date to invite people to see the new Court House would be July 4th. This would attract more people and not interfere with the wheat harvest.