"Did You Know This About Geary County History?”
By Dr. Ferrell Miller
Geary County Historical Society Board Member
“The Riley Manor Housing Development”
Our Curator at the Geary County Historical Society has gone through our book collection and pulled used duplicates. Some are available for $5.00 and others for $10.00. One example is The History of Rome Hanks and Kindred Matters, which was published in 1944 by Joseph Stanley Pennell, a local author. Unused books are also available for purchase. Some of those include: They Made The Best Better: Building The Farm Bureau/Extension Service in Geary County; Project Heritage: A History of Early Schools in Geary County Prior To Unification; W.F. Pride’s, The History of Fort Riley; Flint Hills Cowboys by Jim Hoy; Set In Stone, which is a collection of articles written by Gaylynn Childs and others for the “Daily Union” and many more. Our Museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 1 until 4 or by appointment. The phone number to call for an appointment is 785-238-1666. Protocols for hand sanitation, social distancing and mask wearing are in place.
The location of Riley Manor was and is at Webster and First Streets in Junction City. In October of 1949, there was a sale of the federal housing development. Veterans of WWII were to have first priority in the purchases of the units. Other veterans who intended to occupy a dwelling unit in the building purchased had second priority, non-veteran occupants had third priority.
The prospective purchasers were instructed to register their intent to purchase on forms to be provided for that purpose and the sales were to be fixed prices. The registration was to begin on October 18 at the Riley Manor Management Building at 707 West First Street. Registration would end November 17 of 1949.
Each housing unit was equipped with facilities for heating, cooking and refrigeration. The equipment was included in the sale prices. A good-faith deposit of $50.00 per dwelling unit needed to be made with each offer in the form of a certified or cashier’s check or money order made payable to the Treasurer of the United States. All of the buildings were approved for FHA-insured loans.
"A 1920’s Fire Hazard”
October is Fire Prevention Month. Even though there is less ironing of clothes now than 100 years ago and much of the clothing we wear requires little or no ironing, it is important be safety conscious when using appliances. The 1920s news item which follows refers to a time when improper use of electric irons was a concern.
“While electric irons are a boom to housewives, their improper use is the chief electrical fire hazard.” So stated a report compiled by the National Fire Protection Association in October of 1926.
“Manufacturers of the appliances had cooperated by safeguarding them in numerous ways. One of those was to provide a thermostat control to prevent the temperature from rising above a given point. That point was usually between 400 and 600 degrees Fahrenheit.
Stands were also being provided on practically all models to keep the irons from coming into contact with combustible material when not in use. In mercantile and manufacturing establishments and even in dwellings, an effective precaution was the installation of a red light to warn when the power was on. If the operator left the power to the iron, there was a light which would be lit. Despite precautions being taken by the manufacturers of electric irons, there was no way to counteract human carelessness.”
The author of the article further stated that “It seems housewives continue to fail to put hot irons on stands and continue to fail to turn off the power whenever they leave the room, even if only for a few seconds. Often, these seconds turned into minutes and during that period many disastrous fires have started.”
Make an effort to send our local firefighters/first responders a note of appreciation or stop by one of the stations and personally express your thankfulness to them for all they do to serve us and our community. They will welcome your kindness not only in October during National Fire Prevention Week, but any time.