“Did You Know This About Geary County History?”
By Dr. Ferrell Miller
Geary County Historical Society Board Member
“Challenges Similar To Those 130 Years Ago”
Issues and challenges facing Geary Countians 130 years ago are similar to those we face today – except for the pandemic. The following are some accounts of life in 1890 in Geary County taken from issues of Junction City newspapers by Gaylynn Childs, retired Executive Director of the Geary County Historical Society.
In the first 1890 issue of the weekly JC Republican, which was printed on January 3 there was an account of holiday family gatherings and descriptions of social events that brought in the new year. The editor also devoted space to a glowing description of the most recent entertainment playing at the Opera House, which was then named the “Blakely Opera House”.
The January 10 issue of the Union newspaper was full of bright predictions for a continued boom in Junction City. “Junction City is about the only city in the state now enjoying a boom. The Union Pacific Railroad has consolidated its divisions at Wamego and Brookville and located them at Junction City, which will largely increase its population. The government has expended one and a half million dollars on a cavalry school at Fort Riley, making it one of the finest posts in the United States.”
A big snow was local news in the issue of January 17, 1890 and a report from the Briggs area of the county noted, “The heavy rain of Friday night, followed by the big snow of Saturday night and Sunday was worth thousands of dollars to the wheat crop of Kansas.”
Others benefitted from the winter weather, also. “Cutting ice commenced last Saturday in the Cavalry post under the supervision of Lt. Nicholson. It was a pleasant sight to see the men rush for the tools. If there is anything a soldier likes best it is to cut ice on a cold day. They know when the hot summer days come they will have the pleasure of drinking ice water.”
The flu “bug” (not as deadly as COVID-19) can be likened to the “grippe” (a disease caused by virus in the respiratory tract) that made the news of January 1890. “If your throat is raw and sore and your voice is hoarse and thick and your stomach weak and sick; if you have a throbbing brain and your head feels like a cheese, and chest is racked with pain and you cough and pant and wheeze; if your bones and muscles ache from your shoulders to your knees and you have chills and shake, and you sneeze and sneeze and sneeze; if your nose does not but drip and your eyes fill up with brine – you have got a case of grippe. Take a barrel of quinine! Nine-tenths of citizens of Junction City have been affected with the grippe in some form.”
The measles were also making the rounds in January 130 years ago. The pandemic is worse than these health concerns of 1890, but to those living then, it probably seemed just as stressful.
“Opera House Fire Was 123 Years Ago”
One hundred twenty-three years ago on January 14, 1898, Junction City’s original Opera House and City Hall was destroyed in a fast burning and devastating fire. The red-brick building which housed the fire department, city offices, jail and council rooms in the front and the 1,000 seat theater in the back was constructed in 1881 after local citizens raised the money and purchased the land for the hall.
Gaylynn Childs, retired Executive Director of the Geary County Historical Society, wrote the following in an article for the J.C. Daily Union newspaper. “It was nearing 5:30 P.M. on a snowy Friday in January 1898 when one or two of the merchants and customers in shops along Junction City’s West Seventh Street heard three rings from the city’s fire bell, located in the dual Opera House and City Hall at the end of the block. Then nothing more.
Within a few minutes, those who ventured out into the darkening street were met with a sight they would never forget; orange tongues of flame licked from the upper windows of the Opera House. This was one of the most memorable disasters in the history of Junction City.
As Junction Citians converged on the scene, wet snowflakes began to fall. It was hoped this would aid the efforts of the fire department, who were frantically fighting to save their own home as well as the city’s “cultural heart.” But the fire had spread so rapidly through the scenery and along the dry roof, that the entire building seemed to be ablaze when the first stream of water was thrown.
The roof fell down over the stage first, and then large sections came crashing down in rapid succession. Just as the tower clock was striking 6:00 PM, the tower crumpled and the clock fell to the ground. The fire was burning so rapidly that it soon became apparent it could quickly spread to the Muenzenmayer Hardware building to the east and to the Thomas Dixon barns and residence located to the south at 38 W. 6th Street. Efforts were turned to trying to protect these properties before the entire downtown was ablaze.
By the time the sun rose the next morning, there was already a move on to rebuild the Opera House. Talk around town noted the fact that on the same night as the fire, the city council had set aside a $2,000 payment on the bond and that $10,000 would be forthcoming from the insurance. The building was reconstructed and opened in October of 1898.