First Baptist Church of Plainview TX5536

Organized on November 23, 1890, Plainview Baptist Church began with eleven charter members. The new congregation called the Rev. I.B. Kimbrough as pastor, and they soon erected their first church building at the intersection of Austin and Fourth streets. The growth of the church closely paralleled that of the city, which grew considerably after a branch of the Santa Fe Railroad was built through town in 1907 and the area's first irrigation well was dug. In a 1911 state charter the church was named First Missionary Baptist Church of Plainview. Programs for local church members were expanded, and the congregation actively supported domestic and foreign missionary activities. Continued growth led to the construction of this building in 1927, and the name was changed once again in 1929 to First Baptist Church of Plainview. This Classical Revival sanctuary features two entry porticos, a cast stone cornice, and classical pediment. Continued growth over the years led to the acquisition of adjacent property and the construction of additional church facilities, including the Memorial Educational Building in 1950.

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The Santa Fe Railroad in Plainview TX12082

Operating in the Texas Panhandle since 1886, the Santa Fe Railroad about 1900 laid plans to extend its line into the rich agricultural domain of the South Plains. Meantime, Plainview leaders saw the need for better transportation and in 1903 raised $75,000 to use in promoting a rail connection. J.N. Donohoo, Dr. Lee Dye, W.E. Dyer, L.S. Kinder, L.A. Knight, Charles McCormack, J.H. Slaton, R.P. Smyth, and Dr. J.H. Wayland led this endeavor. The city and the Santa Fe came to terms, and the first train reached here on Dec. 31, 1906. Regular service soon followed, and oldtimers rejoiced when train whistles heralded and end to isolation. Once or twice a week, land agents arrived with trainloads of prospective settlers. Local builders constructed a courthouse, new schoolhouse, new city hall, an electric plant, an opera house, residences and business buildings. Soon the Wayland Literary and Technical Institution was under construction. Railroad service made a major contribution to the economic development of Hale County, opening acreage to settlement and agricultural expansion.

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Railroads in Thayer MO170

Thayer was built along the rails of the Kansas City, Springfield and Memphis Railroad.
When the railroad planned to run a line through the area planners decided Mammoth Spring, Ark., was the best place for the division point. Railroad officials thought the land in Arkansas they wanted to buy was too expensive, so they settled on the Thayer area.
The town was then appropriately named "Division". In March of 1884 the county ordered a public road be built between Alton, the County Seat, and the town to be known as Augusta. In February 1885 the name "Division" was changed to "Augusta".
After a search by Missouri State officials, it was discovered that the name of "Augusta" was already taken by a town in St. Charles County [and still there]. The name was changed once more, this time to Thayer, in honor of Nathaniel Thayer, who was director of the Kansas City, Springfield and Memphis Railroad.
Starting in the mid to late 1880's, the survival of Thayer depended on the life of the railroad.
At one time there were as many as 400 railroad workers living at Thayer. The majority of businesses in the town were there for one reason only, to support the railroad and its workers.
One of the earliest buildings constructed in Thayer was the Frisco Hotel. It was built to house Frisco employees and later guests and travelers. It was located on what is now Front Street and faced the railroad tracks.
Passenger service to Thayer by what eventually became the Frisco Railroad ceased in 1968. Frisco sold to Burlington Northern in 1980 and the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroads merged in 1995.
The train depot remains in Thayer. Springfield crews ride the train to Thayer where they lay over at the Mammoth Spring Lodge. The Thayer crew boards the train and rides to Memphis where they lay over.
Approximately 30 trains a day pass through the city headed to Memphis. The majority of the trains are carrying coal from out west.
The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad is still the largest employer in Thayer. Approximately 250 Thayer residents are employed by them, making it the community's largest employer.

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Camp Criley 1872 KS110
Camp Criley was established in 1872 as a supply station for workmen building the Santa Fe Railroad. The name was changed to Garfield in 1873 by pioneers settling here. This park was planned in 1880 and the first trees planted in April 1882. The band shell, erected in the early 1900s, was used for many concerts by local musicians. The hitching post and stone stile were used in the early days by ladies when mounting their horses. They were brought from the former AH. Moffet place. The band shell and stone fixtures were restored in 1975 with funds from the Jordaan Foundation. M. A W Jordaan and sons were pioneer farmers in the area. .Congregational Church organized August 1873 .Methodist Episcopal Church chartered October 1878 .Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church June 1879 Bricks in the base of the sign are from the school building erected in 1884 and made in a local kiln. Restoration project sponsored by the Camp Criley Bells for the bi-centennial of 1976

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Fort Hays - Fort Dodge Trail KS113
Established in 1867, the Fort Hays-Fort Dodge Trail, which passed near this spot, was first used by the military and some civilian traffic in 1868. The following year Alexander Harvey, a former member of the Sixth Cavalry, built a trading post on the trail on the north bank of Walnut Creek near here, and provided a place to ford the creek. A few years later, the town of Alexander was founded nearby, taking its name from Alexander Harvey, the original owner of the trading post. The bulk of the military usage of the Fort Hays - Fort Dodge Trail was over when the Santa Fe Railroad reached Dodge City in 1872. However, it continued to be used for several more years regularly by civilian traffic hunters, freighters, traders, and settlers.

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Immigrant House Site KS78

On this site stood one of two Immigrant houses built by the Atchison, Topeka, Santa Fe Railroad in 1874 to temporarily house Mennonite Settlers from the Alexanderwohl Congregation in Molotschna Russia.

The two buildings 18 by 200 feet each, running East and West. One was located about 100 yards to the Northwest of here. Approximately 80 families lived here . They arrived in Peabody, Kansas by Train. then traveled by foot and horse and wagon 14 miles to this site, arriving September 27.

Many families left the Immigrant houses that fall to live in simple homes on their own land. Some families remained here through the winter. The Immigrant house also served as a worship center. In 1886, a new Church was built using some of the lumber Which remains in the present building. This marker was Erected in 1994

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Capital of Kansas KS15
Topeka was founded in 1854 at the site of Papan's Ferry where a branch of the Oregon Trail crossed the Kansas river as early as 1842. Anti-slavery leaders formed the Topeka Constitution - 1855, in the first attempt to organize a state government. The next year their legislature was dispersed by U.S. dragoons under orders from President Franklin Pierce. (So Pierce was omitted when Topeka named its streets after the Presidents.) In the late 1850s Negroes bound north on the "Underground railway" were hidden here by John Brown. Topeka became the capital in 1861 when Kansas was admitted to the Union and the slavery conflict flamed into Rebellion. After the war in 1868, the Santa Fe railroad, promoted by C. K. Holliday, a city founder, first started building from Topeka. This was the birthplace, in 1860, of Vice President Charles Curtis, part Kaw Indian, the only "native American" to reach so high an office.

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Railroad Influence KS170
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad reached here from the North on June 13, 1880 and Caldwell jointed Baxter Sprints, Abilene, Newton, Wichita, Ellsworth and Dodge City in the pages of history as a Kansas cowtown. Hundreds of thousands of Texas longhorn cattle were shipped from here between 1880 and 1886. A host of other railroads built and/or operated through here over the years. Names like Chicago, Caldwell & Rock Island (1886); Geuda Springs, Cladwell and Western (1885); St. Louis-San Francisco ("Frisco" 1886); Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific ("Rock Island" 1891); Oklahoma, Kansas & Texas ("Katy" 1980) and the Union Pacific (1988) could be seen on the locomotives, depots and paychecks.

The railroads brought Caldwell new families, the mail, fertilizer for the farms, parts for the tractors, revenue for the city, cafes and merchants, and more than a small amount of aggravation for drivers at rail crossings. Hobos lived along the right-of-way in cardboard boxes, generations of children laid pennies on the rails and dreamed of far away places, and adults watched in amazement as the "Rocket" or other futuristic locomotive, pulling unknown people and goods, roared through town.

A century later there are fewer Caldwell citizens and even fewer trains. But like old friends, each knows that things would have been much different if not for the other. After so many years even a train's approaching whistle is to Caldwell more a sound of greeting than of warning.

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The Mennonites in Kansas KS131
Beginning in 1874, hundreds of peace-loving Mennonite immigrants settled in central Kansas. They had left their former homes in Russia because a hundred-year-old immunity from established religious orthodoxy and military service was being threatened.

The Alexanderwohl community, so named because of a solicitous visit by Czar Alexander I with Prussian Mennonites in 1821, had lived happily in southern Russia for more than 50 years before coming to America. Originating in the Netherlands in the 16th century, the community moved to Prussia in the 17th century and later to Russia, always seeking freedom from intolerance and persecution. Their decision to come to America and Kansas, where they chose lands in Marion, Harvy, McPherson and other nearby counties, was due largely to the efforts of the Santa Fe railroad's foreign immigration department. With them they brought the hard winter wheat which has since helped make Kansas the breadbasket of the world.

The Alexanderwohl church is typical of many Mennonite congregations in this part of Kansas. Today these religious folk prosper in a modern world while retaining their original philosophy of freedom and manner of worship.

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Alta Loma TX9919

Traveling west from the Gulf of Mexico the land rises gradually and becomes Alta Loma (Spanish for high land) in this area of Galveston County. In 1893 the Alta Loma Investment and Improvement Company platted a townsite here along a Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad line built in the late 1870s.

The company developed water, electric, and telephone utility systems and helped establish churches, a depot, hotel, lumber company, general store, school, and a post office. Many of Alta Loma's new residents engaged in the farm production of pears, plums, figs, strawberries, grapes, and other fruits and vegetables.

The school, depot, and businesses throughout Alta Loma were damaged in the 1900 storm. The town rebuilt and witnessed a period of rapid growth fueled by truck farming and a burgeoning dairy industry. Alta Loma and the nearby towns of Algoa and Arcadia formed the Santa Fe Consolidated School District in 1928.

In the 1930s many Alta Lomans left farming for jobs in Texas City's burgeoning petroleum industry. The town continued to grow and in 1966 the Alta Loma Business Association was formed. Alta Loma and its neighboring community, Arcadia, officially merged in 1978 to form the incorporated city of Santa Fe.

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