History of Wyandotte County, Kansas

WYANDOTTE COUNTY, KANSAS

History of Wyandotte County Kansas: and it's people

By Perl Wilbur Morgan

Chapter 27

Outside Kansas City

ROSEDALE, AN INDEPENDENT ClTY-MAYORS FOR THIRTY-FOUR YEARS

Submitted by Cathy Ritter

Rosedale, with a population of 5,960 by the 1910 United States census, is the only Kansas municipality at the state line in Wyandotte county that has failed to give up its identity and be annexed or merged into the larger city, Kansas City, Kansas, which now covers the eastern part of Wyandotte county in the fork of the Missouri and Kansas rivers. Wyandotte, the old City of Kansas City, Kansas, and the ambitious city of Armourdale, all gave up their individuality in 1886 and were merged into Kansas City, Kansas. Argentine, the busy city on the south of the Kansas river, gave up on January 1, 1910, and came into the same municipal fold. Then historic old Quindaro, Chelsea Place, Midland Park and other adjoining communities were absorbed.

ROSEDALE, AN INDEPENDENT CITY

But Rosedale, at this writing, is a separate city, and, although some of its citizens favor annexation, there is little likelihood that such a thing will soon come to pass. The high bluffs on the south side of the Kansas river have been a barrier to intercommunication, by direct highway or street railway, between the peoples of the two cities, and although the limits adjoin there never has been that community of interest that would make one city and one people of the two corporations.

Rosedale proper covers a small area, so far as its corporate limits extend, but in reality it is one city from the southern boundary line of Kansas City, Kansas, to the northern line of Johnson county, extending from Kansas City, Missouri, on the east more than two miles west. It is a part of the territory that was occupied by the Shawnee Indians and the half-century before Rosedale was builded was rich with historic interest.

THE TOWN'S FIRST START

Rosedale was platted, in 1872, by James G. Brown and A. Grandstaff, then owners of the town site. The description of the area was: "South half of the southwest quarter of section 27, northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 34, township 11, range 25 east; also a strip of land on the south part of the north half of southwest quarter of section 27, township 11, range 25 east."

A boom of the town was commenced in 1875, as the Kansas City Rolling Mills were located there in that year. It was not until the year 1877, however, that the city contained the necessary population of six hundred to demand a government under the act authorizing the creation of cities of the third class. On August 3rd, of that year, Judge Hiram Stevens ordered an election for the 28th of that month, which resulted in the selection of the following city officers for the ensuing year: Mayor, D. S. Mathias; councilman, John Hutchison, Sr., Henry Juergens, William Bowen, John Haddock and Benjamin Bousman; police judge, Edward Blanford; city clerk, William Dauks.

MAYORS FOR THIRTY-FOUR YEARS

Since that time Rosedale has continued to maintain a municipal government under which it has grown to its present proportions, and the men, who have served as mayor, with the dates of their election, are named herewith:

D. S. Mathias 1877 W. B. Mathias 1894

D. E. Jones 1882 John Robinson 1896

W. C. Boyer 1883 J. M. Kilmer 1899

D. E. Jones 1884 Newell E. Smith 1901

W. II. Spencer 1885 B. M. Barnett 1903

D. E. Jones 1886 H. E. Kiefer 1905

B. M. Barnett 1889 E. F. Bryant 1907

J. M. Kilmer 1890 E. J. Eicholtz 1909

D. E. Jones 1892 Samuel Classen 1911

A PICTURESQUE LITTLE CITY

The original town was located entirely within the then quiet peaceful valley that was almost entirely surrounded by high bluffs whose summits and slopes were covered with forest trees, while from the valley to hilltops, in every ravine and crevice and covering every rock, banked high, was a perfect bower of wild roses. From this Rosedale derives its name.

When first laid out Rosedale was small and between it and Kansas City were miles of farms, and it was a busy, bustling town, everybody made money and everybody spent it, and there was a rollicking, jolly appearance of prosperity evident upon every hand. But the rolling mill failed in business, moved away and Rosedale discarded her appearance of prosperity and gradually lapsed into a state of decay. But this was not to last. The phenomenal growth of Kansas City in the eighties began to be felt in Rosedale, and new people moved in, taking the place of those who left with the mill, until, in 1897, Rosedale's population reached 2,200. About this time the city was changed from third class to second class and then the real and substantial prosperity began. Newell E. Smith was elected mayor and served four years, and in rapid succession followed a water works system, owned by the city. A telephone exchange was established, and instead of seven telephones there are now over two hundred and fifty. The old gasoline street lamps gave way for arc lights, and the old fourth class post office has been abandoned and a strictly modern and first class office established in its stead, with carrier service, both city and rural. The principal streets have been paved with modern pavement and a sewer system is being built. Besides all these there have been builded mills, elevators, railroad yards and railroad shops, factories and business houses, and the state of Kansas is now erecting a medical college to be surrounded by a group of hospitals and a training school for nurses. In time this will be the greatest medical institution of the west.

ROSEDALE SCHOOLS

The board of education in Rosedale is composed of ten members. Two are selected from each of the four city war(Js and two are selected from the outlaying districts. In 1907 the city possessed a high school building, erected the year before at a cost of $25,000, and three ward schools. Twenty-five teachers were employed in these schools and the enrollment was about 1,230 for the opening day. In 1906 twenty-two teachers were employed, with 1,220 enrollment. There are four teachers employed in the high school. George E. Rose was superintendent of schools.

CHURCH HISTORY

The First Methodist Epicopal church of Rosedale, Kansas, was organized in the winter of 1879, with a membership of thirty, and the first pastor in charge was C. W. Shaw, formerly of Sabetha, Kansas, who, being a carpenter by trade, built the old church located on Henning avenue, which was dedicated July 5, 1880. Services have been held continuously in the church from that time until the present. Realizing that the old church had outlived its usefulness, being too small to accommodate the Sunday school and seeing the need of a larger and more commodious building, steps were taken to build a new stone church on Kansas City avenue, and on the 6th of October, 1907, the corner stone, was laid by the "Old Men's Association." On March 29, 1908, the new First Methodist Episcopal church was dedicated, with a membership of three hundred.

The Walnut Street Methodist Episcopal Church South is one of the oldest and most prosperous religious organizations in Rosedale. The church is at Walnut street and Florence avenue. It has a membership of about 400 and the pastor, in 1911, was the Rev. John K. Beery.

Other Methodist churches are the African Zion, at Bluff street and Lafayette avenue, the Bethel church at 245 Valley street, and the Wesley Chapel, colored, at Shawnee avenue and Summit street.

The Baptists have five churches: The Rosedale Baptist at Southwest boulevard and Wyandotte street; the Pleasant Valley Baptist, at No. 1013 Bluff street; the Baptist Mission, at No. 346 South Row; the Colored Baptist, at No. 537 Tangent avenue.

Other religious denominations represented are: The Congregational church, in Maple Leaf addition; Malvern Hill Latter Day Saints church, at Forty-second street and Hudson avenue; Bethsada chapel, at Forty-second and Fisher avenue; the Christian Alliance Mission, at Thirty-fifth street and Southwest boulevard.

The Holy Name Catholic church, at Kansas City avenue and Shawnee boulevard, is the oldest church in Rosedale. It has a beautiful stone edifice and a good parochial school. The Rev. Father Dornseifer is the parish priest.

A CITY OF HOMES

Rosedale is now a city of pretty homes, neat business houses, banks and offices, well paved streets, sewers, sidewalks, churches, schools, railroads and industries that combine in the making of a busy little city. The Southwest boulevard built as a great highway from Main street in Kansas City, Missouri, to the southwest, runs through Rosedale. It was given to the city in the early days by Dr. Simeon B. Bell, pioneer advocate of good roads and Rosedale's wealthiest citizen and benefactor. It is traversed by a Metropolitan street railway line to the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, and also by the Interurban railway to Merriam, Shawnee and the southwest.

The secret societies of Rosedale are represented by the following: Interstate Lodge, I. O. O. F.; Council No. 647, Knights and Ladies of Security; Modern Woodmen of America, No. 6062; the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and the Nu Sigma Nu medical fraternity.

A GREAT MEDICAL SCHOOL AND HOSPITAL

The Eleanor Bell Memorial Hospital and the Medical School of the University of Kansas, built in the last five years, have brought recognition to Rosedale throughout the United States as a seat of learning in medicine and surgery. These institutions were made possible by the

ELEANOR BELL MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

benefactions of Dr. Simeon B. Bell, and, although only a part of the great plan has been worked out, the buildings already erected and equipped have cost more than $100,000. It is in the hospital, the laboratory and the clinical school that many noted cases are treated, and many of the celebrated discoveries beneficial to science are made.

RAILROAD TERMINALS

Rosedale has many things that distinguish it as being something more than a mere place in which to reside, or as a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. The Saint Louis & San Francisco and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroad systems have their extensive terminals along the valley through Rosedale, with their yards, shops, roundhouses and terminals contributing to the employment of labor, as well as to the industrial and commercial life of the city.

THE OLD ROLLING MILL

The buildings of the Kansas Rolling Mill Company, which once occupied all the Turkey Creek valley near where Kansas City avenue now turns to the west, have disappeared one by one. The old mill once employed 1,500 men. It was built in 1875 for the purpose of working over old railroad iron. The village grew up around it. There were no street-car lines then to hurry the people of Rosedale to the business section of a big city nearby, and it was an up-hill drive to Westport, the closest place. So the rolling mill company had its store. The mill used to be one of the sights, and parties would drive out to see the redhot rails re-rolled. The railroads used iron rails in those days, and as they were worn down new ones were made by working old ones over. The mill also made stoves and other articles of iron in common use.

The mill proper closed in 1883, as a result of legal disputes among the members of the company. The old buildings stood idle for some time. Then part of them were torn down and others were moved across the tracks of the railway yards, and re-opened by the Kansas City Wire and Iron Works. The property has now been taken over by the Illinois Steel Company, which held a mortgage on the wire and iron works. The machinery has been sent to St. Louis. The old building is to be torn down and the ground fenced up.

OTHER INDUSTRIES

Rosedale has three elevators which handle a large portion of the grain shipped to Kansas City over the railroads. They are known as the Memphis, Frisco and Rosedale elevators. The Arms & Kidder flour mill and the Kimball Cereal mill are two important industries. The Auto Fedan Hay Press Company has a factory in Rosedale.

The Indiana Silo Company has a manufacturing plant near the Southwest boulevard and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroad yards, and is one of the newest of the city's industries.

Rosedale has four post office sub-stations, five parks, two banks, six halls, cne hotel, one newspaper, two lawyers, ten physicians, four artists, two architects, forty-one contractors, a volunteer fire department, and a live Commercial Club. It is an ideal place for suburban residences, with good street railway and interurban service.

A PIONEER FOR KANSAS GOOD ROADS

When Dr. Simeon B. Bell of Rosedale was practicing medicine, he endured hardships and suffered aches and pains while going to see his patients over roads that were rough, frequently muddy and often impassable. He became an advocate of good roads, and he has been hammering away at the subject for fifty years. He may properly be called the pioneer of the good roads movement in eastern Kansas. Years ago he helped to locate a road from the old Johnson Methodist Mission at Shawnee north to Argentine. Then he located a road along the Kansas river to the west. But the greatest undertaking with which he was connected was the building of the Southwest boulevard that now runs from Nineteenth and Main streets in Kansas City, Missouri, through Rosedale and on to Shawnee, nine miles below. But that was a long, hard fight.

D. S. Mathias	1877	W. B. Mathias	1894
D. E. Jones	1882	John Robinson	1896
W. C. Boyer	1883	J. M. Kilmer	1899
D. E. Jones	1884	Newell E. Smith	1901
W. II. Spencer	1885	B. M. Barnett	1903
D. E. Jones	1886	H. E. Kiefer	1905
B. M. Barnett	1889	E. F. Bryant	1907
J. M. Kilmer	1890	E. J. Eicholtz	1909
D. E. Jones	1892	Samuel Classen	1911