 |
|
John C. Nicholson poses with town banners during a promotion of the Meridian Highway.
|
Narrator: Highways as we know them today are a far cry from the early roads of Kansas. Weather could cripple travel to a standstill. And once travel has ceased, so has the commerce that goes along with it. An exhibit at the Harvey County Museum in Newton documents the efforts of one town booster, and his work with neighboring city leaders. Roger Wilson is the curator of the museum.
Roger Wilson, Harvey County Historical Museum: Some years ago the Harvey county Historical Society obtained the papers of John Nicholson. Nicholson was an attorney in Newton and a member of the city council and mayor of Newton. And a very prominent figure in the city. We acquired after his death the papers that belonged to him in his law practice and also in his association with the Meridian Highway Association. He had purchased a 1902 or 1903 Maxwell. And liked to drive it around the countryside, but the only problem was that every so often he would run out road or he would wind up in a sand pit somewhere or have a flat tire from a thorn or a rock or something and so he began his quest for a better set of roads in the country.
Narrator: Christy Davis works at the state historic preservation office and talks about the need for a "good roads" movement.
Christy Davis, Kansas State Historical Society: Why? Because roads were not good. Roads were very bad. It actually started out as a movement among bicyclists, not automobilists. The bicycle movement was very popular in the 1890s, and cyclists were always looking for good roads. The roads that existed had been maintained by the counties in the late 19th century and early 20th century. And many of them were muddy roads. So because there was no state highway system, there was no federal highway system, these were maintained county by county. And their maintenance really depended upon the finances that the county put in. Most of the people in Kansas who were supporting in good roads in Kansas were urban people who were interested in not only having a means of auto tourism for their own use, but also as a means to bring people into their community, auto tourists and so forth into their community.
Narrator: In 1911 a group of road advoates met at a hotel in downtown Salina. They had to arrive by train, because of the lack of roads at that time. In addition to John Nicholson of Newton, A. Q. Miller arrived from Belleville and met with W.W. Watson of Salina. All were prominent advocates of progress in their respective communities.
Christy: This group got together to form the Meridian Highway, well at that time the Meridian Road Association. They actually travelled the corridor, or travelled the proposed road in 1912 in automobiles.
Narrator: John Nicholson's dream road was to follow the 6th principal meridian, thus the name, Meridian Highway.
Christy: John C. Nicholson was town booster. He was a lawyer and highway builder. This is what he wanted to be known for. He was an interesting fellow, who sometimes I think that he wasn't well-appreciated by his contemporaries. I think he was a bit on the eccentric side. He was a bicyclist himself in the 1890s. He was also a supporter of the parks movement at that time as well. And it evolved into his interest in the automobile. Being an attorney, he was one of the people who could afford, afford these gadgets. He could afford a bicycle in the 1890s. He could afford an automobile in the early 20th century and soon became a promoter.
Roger Wilson: A part of the Meridian Highway is this road that links Newton to Wichita. The Newton Chamber of Commerce and the Wichita Chamber of Commerce in the 20s began a very major campaign to pave that road that linked the two towns.
Christy: He saw this as a way of promoting Newton to outsiders, to people within the state, but also in other states. And bringing people through, bringing commerce through the town.
Roger Wilson: And it brought people here to shop, stay over night, dine in restaurants, all the things that the touring public does as either tourists or on business in a community.
Narrator: The Meridian Highway exhibit featured pictures and printed material which tell the story of the roadway.
Roger Wilson: I think that a lot of people who didn’t realize that US 81 highway which passes through Newton was originally called the Meridian Road. It was one of those little choice tidbits of historical trivia that kind of grabs people, and the fact that one of the promoters, one of many promoters of the Meridian Highway was a local man. And of course Newton having a prominent role in its development we are absolutely delighted at the publicity.
Narrator: The roadway continues to develop through the years as other states are interested in this newly formed north-south route.
Christy Davis: In 1931 the Pan-American Highway was underway. The original Meridian Road Association had planned to have a road that went from the Canadian border south along the sixth principal meridian to Texas. When it got to Texas it branched off into two branches. Later on it went to Monterray, Mexico. And then there were plans through the Pan American Highway to take it all the way through South America.
Narrator: Gary Kraisinger was visiting the museum and shares some insite about early road alignment.
Gary Kraisinger, Halstead, KS: When I came here to see an exhibit and saw this meridian highway I thought that’s kind of exciting because most highways in this country, major highways, went from East to West. This is really unusual in that it runs north to south. My interest in a lot of this is maps. I have a degree in cartography. The art of studying and making maps. And a lot of the old roads, particularly back in that period of time followed county roads. The curvature of the earth forces you to go one way or another after a while where the new highways just cut across all that. You don't get a feel for that. Where driving the old highways you do, not particularly east or west, but north and south I think you can see that very vividly.
Christy Davis: But I think a lesson to be learned by this. We always look back into history and see what the lessons are-something that I see play out over and over in Kansas communities is that it only takes one person in a community to really make things happen. And they may be seen as a little eccentric, and people might roll their eyes at them; but they get things done. And these are people who will leave a legacy. Nicholson helped, and I think he knew this, helped insure his immortality by being one of the founding members of the Harvey County Historical Society and donating his papers so that people in the future would be able to look back and see what he had done.
#####
This transcript is from KTWU's Sunflower Journeys 2003 season.
Sunflower Journeys Home
A production of:
KTWU Channel 11
Washburn University
Topeka, Ks. 66621
785-231-1111
journeys@washburn.edu
|