Clay Center, Kansas – Clay County Seat

Clay Center, Kansas, is the county seat and largest city of Clay County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 4,199, and its total area was 3.08 square miles, all of it land.

The city, on the east bank of the Republican River, was first settled in May 1862 by brothers John and Alonzo F. Dexter, originally from Vermont. The second setter was Orville Huntress. The town was named for its position near the geographical center of Clay County.

The Clay Center Town Company laid out the town and secured A.C. Pierce of Junction City to survey it. R. Franken made a second survey and plat of the town. In June 1862, the Dexter brothers obtained the services of two men from Fancy Creek and erected two log houses. One of the old Dexter Cabins still stands at the Clay County Museum at 910 5th Street. It is reported to be the oldest building in Clay Center. A post office was established at Orville Huntress’ cabin on July 3, 1862.

 

In 1864, John Dexter bought a house on Pete’s Creek. William S. Hutchinson erected the second house on the townsite. In the middle of August 1864, 200 settlers from Clay County and westward collected around Orville Huntress’ cabin owing to a sizeable Indian raid on Nebraska’s Little Blue and Platte Rivers. They remained in camp for over a month.

The first schoolhouse was built in 1865 for about $50. Mrs. Lack, the first teacher, instructed about 15 students. That year, the Clay Center Methodist Episcopal Church Circuit was established under the supervision of Reverend W. Marlatt of Manhattan, Kansas. It was organized in 1866 and soon became the strongest church in the county. Its members were preparing to erect a $10,000 house of worship.

The town grew very slowly at first, scarcely averaging one house a year, until 1866, when it became the county seat.

In 1866, the Dexter Brothers erected the county’s first steam-powered saw and grist mill. For the next several years, they supplied the entire region with lumber.

As more settlers moved into Clay County, they held a public meeting in Clay Center on July 28, 1866, to formally organize county government. Citizens selected commissioners, and a clerk was selected who was confirmed by the governor on August 10. Clay Center was designated the temporary county seat. The first county-wide election was held in November 1866.

Transportation in the county began to improve when citizens presented the first road petition to county commissioners on April 1, 1867. As another investment in the road network that year, the county granted N. Duncan a license to build a ferry across the Republican River at the county road crossing near Dexter’s Mill.

When it was proposed to make Clay Center the county seat, Alonzo F. Dexter donated the ground for a courthouse. In 1868, the Dexter brothers built a modest stone courthouse with two rooms at the northeast corner of the public square. Soon after that courthouse was completed, Mr. Dexter, having grown old and suffering financial difficulties, was made superintendent of the structure, with quarters in the building. This building was also used for many years as a jail.

In August 1868, the Baptist Church was organized with 12 members.

In 1869, a stone schoolhouse was constructed on the same grounds as the old one. Several religious denominations used this building for services. Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians were the earliest congregations.

By the early 1870s, Clay Center had about 150  residents. Nearly all the buildings were located west of Sixth and south of Court Streets. Merchandise had to be hauled by wagons from Manhattan or Junction City, the nearest railroad towns.

J.W. Miller, originally from New London, Connecticut, arrived in Clay Center on March 29, 1870. He had grown up to become a shipbuilder and traveled extensively worldwide. The year he settled in the city, he and N.H. Starr built a shop of cottonwood lumber, with Miller occupying one half as a wagon shop. In 1871, J.W. Miller was appointed Justice of the Peace, elected the same year for the full term, and was re-elected for several terms. He was also appointed postmaster in 1871, a position he held until May 1878. He also served as City Treasurer and was elected Police Judge.

Father Joseph Rimmele, a missionary priest, was the first to attend to the Catholic settlers of Clay County. In 1870, he reported ten Catholics in the area and offered Mass in residents’ homes.

Reverend J.D. Perring organized the Clay Center Presbyterian Church at the schoolhouse on April 1, 1871. On July 2, 1872, a tornado damaged a nearly completed new church building.

On August 20, 1871, E.P. Houston and David Downer began publishing the Clay Center Independent newspaper from their office upstairs in the stone courthouse.

Reverend O. Chiben organized the Swedenborg Evangelical Lutheran congregation on September 4, 1871.

The Dispatch newspaper was first published as the Clay County Independent, the first issue of which appeared on August 20, 1871, with E.P. Huston and David Downer as editors and proprietors. Mr. Huston soon withdrew, and the Independent paper was published by a joint-stock company, with Mr. Downer as head.

In 1872, the Dexter Brothers turned their energies toward creating water power and establishing a flour mill. The power was created at an expenditure of $60,000, and the first wheel was started on July 4, 1876. The dam across the Republican River was over a mile above town, and the water was being turned into the deep, narrow channel of Huntress Creek, across which was another dam. At different times, portions of the river dam have been carried away, and the whole structure has sunk thirty feet in the sand. This has necessitated large expenditures of money.

On January 11, 1873, Clay County Independent newspaper and office and paper were sold under mortgage foreclosure.

In a special election held on February 13, 1872, citizens approved a bond issue of $175,000 to support railroad construction through the county via Clay Center. The Junction City & Fort Kearney Railroad arrived at Clay Center on January 22, 1873. Afterward, Clay County and Clay Center began to change dramatically.

On March 12, 1873, J.W. Miller bought the Clay Center Independent newspaper and changed its name to the Dispatch. O.M. Pugh became editor in April and assumed all responsibilities on June 1. In December 1873, his brother became a partner.

The Junction City & Fort Kearney Railroad reached Clay Center on the same day. Afterward, new businesses were started and steadily increased.

C.R. Barnes, a miller from Massachusetts, came to Clay Center in 1874 and built the Quaker City Mills.

That year, H.G. Higinbotham, a banker from Indiana, started the Clay County Bank in partnership with his father, John Higinbotham. A neat and spacious Baptist Church was dedicated that year.

Clay Center was incorporated as a city of the third class on June 11, 1875, with a population of 350. The first election occurred on June 26, and the first council meeting was held on July 1, 1875. The first mayor was A. Wilson.

That year, 21-year-old Eric Swenson, one of Clay Center’s substantial citizens, partnered with P. M. Wickstrum to operate a popular general store. After six years, the partners sold that business and began to sell insurance and real estate.

In 1875, The Dispatch newspaper was sold to J. B. Besack, who in turn sold it to J.P. Campbell in October 1876, who added a power press to the office.

J.H. Pinkerton, a real estate and insurance agent from Alabama, came to Clay Center in 1875 and engaged in the real estate, insurance, and loan business. In 1876, J.H. Pinkerton was elected Mayor of Clay County and re-elected for four successive terms. He also had an office at Miltonvale, in Cloud County, and published the Miltonvale News in connection with a partner. He handled as many acres as any man in Central Kansas.

The Farmers and Merchants Bank was incorporated in January 1876 with a subscribed capital of $50,000. H.H. Taylor was president and John N. Moss, the cashier.

That year, the city council voted to construct board sidewalks.

O.F. Lutt, originally from Holstein, Prussia, moved to Clay Center, in 1876 and began business as a wholesale liquor merchant, and bought and shipped grain. He had immigrated to America at the age of 16, settling first in Chicago, Illinois where he lived for three years. In 1869, he came to Jefferson County, Kansas.

For ten years, the Dexter Mill used steam power, but in 1876, he dammed the Republican River and utilized one of the best water powers in the State. His mill had a capacity of 200 barrels of flour per day. He also shipped flour, grain, and livestock.

The Swedenborg Evangelical Lutheran Church was built in 1876, and by the early 1880s, it had over 40 families.

Land for a Catholic Church was purchased in 1877, and a frame structure was completed in 1879. By the early 1880s, the parish had 40 families.

By 1877, Clay Center had a population of at least 1,000 residents. That year, a community booster described the community:

“Here is the upper end of the Junction City & Fort Kearney Railroad, and it commands the products of the Republican Valley for 60 and 80 miles… the town is in the full tide of the grain trade now, and the business streets are a perfect jam from morning to night. Hundreds of grain wagons work down the valley from Cloud, Jewell, Republic, Mitchell, Smith, and other counties in the splendid upper country. Whole trains of teams come here with corn, wheat, rye, barley, sweet potatoes, and fat hogs and carry back lumber and all kinds of merchandise.”

At the time, Clay Center had half a dozen grain warehouses, a steam flouring mill, two banks, a dozen stores, many more offices, a fine schoolhouse, several churches, and one of the best newspapers in the state.

Clay Center was the northern terminus of the Junction City & Fort Kearney Railroad until 1878, when it was extended to Clifton in Washington County, where it connected with the Central Branch of the Union Pacific. These roads were soon under the same management. This road was the principal agent in rapidly developing Clay County’s interior and making Clay Center one of the best business points west of Topeka. The road commenced at Junction City and ran parallel with the Republican River to Clifton, wholly within the valley.

In 1878, Clay Center was located on the Junction City & Fort Kearney branch of the Kansas Pacific Railway. At that time, it had two flour mills, three churches, including the Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist Episcopal, a graded school, two banks—the Farmers & Merchants Bank and the Clay County Bank—two hotels, and two newspapers—the Clay County Dispatch and the monthly Republican Valley Banner.

The city also boasted two lumber dealers, three clothing stores, a jeweler, a furniture store, a dry goods store, a liquor store, two sewing machine dealers, two cigars and tobacco stores, nine general stores, three meat markets, three grocery stores, two hardware stores, two saloons, a bakery, two music dealers, a restaurant, and a grain dealer. Services included three wagonmakers, three blacksmiths, a merchant tailor, a livery, two millineries, three harnessmakers, four boot and shoemakers, six lawyers, four real estate agents, two loan and insurance agents, four physicians, a dentist, three druggists, and a barber. Its chief exports were grain and livestock. Stagecoach service was provided to Waterville, Greenleaf, and Abilene. The mail was delivered daily to J.W. Miller, the postmaster. At that time, its population was 1,200.

The Republican Valley Banner, a monthly real estate journal, was first issued by Ruthruff & Pinkerton in March 1878. The Little Hatchet, a monthly and semi-occasional publication edited by J W. Miller, was established on September 28, 1878. It is a humorous sheet and radically Republican.

O.F. Lutt built the Kansas Pacific Mills and grain elevator in 1878.

In January 1879, Roger Cunningham moved his newspaper from Clifton to Clay Center and changed its name to the Times. Cunningham first printed this newspaper, the Localist at Clifton, in April 1876.

O.M. Pugh started the Democrat newspaper on May 30, 1879. Its name indicated its politics. It has since been suspended.

The Dispatch newspaper was sold to Wirt W. Walton & Co. on January 8, 1880.

In April 1880, the population had increased to over 2,000, and a petition was presented to the governor to make it a city of the second class. In July, Governor St. John proclaimed to that effect.

The Kansas Central Railway, a narrow gauge railroad, ran west from Leavenworth, Kansas, and reached a point 20 miles west of Clay Center in 1880.

When the population reached 2,250 in April 1880, Clay Center became a city of the second class.

That year, C.R. Barnes changed his Quaker City Mill to a gradual reduction mill, using both burrs and rolls. It had a capacity of 110 barrels of flour per day and ran up to its total capacity. He shipped his product to Louisiana, Texas, California, and the whole South and West. He was also the inventor of the brush machine for cleaning wheat.

The Dispatch Band was organized in July 1880 and named after the city’s leading newspaper. In September of that year, it succeeded in winning the second prize at the Bismark fair, where competition was open to all bands of the State. The same season at Waterville, Marshall County, they won the first money over some of the best bands in Northern Kansas. Steady practice and acquiring several new members enabled them to take away first honors in the Knights of Pythias contest held at Leavenworth in May 1882, where the noted Beloit Knights’ Band was competing. At the Kansas Band Union meeting held during the session of the Kansas State Fair at Topeka, it was universally acknowledged to be one of the leading bands in the State. Among its honorary members was Miss Emma Abbott, one of its most enthusiastic admirers and supporters. It had 16 active members, and George Hapgood was the leader and conductor.

That year, Eric Swenson went to Sweden and returned with groups of emigrants to settle in Kansas. He did it again in 1901. He was also president of the Clay County Commercial Club for six years.

In September 1880, H.P. Campbell, a merchant originally from Pennsylvania, started a general merchandise store in partnership with D.G. Smith. Campbell had settled at Clay Center in 1876 and clerked in general merchandise stores for several years.

D H. Myers, originally from Pennsylvania, moved to Clay Center in October 1878 and began banking with J.P. Campbell. He was the president of the Republican Valley Bank, a County Commissioner, and the first Justice of the Peace in the county. He handled more livestock than any other man in Central Kansas.

“The building boom has struck the block where the Dispatch office is located. Workmen have been engaged this week in moving the two-story frame buildings that have previously occupied the ground between our office and Fifth Street. Then, the dirt will begin to fly for the foundation of Pierce’s brick block. The new building will cover all the space previously occupied by all these buildings and will be, when completed, the largest business house in this valley.”

— Clay Center Dispatch, May 6, 1880.

In the early 1880s, Clay Center was described as “one of the most attractive towns in northern central Kansas… in a charming location, occupying the second bottom of the valley, and extending into the elevated prairie land to the northeast.”

In January 1881, The Dispatch newspaper was sold to Walton & Valentine. It was the successful competitor for honors at the State Fair that year. It was always Republican in politics, except under the management of O.M. Pugh, when it was Independent.

The Second Baptist Church of Clay Center, colored, was organized in the winter of 1881-82 with Reverend Rogers as pastor for 17 members.

On September 23, 1881, Miller, Linsley & Co. purchased the paper and changed the name to the Times, and its politics from Independent to Republican. In March 1882, the firm name was changed to Miller & Co. J. W. Miller is the editor, making the Times an excellent paper. It is printed on a Prouty power press.

Roger Cunningham sold the Times newspaper in 1881. By October 1882, the paper, a weekly, was being published by the Times Printing Company, owned by Captain O.M. Pugh, A.L. Runyon, and J.W. Miller.

The Dexter Brothers operated the flour mill until December 1881, when it passed into the sole hands of A. F. Dexter. At that time, the property had four runs of burrs and a capacity of 200 bushels of flour and 1,000 of corn per day. It was valued at $10,000

The narrow-gauge Leavenworth, Kansas, & Western Railroad reached Clay Center in 1882. At that time, Clay Center gained population, and the boom continued. Town builders invested in the urban infrastructure. Citizens organized a volunteer fire department that year, and the department stored water in cisterns in the alleys and streets.

In February 1882, the Dispatch Hotel, owned by Walton and Valentine, editors and proprietors of The Dispatch newspaper, opened. The large, three-story brick building with a stone basement on the northeast corner of Court House Square had 40 large, neatly furnished rooms and is quite popular under the management of H.G. Allen. The building and furniture cost $20,000.

The Second Methodist Episcopal Church of Clay Center, colored, was organized in April 1882 and led by Reverend Robert Rector. It had 12 members.

The Republican Valley Bank of Meyers & Campbell was incorporated on June 1, 1882. Its paid-up capital was $20,000, and its authorized capital was $50,000.

In 1883, 65 citizens petitioned the Clay Center City Council for a municipal waterworks system. The council held a special meeting with the representatives of Holly Water Works Company of New York. In December, the council accepted the Holly Company’s proposal and passed an ordinance granting a franchise. By April 1885, the first water main was under construction. However, the private waterworks were only in operation for three years. The company was cited for violating the terms of the ordinance and contract. The Holly company sued the city, and the United States Circuit Court decided in favor of the company. Immediately, the city appealed to the Supreme Court. As the case dragged on, the Holly company offered to settle. Eventually, citizens passed a bond issue, the city and company agreed on a settlement, and Clay Center owned the private waterworks.

The First National Bank was organized in November 1883 by D.H. Myers, president, M.G. Patterson, vice president, and F.H. Myers, cashier. The Dispatch newspaper commented, “This bank is a favorite among cattlemen of this section. President Myers, a pioneer citizen and large land owner of the county, is himself one of the most extensive and successful cattlemen of the state.”

J.W. Miller published the first issue of the Firebrand newspaper on December 20, 1883. The weekly newspaper was available every Thursday.

The Firebrand newspaper changed ownership in October 1884, shifted its political focus from Republican to Democratic, and discontinued it in November 1884.

D.A. Valentine purchased the Times newspaper from the company on January 1, 1884, and published it until the summer of 1900.

In 1885, Clay Center was described as a “thriving city” with the river affording power to drive a flour mill, with Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Christian, and Catholic Churches, a public school with eight teachers, an opera house seating 600, eight banks, six hotels, eight weekly newspapers, the Dispatch, the Times and the Cresset, two monthly papers, the Baptist and Pinkerton’s Monthly. Flour, grain, livestock, and produce of all kinds were shipped, and its population was 3,400.

The People’s National Bank was organized on May 13, 1885, with H.H. Taylor, president, John Hanna, vice president, and F.H. Head, cashier. J.H. Quimby succeeded Taylor as president on January 12, 1886, and L. McChesney became president on March 8, 1889, and held this position until after 1899.

Due to the increased number of students, a new brick schoolhouse was built that year. Completed for $25,000, it was located on the most elevated block in town.

In 1886, the city had an electric light plant operating successfully.

The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad built its line through the town in 1887. By then, the people of Clay Center had constructed infrastructure to provide municipal services in addition to the grain mills, a foundry, and a planing mill. The water company had been operating for almost four years, and the town had a series of hydrants distributed throughout the city for use in case of fire. In those years, the volunteer fire department successfully extinguished every fire before spreading to any adjoining building. Clay had recently been discovered near the city, and soon, three brickyards were established that employed a large force of men.

The Bonham Hotel was opened on September 1, 1887. It was one of the best-arranged and best-furnished hotels in the state and was acknowledged by those who stayed there to be, regardless of price, the best establishment of its kind in the West. It was a four-story building above the basement, located near the city’s business center, with the main front and entrance on Fifth Street and the side entrance on Dexter Street. The fronts are built of pressed brick, beautifully trimmed with stone and an iron cornice. It had 100 large, elegantly furnished rooms with hot and cold water, bathrooms, electric calls, and heated throughout with steam.

The first, second, and third floors of the Hotel Bonham, except the parlors and bridal chambers, were furnished with antique oak. The fourth floor was finished with ash, and every room and hall was carpeted with either velvet or Brussels. The office, reading room, dining room, parlors, and halls attracted attention due to their size and splendid furnishings. I

The Bonham Opera House, built at the same time as the Hotel Bonham and forming part of the same structure, was separated from the hotel by a heavy brick wall. It measured 60 by 105 feet, with a stage measuring 32 by 60 feet, and had three full stories above the basement. The main auditorium was on the first floor, with a balcony and gallery above. The seating capacity was 1,100, including the best opera chairs and beautiful scenery.

E. J. Bonham, from Wisconsin, was the proprietor of these enterprises. He came to Clay Center in September 1874 and was in the mercantile business until the fall of 1883. He was then elected Register of Deeds and re-elected in 1885, holding the office for four years. He purchased the Dispatch newspaper in March 1887, of which he was the sole editor and proprietor for two years, and still has an interest in that paper.

In 1887, a commentator reported on the industrial development of Clay Center:

“A dam in the Republican River turns its exhaustless tide through the natural channel of Huntress Creek in which it flows to Dexter’s turbine wheels. Here, within the city limits and only five blocks from the city’s business center, Dexter’s Flouring Mills may be found using two sets of rollers and having a capacity of 120 barrels per day. Also, Dexter’s Electric Light Plant. One block east of the mill is the Clay County Foundry and Machine Shops and the Planing Mill, Sash, and Door Factory with modern machinery, all turned by water power transmitted by wire cables from Dexter’s turbine wheels. Three blocks north of the mill, the same turbine wheels operate Snell’s Grain Elevator, situated on the Rock Island railroad, with a capacity of 20,000 bushels.”

The building boom in Clay Center peaked in about 1888. By that time, the urban plan of downtown Clay Center was defined by masonry business blocks arranged on three sides of the courthouse square and extending west toward the Rock Island Railroad depot. However, commodity prices fell abruptly at the height of the boom, farmland wouldn’t sell, and a drought ruined the crops. The new hotels that had been constructed were empty, and business growth paused. However, Clay Center maintained itself and soon prospered again.

In 1896, the Salina Cement and Plaster Company was established in Clay County, with a mill in Longford. The mill could produce 125 tons of cement and plaster every 24 hours.

In March 1898, the Clay County Commission signed a contract to construct a new jail and sheriff’s residence on the courthouse square. The building was completed by August.

At the turn of the century, the construction of landmark buildings expressed the prosperity and maturity of the town and the local economy.

When L.F. Valentine came to town in the summer of 1900, D.A. Valentine sold the Times newspaper to him, and the newspaper moved to the basement of the Bonham Opera House block.

On April 23, 1901, the commissioners laid the cornerstone for a handsome new $40,000 native stone courthouse. J.C. Holland, a Topeka architect, designed the Romanesque Revival style building, and Zeigler and Dalton, Junction City, were the contractors. Officials occupied the new stone courthouse on the square in December 1901.

On May 6, 1901, John McKee, bank president and ex-county treasurer, and George W. Hanna, cashier, secured a charter for the Union State Bank.

In the early 1900s, the old board sidewalks were replaced by cement. For the next ten years, the town grew dramatically and developed much of the urban form and infrastructure that became the foundation of the present-day Clay Center.

The first hospital in Clay Center was established in 1902 near Third and Blunt Streets. Known as the Port-Morgan Hospital, it was in charge of Miss Ida Palmquist, who was considered the first professional nurse in the area.

In 1904, Ray Watts and Tom Householder constructed a downtown building for a machine shop that eventually became a busy garage.

At a special council meeting in 1905 led by Mayor George W. Hanna, town leaders voted to submit two proposals to the public. Both were approved in 1906. Citizens decided to issue a total of $45,000 in bonds to fund the construction of a municipal power plant and to establish a Board of Public Utilities to operate and manage a municipal electric plant when the current private franchise expired.

In January 1907, George Hanna sold his interest in the Union State Bank, stating that arrangements had been made to organize a new state bank with $25,000 capital, which would be the largest state bank in Clay County. He soon followed through, and he, along with his brothers John and James Hanna and 116 others, secured a charter for the Farmers State Bank in the brick building he owned at the corner of Fifth and Court Streets.

That year, Gilmore M. Stratton promoted and organized the Clay Center Telephone Company, establishing the first telephone exchange. The Famers State Bank opened on May 1, 1907.

On July 7, 1907, the council adopted a resolution that notified F.L. Williamson & Company, the franchise holder, to discontinue providing electric power to the city. The council instructed the private company to remove all its poles and wires from the city’s streets and alleys. Williamson resisted this instruction, and the dispute led to an extended court fight to keep the city from making the changes and building its own light plant.

In about 1908, the Valentines built a building for the Times newspaper at 429 Court Street. L.F. Valentine later leased the newspaper to Harry Valentine, his son.

Early in 1910, a new city building was erected.

“The new city building will be ready for occupancy in a day or so… It is well designed for its intended purposes and will be a great convenience to the town in location and otherwise. The front is 20 by 20 feet, with a big plate glass window and a ground glass door handsomely finished. This room has a steel ceiling, and the woodwork is curly pine. Back of this is the city clerk’s private office with furnishings of the same character as those of the front room… The rear room, entered by way of the clerk’s private office through wide doorways, is 57 by 20 feet in size and is intended for council meetings and gatherings of a public character… The fire department building, largely rebuilt, has been extended 12 feet to the sidewalk, with a handsome front, new swinging doors, etc… The improvements have cost about $2,500, which is all paid.”

— Clay Center Dispatch

In 1910, Clay Center was located on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad and two lines of the Union Pacific Railroads. At that time, it has broad, well-improved streets, a fine waterworks system, an electric lighting plant, a fire department, sewers, a telephone exchange, two national and three state banks with a capital of $200,000, an opera house, lodges of the leading fraternal organizations, several fine churches, good hotels, a bottling works, a broom factory, grain elevators, foundries and machine shops, carriage and wagon works, planing mills, flour mills, an engraving company, brick and tile factories, and some well-stocked mercantile establishments. From the international money order post office of Clay Center, eight rural delivery routes supplied daily mail to the inhabitants of a rich agricultural region. The county high school was located at Clay Center, and the city’s public school buildings were as fine as any city in Kansas. The press was represented by one daily and three weekly newspapers, a monthly fraternal magazine, and a religious quarterly. Its population was 3,438.

On November 15, 1910, citizens cut down some of F.L. Williamson and Company’s poles and cut the main cable in several places. A suit was filed by Williamson against the city and was taken to the Supreme Court. In January 1911, attorney F.B. Dawes argued the case for the city before the Supreme Court, but it remained pending for several years. Finally, in 1916, the Court upheld the city’s right to establish its own electric utility. As the Topeka Capital reported, “Municipal ownership won an important victory in a decision of the Supreme Court… in the case of the City of Clay Center against the Clay Center Light & Power Company. The Court held that the 21-year franchise of the company had expired so that the city was not compelled either to purchase the plant or renew the franchise.” This Supreme Court decision was a significant precedent for establishing public power utilities. Some of the power generated by the municipal electric plant was used for Clay Center’s White Way.

The Clay Center Carnegie Library, built in 1912 at 706 6th Street, is a two-story gray brick building designed in the Neo-Classical style. It retains many classical details, including Doric capitals, Ionic columns, and a pediment frieze. In June 1987, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Clay Center Downtown Historic District.

The United States Post Office at 806 6th Street was built in 1913. The two-story brick building was designed in the Neoclassical Revival style, with a projecting entrance bay with fluted columns supporting an ornamental frieze with raised carved stone detailing. In October 2020, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Clay Center Downtown Historic District.

A second private hospital appeared in 1914.

By 1914, Clay Center had a population of more than 4,000 residents. As the Industrial Edition of the Dispatch newspaper proudly reported, the town “has the best of schools… churches representing 13 denominations, three weekly and two daily newspapers, a well-equipped and capably managed hospital, two public parks, 40 miles of cement sidewalk, eight miles of water mains, five banks with a combined capital and surplus of approximately $375,000, two flouring mills… a $60,000 federal building, a $25,000 Carnegie library, free city mail delivery, three theaters, many manufacturing enterprises including a broom factory, engraving plant, foundries, monument works, three hotels, five elevators, a company of state militia, automobile clubs and everything and more than one would expect to find in a city much larger than Clay Center.”

That year, Eric Swenson became the president of the Union State Bank and director of seven of “the leading financial institutions in Clay County.” At that time, he was described as “the largest owner of real estate in Clay County, his property including city holdings as well as 40 farms in Clay and adjoining counties.”

In Kansas, the new construction of railroads slowed after 1917.

In 1920, the two-story red brick Rex Theater was built at 519 Court Street. It originally had two small shops on either side of the entrance to the theater lobby. The main floor and balcony initially seated 800 people before a live stage, movable picture screen, and orchestra pit. At one time, the Rex was only one of six theaters on a single block; now, it is the last theater in use in Clay Center. The four original windows on the second floor were removed and bricked in, probably during a renovation in 1949. In 1974, the Rex changed hands, and the original awning and the 1940s marquis were replaced with a large cedar shingle awning. The entrance was remodeled to enclose the lobby to the sidewalk. The building was restored in 2018. There are 300 seats in the main auditorium and 100 in the balcony today. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in October 2020.

The new Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Depot was constructed in downtown Clay Center in 1924. The Spanish Eclectic-style depot opened early in 1924 to replace an older depot that burned on October 24, 1921. After the fire, “the first plans were to rebuild the station on the old site immediately.” However, the Clay Center Chamber of Commerce asked to have the new depot built in a different location “where more room for autos and vehicles could be provided.” This change required the purchase of additional land and delayed the construction of the new station. The new site selected for the freight and passenger stations afforded access to and from the city’s business section without crossing any tracks. The contract for constructing the new passenger and freight stations was awarded to the Sanneman Construction Company of Clay Center. By February 2024, the new depot with a general waiting room, ladies’ rest room, offices, and a baggage room was being used.

In 1925, the Bonham Opera House was almost completely torn down and rebuilt to house offices and shops. By 1930, the Opera House had been converted to a Lodge Hall.

The first public hospital in Clay Center began operations in 1925.

On August 8, 1929, in response to a petition carrying the signatures of 1,045 citizens, the city council approved the purchase of a tract of land northwest of Clay Center adjacent to Highway 40 for a municipal airport. Local leaders had high expectations for the benefits of air travel because they concluded that Clay Center had “an exceptionally good geographical location, lying in a nearly direct line between Kansas City and Denver, and Wichita and Omaha.”

Despite the Great Depression in the 1930s, some important investments continued in downtown Clay Center. By 1934, the large Harner garage had been constructed. Early in 1935, the Dispatch reported that Marshall’s Implement Company at 603 5th Street was undergoing repairs almost equivalent to putting in a new building, and the same was confirmed at the Peoples National Bank at 510 Lincoln. The work on the bank included expansion into the adjacent building formerly used by the Priest Drug store.

As the demand for city services grew in the 1930s, citizens dedicated a beautiful new City Hall, which nearly 5,000 people visited during the day and evening of May 25, 1937. Reporters praised city officials for building a debt-free city hall.

New construction of railroads virtually ended by 1930, and the abandonment of unprofitable branch lines began in that decade. During the Great Depression, the financial stability of railroads was threatened by the increasing competition from automobiles and trucks.

In 1935, a massive flood on the Republican River ruined the bridge in the northwest part of town, which carried Highway 15 through town. Afterward, Highway 15 was rerouted from Fourth Street to higher ground on Sixth Street.

In 1940, Clay Center had a population of 4,518.

A report from August 1940 commented that “the city’s well-paved streets, its parks, municipal swimming pool, new city auditorium and its municipal light and water plant, all of which are practically paid for, give Clay Center a unique position among its sister cities and stamps at once the character of its citizens. The city could make many civic improvements through the earnings from its light and water plant without the necessity of bond issues.”

On May 1, 1941, L.F. Valentine, Harry Valentine, and Mrs. James C. Martyn organized the Clay Center Publishing Company and purchased the Clay Center Dispatch. 

A general decline in railroad passengers and freight hauling paused during World War II, but the decline resumed after the war. Modern America National trends that affected the Clay Center downtown district after the war were the decline of railroad transportation, the development of the federal interstate highway system, and the movement of population from farms to cities.

These important changes in transportation impacted the Clay Center downtown district. Highway 24, which runs east-west four blocks north of the Courthouse Square, was improved and diverted long-distance travelers. More and more businesses were located along Highway 24 in the northwest part of Clay Center.

In 1950, L.F. Valentine, editor of the Clay Center Dispatch, reflected on the transformation of his community and the many changes that had taken place since he returned to the town after college on July 9, 1900. In his mind, the most outstanding change was the disappearance of the livery stables and the appearance of many garages and auto repair shops. He also commented on the disappearance of tailor shops and cigar factories. Mr. Valentine concluded that the most significant change in appearance downtown was in the courthouse square. As he described, “in the summer of 1900, the courthouse had not been started, and the square was largely overgrown with underbrush.” There were just dirt paths across the square, which were impassable in muddy weather, and “the Square was not a pretty sight. All that was corrected quickly when the courthouse was finished.”

The Bonham Hotel was demolished in 1954. However, the historic Bonham Opera House still stands at 816 5th Street. It appears to be vacant today.

The extensive development of the interstate highway system after 1956 weakened the railroads’ economic position and accelerated the Kansas population’s movement from farms to cities. The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 brought interstates to Kansas by paying ninety percent of the cost. Throughout the twentieth century, the general demographic trend of rural counties losing population affected Clay Center and north central Kansas. In the 1990s, the wheat state lost more and more of its rural population as fewer people operated larger mechanized farms.

A modern new hospital was constructed in the north part of town in 1962.

On September 25, 1973, a destructive tornado occurred quickly and unexpectedly. The tornado raged down Sixth Street about second-floor level, dipping down briefly to demolish businesses between McBrathney, Lincoln Avenue, and Sixth Street. It ripped buildings for two blocks on either side of its path and shattered downtown windows. Days after the tornado, the Red Cross reported that 500 Clay Center homes were damaged, and about 80 were destroyed. At least 80 offices, shops, and stores were hit in the business district.

Passenger service on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad ended in the 1970s. These changes probably reduced traffic and revenues generated for some businesses in the downtown business district, but new businesses also appeared.

The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad ended service to Clay Center in 1979, and the passenger depot was sold to a private owner.

By 1996, there were only 64,000 farms in Kansas, compared to 167,000 in 1920. As people moved from farms to cities, the east-central and south-central urban areas became more densely settled.

Clay County’s USD 379 public school district and Clay Center Community High School serves the community today.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Clay Center is unique because it is the geographic midpoint between Los Angeles, California, and New York City, the two largest American cities. Both cities are precisely 1,224 miles from Clay Center.

©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, December 2024.

Also See:

Clay County, Kansas

Clay County Photo Gallery

Extinct Towns of Clay County

One-Room, Country, & Historic Schools of Clay County

Sources:

1878 Kansas State Official Gazetteer and Business Directory, R.L. Polk & Company.
1884-1885 Kansas State Official Gazetteer and Business Directory, R. L. Polk & Company.
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Clay Center Facebook
Cutler, William G; History of Kansas; A. T. Andreas, Chicago, IL, 1883.
Kansas Historic Resources Inventory
Kansas State Historical Society
Wikipedia