Oakland In The News: 1886 & Beyond Chapter 1.

Oakland In The News: 1886 & Beyond

by

Dennis Segelquist

Courtesy of Kansas Historical Society

Introduction

Oakland in the news is a book about the people and their lives, taken from their newspapers. When I started this book I was only interested in the historical part of the city, were was that building, when was it built, who were the Mayors, what was this and what was that, all important to be such but it was to cut and dry. In digging out the facts I had to scan the newspapers and in doing so I began to read the stories of the people. In reading I began to look to what happen to Tom when he cut his foot or Marry Jane when she got sick and what happen at Miss Johnson wedding. As I read story after story I knew what the book would be about, for I found it was the people and not the buildings that made Oakland to what it was and is today.
This book is about the people of Oakland, however I can not write this book without some historical facts. I will try to make them short and to the point, for the heart of the book is of the people. Those of you who would like more Historical facts I would recommend the following books:

“Oakland’s First One Hundred Years” by the Shawnee County Historical Society. Which I also contributed to.

“The Little City That Was” by Kris Schuitz.

“Oakland in the News” is a book about the real Oakland. Those in the community south of Sardou will have very little in the book. I know this community was an important part of Oakland’s growth, however, I will keep the stories within Oakland’s city limits. Although, there were a lot of business outside of Oakland that were important to them, The Santa Fe shop, Sardou Cannery and the city of Topeka. So from time to time there will be a short story or note about them.

Chapter 1

My Memories of Oakland

On the corner of Oakland and Belmont was where my grandmother lived for over fifty years. The memories of her home still linger on. As a small boy, I was thrilled at being asked to go to the store for that meant candy. I was always given five cents, that was ten pieces of candy two for a penny. The store was called Moones, it was on the south end of Oakland Avenue, on the west corner of Oakland and Iowa now called (Grant.) Sometimes I would go to a little store on the south side of Thomas between Winfield and Arter. If I wanted ice cream or a soda, I would go to the drug store on the south side of Thomas on the corner of Thomas and Forest. Grandmother sometimes would need a lot of groceries, so we would drive down to Sardou to the big store. It was on the corner of Forest and Sardou on the west end of Mike’s IGA. parking lot, but she liked Moones little store the best. If she forgot something, she would call and they would deliver it (most all the little stores in Oakland did.)

Saturdays was for swimming, which was free. My brother and I would go to Oakland Park, now called Little Oakland Park. It was built between 1936 and 1937. The park was located between Chester and Wabash Ave. It had two swimming pools, a three to four foot and an eleven-foot. The park also had a bath house, a stone shelter house and utility building and all the play ground equipment. The pools are long gone now and has been replaced by two tennis courts. After swimming, we would go to the drug store on the eastside of the park, on the corner of Wabash and Fairchild. On the south end of the pool there was a big oak tree, that’s where we dry off after swimming. Even after fifty years, the tree is still there as a testimony of by gone days.

On the way home, we would walk up Wabash to Thomas. Thomas was the business center of Oakland. On the south corner of Wabash and Thomas there were some buildings, one was a grocery store, a beauty shop and an apartment house. In one of the buildings there was a doctor’s office and a bank. On the northwest and northeast corners are more apartment houses, these were business at one time. A lot people think the bank was on the northeast corner of Thomas and Wabash in the big brick building. Not so, it was on the southeast corner of Thomas and Wabash. It was on the ground floor of the old apartment house. On the north side of the apartment house there was a nick-knack shop. On the southwest corner of Thomas, there was a restaurant and west of it was a hardware store.

My grandmother’s house was always fun, there was always something to do. We had friends that lived south of her, their names were West. Behind grandmother’s there was a family that raised some farm animals. Grandfather said he felt he was more in the country then the city. Nighttime was a special time for me. Grandmother would come up and read a bedtime story. Afterwards I would lie there and stare down to the street corner and try to stay a wake to see the last bus from town, the ten o’clock bus. But a lot of times I would fall asleep to the sound of the train whistles and the rumbling of the trains as they went by.

A lot of years have came and gone and now I have a family of my own. They would like to leave Oakland some day. Maybe some day I will but I will take the memories of Oakland with me.

Oakland’s Beginning

By the year of 1886, Topeka’s building “ Boom “ was over but people were still coming looking for a new life in the city. As Topeka grew so did the need of more housing grew.
In 1886, a man by the name of J. B. Bartholomew and business partner John Norton took a ride northeast of Topeka until they came upon a valley rich with farm land. Mr. Bartholomew was looking for land for investments as it was the trend at that time to buy land near Topeka. Mr. Bartholomew was a real estate promoter with a sharp business sense and he immediately saw the opportunity to turn this undeveloped land into a booming town with the help of Topeka’s Rapid Transit Authority, in which he held interest. However, I don’t think his original intention was of creating a new town. Being a business man such as he was, he was thinking more about the money. Although, if a town was born by creating new business, so much the better, as that would mean more land to sell. But no matter what he was thinking, he saw the opportunity and took it.

Oakland or Oakland Center

In 1886, J. B. Bartholomew and John Norton plated their land and called it “ Oakland.” Some people got confused on the name, was it Oakland or Oakland Center? Oakland was a plat of its own. Oakland Center would not be platted for eight more years.

The Boundaries of Oakland

Where is Oakland? There is some confusion on this, some historian try not to get too confusing. Sometimes in doing so, you don’t get the whole picture. So lets see if I can make it a little clearer. You have to remember that Mr. Bartholomew and Mr. Norton were land investors and when they bought land it was a lot of land. Before I get started. I have to let you know that there are two North Streets, I will number them one and two. North St. (1) is what we call a cut off street. That’s where a street runs into another street and is cut off then pick up again on down the line. For now I will only talk about the outer boundary streets, we will get to the inter-streets later. For those of you who get confused there will be maps to help you out. Now for the boundaries; start at Chester and Belmont Ave.. go north to the North St. (1) go one and a half blocks east. Here we’ll stop and draw a imaginary line north to the rivers edge follow the river edge east till you’re in line with Strait Street. Now stop and draw another imaginary line south until it meets Strait. Follow Strait St. south to Belmont then west on Belmont back to the beginning.
But where is Oakland in all this land? now its time to talk about inter and outer streets.
Starting at Oakland and Center Ave, go north to North St. (2), east on North to Strait, south on Strait to Center then west on Center back to the beginning. This is the boundaries for Oakland. Now you say what happened to all that land? Well it went something like this: Oakland, J. K. Hudson’s Sub Div., Wentworth Place, Brigham and Rice, Jenkins and Morris and then came Oakland Center. There were others but you can see them on the maps later in the book.

Oakland

Starting at Oakland and Center, go north to North St (2), then east on North to Strait street, then south on Strait to Center, then west on Center back to the beginning. These are the boundaries of the real Oakland. It got its name because of all the beautiful Oak trees that dotted the lots.

Brigham & Rice Addition

Brigham & Rice added their addition to Oakland. It’s boundaries were: Starting at Oakland and Belmont, north on Oakland to Center, then east on Center to Strait, south on Strait to Belmont and then west on Belmont back to the beginning.

Jenkins & Morris Addition

Jenkins & Morris added their addition to Oakland . It’s boundary’s were: Starting at Sardou and Poplar, north on Poplar to Chester, north on Chester to Belmont, then east on Belmont to Strait, then south on Strait to Sardou, west on Sardou to the beginning.

Oakland Center .

In March of 1894, the Central Investment Company platted Oakland Center. It would have over one hundred lots. Its boundaries would be North, Strait, Center and Oakland Ave. Included in its boundaries would be the Woolen Mill and Oakland’s Auditorium. The people had called Oakland Center just Oakland for a very long time. Until finally, “Center” was dropped off the name. In 1903, when the community became a city, they just called it Oakland. After a few years, the Jenkins & Morris added a new addition. Its boundaries were south of Sardou and ran south to the north side of Seward. These boundaries held up until 1925. Then in 1925, the annexation of Oakland brought the end to the city. The last act of the City Council was to take in all the land south of Seward up to the Santa Fe Shop and bounded by the rail road tracks.

Courtesy of Register of Deeds