Potwin Place QuiltCommunity centennials are about a sense of place.
In 1988, Potwin Place (a historic district in Topeka known for its wide boulevards and spacious Victorian homes) celebrated the 100th anniversary of its chartering as a third-class city. Charles Potwin had purchased 70 acres of farmland in 1869 from a half-blood Shawnee in present-day Potwin. Ten years later the land was subdivided and individual lots sold. In 1899, the city of Potwin, like other local neighborhoods, was incorporated into the city of Topeka. Lack of services--such as a fire station--was one of the reasons for incorporation. Jeanne Hirschberg headed up the Potwin Place Centennial Quilt project with the assistance of Muriel Segerson, O'Thene Leonard, Marilyn Waugh, Lee Martell, Barbara Laird, Sally Dinkel, Sally Dyke, and Naomi Spratt in 1987. Organizers surveyed the neighborhood to determine the fabric colors and then delivered quilting kits to each resident. Residents created a block with their property on it. Neighbors scheduled "stitch-ins" and rediscovered the social aspects of quilting enjoyed by their mothers and grandmothers. The project brought together quilters and non-quilters who helped each other as needed. Participants pieced together the quilt blocks and then quilted the various layers together. The Potwin banner quilt is 14-1/2 feet wide and 8-1/2 feet in length and features applique, quilting, and embroidery. The quilt includes 183 properties made to scale, depicting present-day Potwin within the original town site. Brick streets and roundabouts are defining features. Homeowners brought their own creativity to the project. Marge Petty included some of her great-grandmother's handmade lace on her home. Peggy Gatewood's block features a detailed garden, including rabbits. The old Jane C. Stormont Hospital and the original Potwin Grade School also are depicted on the quilt. A stitchers' panel lists the names of those who worked on the project. The Potwin Place Centennial Quilt was offered to the Kansas Museum of History in 1988 at a celebration held at Ward-Meade Park. Here are close-up images of city blocks depicted on the Potwin Place Centennial Quilt, identified by their bordering streets: Block 1: bordered by Woodlawn, Third, Elmwood & WillowBlock 2: bordered by Woodlawn, Second, Elmwood & Third Block 3: bordered by Woodlawn, First, Elmwood & Second Block 4: bordered by Woodlawn, Grove, Elmwood & First Block 5: bordered by Greenwood, Third, Woodlawn, & Willow Block 6: bordered by Greenwood, Second, Woodlawn, & Third Block 7: bordered by Greenwood, First, Woodlawn, & Second Block 8: bordered by Greenwood, Grove, Woodlawn, & First Block 9: bordered by Grove, Elmwood, & Woodlawn Block 10: bordered by Grove, Woodlawn, & Broadmoor Block 11: bordered by alley, Willow, Greenwood, & Third Block 12: bordered by alley, Third, Greenwood, & Second Block 13: bordered by alley, Second, Greenwood, & First Block 14: bordered by alley, First, Greenwood, & Grove
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