Facet Browse

Hauling dirt for the railroad bed

Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936

This is a view, presumed to have been taken in Haskell County, Kansas, of rail workers using horse- and mule-drawn wagons to haul dirt for a railroad bed.

F. M. Steele's photography wagon

Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936

View of F. M. (Francis Marion) Steele's photography wagon with a young girl on horseback in the foreground and a herd of cattle in the background.

Urbin I. Rudell photograph collection

Rudell, Urbin I., 1878-1966

Photographer Urbin I. Rudell, 1878-1966, was born in the Lenape community of Leavenworth County, Kansas. His family later moved to Loring, Wyandotte County, where he attended school. Rudell became interested in taking photographs at age 15 and taught himself the art of photography with a German-made camera he acquired. Rudell married Alice Mae Barry in 1903 and the couple moved to Bonner Springs in 1907. About this time, the city leaders were promoting Bonner Springs as a health resort. Rudell was hired to take photographs of Bonner Springs businesses, homes, and other points of interest, which were published in the booklet "Kansas Karlsbad." During the Depression, Rudell was hired to carry mail and parcel post between the post office and the Union Pacific depot, and he held that job for the next twenty years. He continued to operate his photography business and worked out of his home taking photographs when requested and whenever a major event occurred in town.

L. W. Halbe Collection

Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981

The L. W. (Leslie Winfield) Halbe photo collection consists of 1500 glass plate negatives produced by Halbe during his teenage years. Halbe lived in Dorrance, Russell County, Kansas, and began taking photographs of the region with an inexpensive Sears and Roebuck camera when he was fifteen years old.

Golden Charles Dresher photograph collection

Dresher, G. C.

This collection consists of 326 photographs taken by G. C. (Golden Charles) Dresher of Canton, McPherson County, Kansas. The photos mostly concern the Dresher family, their friends and the surrounding area. Photographs of McPherson College students and the flooding of Cow Creek are also included. Dorothy May (Dresher) Richards, the daughter of G. C. Dresher, donated the original glass plate negatives to the Kansas Historical Society in 1999.

J.R. Watkins Medical wagon, Eureka, Kansas

This black and white photograph shows a couple standing beside a J.R. Watkins Medical wagon with sampling cases near Eureka, Kansas. The medical company, founded in 1868 by Joseph Ray Watkins from Plainview, Minnesota, sold medical liniments and salves from the back of a horse drawn wagon. The company may have sold supplies for animals as well as humans because a bucket in the front of the photograph is labeled "stock tonic" and the wagon has "stock and poultry tonic" on it.

Salina Plumbing Company delivery wagon, Salina, Kansas

These three photographs show the delivery wagons of the Salina Plumbing Company in Salina, Kansas. The first image shows Anna Geis, the bookkeeper, standing next to the wagon. The second view shows Ed Sharp leaning on the wagon. The last photograph shows just the horse and wagon.

Horse-drawn wagon, Benedict, Wilson County, Kansas

This is a photograph of a man driving a horse-drawn wagon outside the drugstore in downtown Benedict, Wilson County, Kansas. The street is muddy.