$190,235,814 For Dairy Products
Date: 1917
This promotional brochure was designed as a talk to encourage the construction of good roads in the state of Kansas. It described comparable rural roads in Wisconsin that promote crop and dairy production.

365-day roads an investment, not a tax
Date: 1910-1919
Brochure promoting good roads as a investment comparable to other enhancements financed by the farmer and found on his individual land holding.

After the great war is over
Date: 1917
This promotional brochure argues that the construction of good roads in the United States will enhance agricultural productivity and economic development in the aftermath of World War I.

Annals of Kansas, January - February, 1855
Creator: Wilder, Daniel Webster, 1832-1911
Date: January, 1855 through February, 1855
D. W. Wilder's "Annals of Kansas," published in 1886, provides a day-by-day chronicle of significant events in Kansas. These are digital images of Annals of Kansas entries for the territorial period of 1854-1861.

Bridge building, Volland, Kansas
Creator: Kratzer, Otto
Date: Between 1905 and 1910
This is a photograph from a glass plate negative of a bridge maintenance crew at Volland, Kansas, along with some citizens who appear eager to help the crew.

Bridge construction, Logan County, Kansas
Date: Between 1920 and 1940
This photograph shows a bridge in Logan County, Kansas under construction.

Bridges in Allen County, Kansas
Date: 1914-1963
These photographs depict Marsh arch and other bridges in Allen County, Kansas. A number of images of a rainbow bridge on U.S. Hwy 169 are included. There is also a postcard of a bridge near Elsmore, Kansas, with the caption "Scene of murder of Viola Ard while she was driving a Ford Car near the Ard home 3 miles west of Elsmore, Ks."

Building a bridge across Antelope Creek in Wabaunsee County, Kansas
Date: 1904
Photograph of four men building a bridge across Antelope Creek in Wabaunsee County, Kansas. The men are identified as A. E. Forinash, Clyde Forinash, Frank Weber, and Charlie Funk. They built more than 70 bridges and culverts in Wabaunsee County.

Building a road in Thomas County, Kansas
Date: Between 1915 and 1930
A team of mules pulls a grader being used to build a dirt road in Thomas County, Kansas.

Campus improvement at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
Creator: Kansas Emergency Relief Committee
Date: 1935
A photograph showing improvements to the University of Kansas campus performed by relief workers. This project was administered by the Kansas Emergency Relief Committee with funds from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. During the Depression when people could not find employment, both Kansas and the Federal governments preferred the use of work relief over direct subsistence payments. The workers employed by the Kansas Emergency Relief Committee built public structures, lakes, planted shelterbelts, and made road improvements. The photograph was copied from Public Welfare Service In Kansas, 1935.

Capital Super Service, Topeka, Kansas
Date: Between 1960 and 1965
This black and white photograph shows a Capital Super Service employee changing a tire on a road grader. Capital Super Service was located at 9th and Quincy, Topeka, Kansas.

Capital Super Service, Topeka, Kansas
Date: Between 1960 and 1965
This black and white photograph shows a Capital Super Service employee changing a road grader tire. Capital Super Service was located at 9th and Quincy, Topeka, Kansas.

Charles Chadwick to Hiram Hill
Creator: Chadwick, Charles
Date: September 19, 1857
Charles Chadwick wrote from Quindaro, Kansas Territory, to Hiram Hill in Massachusetts. Chadwick told him of Samuel Simpson's return, and the business dealings that resulted from it. It appeared that all investors would get their land as promised. He expressed excitement about the construction of a new bridge, which would "secure [Quindaro's] Supremacy over Wyandotte and Kansas City" for easing trade in the area. Chadwick also mentioned an upcoming election, and asked Hill if he expected many from Massachusetts to emigrate to K.T. this season.

Construction of the Tuttle Creek Dam
Date: August 1962
Three photographs showing crews paving the roads on or around the Tuttle Creek Reservoir on the Kansas River in Riley County, Kansas. Tuttle Creek Dam was constructed by the U. S. Army Engineer District, Kansas City, Corps of Engineers.

Construction of the Tuttle Creek Dam
Date: October 1964
These five photographs show road paving activities on the Tuttle Creek Reservoir project on the Kansas River in Riley County, Kansas. Tuttle Creek Dam was constructed by the U. S. Army Engineer District, Kansas City, Corps of Engineers.

Good Roads Constitutional Amendment
Date: 1919
This small pamphlet was published by the Kansas Good Roads Association urging Kansas voters to pass Amendment no.3 to improve roads of all kinds.

Good Roads Help Farmers
Date: 1919
Promotional brochure designed as a talk to encourage road construction to enhance agricultural productivity and rural community development.

Governor Bill Graves interview
Creator: Beatty, Bob, 1966-
Date: February 13, 2004
Click the thumbnail images below to play clips of Kansas Governor William Preston "Bill" Graves discussing his experience as governor of Kansas from January 9, 1995 to January 13, 2003. Bob Beatty, Political Science Department, Washburn University, conducts the interview as part of the Kansas Governors Recorded History and Documentary Project. A complete transcript of the interview is available by clicking Text Version below.

Governor Jonathan Mcmillan Davis to Butler County Pomona Grange
Creator: Davis, Jonathan McMillan, 1871-1943
Date: December 1, 1923
Governor Jonathan Davis of Topeka (Shawnee County) writes the Butler County Pamona Grange in response to its resolutions condemning county road construction in Butler County. The Governor quotes his correspondence with the State Highway Engineer L. R. Tillotson who states that the state Highway Commission has no authority over county commissions. The engineer suggests the grange work to stop further petitions to the county commission for additional roads. See L. R. Tillotson to Governor Jonathan Davis, November 30, 1923.

Grading a street using horses
Date: Between 1930 and 1939
A photograph showing Cook & Stucker Paving Company's workers using horse drawn equipment to grade and level a road in an unidentified town. Cook & Stucker Paving Company had their office in Ottawa, Kasnas.

Group of men in Seneca, Kansas
Date: Between 1910 and 1919
This is a postcard showing a group of men in Seneca, Kansas. They were possibly gathered to work on or discuss roads in their community.

Gus Meier photograph collection
Creator: Meier, Gustav H., 1865-1941
Date: 1890-1920
Photographs taken by Gus Meier. Several of the photographs were taken in his studio in Alma, Kansas.

Highways and Bridges - Legislation and Repair
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1915-1919: Capper)
Date: 1915
This file includes correspondence about Kansas highways and roadways. Topics included, but not limited to, in the file is road laws, cost and expanse of road maintenance and expansion, and the Pan-American Road Congress held in California, September 13 to 17, 1915. This is part of a bigger collection of Governor Arthur Capper correspondence.

It is just as important to transport ideas as hogs
Creator: Kansas Good Roads Association
Date: 1920s
This pamphlet by the Kansas Good Roads Association argues that the state should work to improve rural transportation to better child education. The pamphlet equates the importance of childhood education with agricultural production and commerce.

John Holt
Date: October 1957
A photograph of John Holt , a Topeka, Kansas, resident, and a member of the Army Corp of Engineers, standing by a Caterpillar in South Korea. During the Korean War, Holt built air force bases, ditches, and roads.