$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.

Abelard Guthrie to Hiram Hill
Creator: Guthrie, Abelard
Date: November 11, 1858
Abelard Guthrie, a member of the Quindaro Town Company, wrote from Quindaro, Kansas Territory, to Hiram Hill in Massachusetts, rebutting Hill's accusations that he had acted in bad faith regarding certain enterprises of the Town Company. Guthrie stated that he had intended to begin the grading work on Kansas Avenue and other roads, but had found that the Company's funds were depleted; he suspected a swindling. He defended himself in light of other land purchases and business transactions and expressed extreme frustration at his bleak financial situation.

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.

Albert C. Morton to Hiram Hill
Creator: Morton, Albert C.
Date: January 1858
Albert Morton wrote from Quindaro, Kansas Territory, to Hiram Hill in Massachusetts, describing at length the efforts of Quindaro's citizens to grade a large avenue through the town. Morton added that Quindaro was about to establish a city charter, which, if approved by the Legislature, would require the taxation of the citizens. He also mentioned a shooting the night before of a proslavery man who had lost his seat to free statesman Charles Chadwick in a recent election under the Lecompton Constitution.

Allen County, Kansas, floods--1951
Date: July 1951
These numerous photographs show flooding and flood damage from the Neosho River in Allen County, Kansas. High water marks can be seen on many buildings, as well as debris and destruction left by the water. Many homes, businesses, and public buildings were affected. These photographs were part of a preliminary survey by the Flood Control Committee of the Iola Chamber of Commerce on August 10, 1951. Many of the photos have additional information on their backs.

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.

Automobile, Osborne County, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1919
This black and white photograph shows two men seated in a mud-splattered automobile at Osborne County, Kansas.

Automobile in Snow
Date: January 17, 1915
These four black and white photographs show an automobile stranded on a snowy road between Peabody and Newton, Kansas.

Automobile on country road, Russell County, Kansas
Creator: Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981
Date: September 18, 1910
One side of a stereograph showing three people in a car traveling along a country road in Russell County, Kansas. Also visible in the background are a house, a windmill, farm buildings, open fields, groves of trees, and a long bridge that may cross the Smoky Hill River.

Avenue A in Cimarron, Kansas
Date: Between 1915 and 1920
This photograph shows Avenue A (US Highway 50) looking from the west toward the business district of Cimarron, Kansas. The house on the left became the Cimarron Crossing Bed and Breakfast and the address is 307 West Avenue A.

Buick automobile, Dorrance, Kansas
Creator: Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981
Date: September 8, 1910
View of a Buick coupe automobile parked on a street in Dorrance, Russell County, Kansas. Also visible are houses, barns, windmills, a church and steeple, and stone post and wire fences along the city street.

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.

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.

Clason's Kansas green guide with road and railway maps
Date: [between 1925 and 1929?]
Clason's Kansas Green Guide lists town and county populations, state colleges, railroads, and other basic information about the state.

Colorado, Kansas road sign
Date: 1925
This black and white photograph shows a road sign informing travelers that Kansas City, Kansas was 492 miles and Omaha, Nebraska was 405 miles. The wooden sign may have been the first highway marker associated with U.S. Highway 36. The highway, which is still in use today, passes through thirteen Kansas counties that share their borders with the state of Nebraska.

Colorado for the tourist
Creator: Union Pacific Railway Company
Date: 1920s
This Union Pacific Railroad Company promotional advertisement describes the beautiful scenery provided to the tourist in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

Curb, sidewalk, and highway expansion, Cimarron, Kansas
Date: Between 1955 and 1965
This is a series of forty photographs taken prior to and after repair work documenting the curb, sidewalk & highway expansion through Cimarron, Kansas.

Dean O. Smith Map of Township 13 South, Range 14 West, Russell County
Creator: Smith, Dean O., 1897-
Date: 1910
A map drawn by Dean O. Smith, showing creeks, the Union Pacific Railroad, the state road to Nebraska and Russell City in Township 13 South, Range 14 West, Russell County. In a separate five page note, Dean, who would later become a surveyor, includes an extensive legend of the map which acts as a history of the township and Russell City. This is one of several maps drawn by school children for a contest organized by Judge J. C. Ruppenthal of Russell, Kansas. The maps were to meet a "requirement of presenting historical data, together with excellence and accuracy of drawing."

Dirt road, Finney County, Kansas
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: Between 1900 and 1910
A photograph showing two men in an automobile on a dirt road in Finney County, Kansas.

Drive on the Richter farm, Finney County, Kansas
Creator: Wolf, Henry L. 1850-1924
Date: Between 1890 and 1900
This photograph shows a drive or access road on the Richter farm in Finney County, Kansas.

Dust drifted road, Ford County, Kansas
Creator: Stovall Studio
Date: 1935
Dust drifted road, Ford County, Kansas. Fences and utility poles are visible in the photograph.

E. S. Hopper driving a Ford automobile, Dorrance, Kansas
Creator: Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981
Date: May 30, 1913
View of E. S. Hopper driving a Ford automobile decorated with U. S. flags, Dorrance, Kan. There are three people in the automobile, three children standing on the running board, and a woman standing next to the automobile.

Early Garden City, Kansas
Creator: Wolf, Henry L. 1850-1924
Date: 1895
The photographs show different views of Garden City, Finney County, Kansas, as it appeared around 1895

Ellen Douglas Denison Goodnow to Harriet Goodnow
Creator: Goodnow, Ellen Denison (Mrs. Isaac T.)
Date: May 18, 1856
Ellen Goodnow, wife of Isaac Goodnow, wrote to her sister-in-law, Harriet, in New England. In this mostly personal letter, Goodnow reports on the joys and limitations of life in Kansas Territory, stating "I can say truly that I enjoy life as well here as I ever did anywhere." She did not anticipate trouble from border ruffians in their area, as her family's settlement was "too far from Missouri, too near Fort Riley", telling Harriet she would be "enraptured. . .in this country"; Ellen looked forward to a visit from her.