$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.

Aerial view of Garden City, Finney County, Kansas
Date: 1966
This is an aerial view of Garden City, Kansas. This photograph was donated by the Kansas Industrial Development Commission. A baseball field is in the foreground.

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.

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.

Annual report : Kansas Good Roads Association
Creator: Kansas Good Roads Association
Date: 1918
Kansas Good Roads promotional publication claiming that it has achieved 480 miles of 365-day roads financed in the first year and now has 1,000 miles in sight for 1918.

Automobile, Osborne County, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1919
This black and white photograph shows a gentleman seated in a parked automobile on a snowy street in 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.

Automobiles on Main Street, Cimarron, Kansas
Date: Between 1915 and 1920
This photograph shows a number of automobiles on Main Street, Cimarron, Kansas.

Bridge at Pomona
Date: January 04, 1909
Postcard view of the bridge over the Marais des Cygnes River, Pomona, Kansas. Postcard donated by Agnes Romary Sours.

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.

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.

Charlotte Hopper driving a Ford automobile, Dorrance, Kansas
Creator: Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981
Date: June 7, 1913
Charlotte Hopper is in the driver's seat of a Ford convertible automobile in Dorrance, Kansas. Four people are seated in the automobile, and two young boys are shown seated upon its left front fender and left running board.

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.

Comparative Cost of Travel
Date: 1919
Promotional brochure exhorting the virtues of automobiles and trucks over team drive carriages in the hauling of agricultural products over good roads.

Ellen Douglas Denison Goodnow to Isaac Tichenor Goodnow
Creator: Goodnow, Ellen Douglass Denison, 1812-1890
Date: July 25, 1858
Ellen Goodnow wrote from Manhattan, Kansas Territory, to her husband, Isaac, while he was traveling. She included news of recent heavy rains, which had washed out bridges and roads, slowing travel and mail delivery. However, the crops were prospering as a result. Goodnow also described much illness and fever in the area, herself included. She closed the letter with a recipe for shaving soap.

Enoch Graf in automobile, Dorrance, Kansas
Creator: Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981
Date: November 3, 1910
View of Enoch Graf seated in his automobile. He is parked in front of Lindenmeyers General Merchandise store, Dorrance, Russell County, Kan.

F. W. Jordan and Leo Sterns in an automobile, Dorrance, Kansas
Creator: Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981
Date: November 7, 1911
View of F. W. Jordan and Leo Sterns seated in a convertible automobile parked in front of Weber & Peirano's vehicles and implements store in Dorrance, Russell County, Kansas. Also visible are a large wood-framed barn with advertisements for John Deere and Sharples Cream Separators, two saw horses to the right of the Weber & Peirano store, and a grain elevator in the distance.

Fred Major and family in automobile, Dorrance, Kansas
Creator: Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981
Date: September 21, 1910
An informal portrait of Fred Major, his wife, and their two young daughters seated in their convertible automobile in Dorrance, Russell County, Kansas. Also visible in the background are a windmill, farmhouse, and a stone post and wire fence.

Fred Major and family in automobile, Russell County, Kansas
Creator: Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981
Date: September 21, 1910
View of Fred Major, his wife, and two young daughters seated in a large convertible automobile near Dorrance in Russell County, Kansas. Also visible are utility poles and farm buildings in the background.

G. P. Thielen and his automobile, Dorrance, Russell County, Kansas
Creator: Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981
Date: June 12, 1910
View of G. P. Thielen and four unidentified people seated in a Reo automobile, Dorrance, Russell County, Kansas.

G. P. Thielen seated in his Reo automobile, Dorrance, Kansas
Creator: Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981
Date: June 5, 1910
An informal portrait of G. P. Thielen seated in his large Reo convertible automobile on a street in Dorrance, Russell County, Kansas.