Advertising billboards
Creator: Kansas Industrial Development Commission
Date: Between 1947 and 1948
This is a photograph showing billboards advertising for Coca-Cola, the Kansas Industrial Development Commission, and a 1947 Ford from R.G. Larzelere of Troy, Kansas.

Anna Margaret Watson Randolph, diary
Creator: Randolph, Anna Margaret Watson, 1838-1917
Date: August 17, 1858 - August 22, 1858
This brief diary, kept by Anna Margaret (Watson) Randolph, begins with her move to Kansas in an entry dated August 17, 1858. These six entries at the beginning of her diary provide details about her family's journey from Ohio to Kansas Territory, included a number of interesting accounts of their journey on a riverboat. Their boat ran aground several times and, interspersed among her descriptions of these difficulties, Anna wrote about her sister Mary Jane, the weather, and her personal observances of other passengers. She also filled her diary with her frustrations and concerns during their arduous journey west.

Annual meeting report of the Hodgeman County Historical Society
Creator: Pitts, Frances
Date: September 09, 1966
A report of the regular Annual Meeting of the Hodgeman County Historical Society, Jetmore, Kansas. Listed are the officers and directors who were elected. Frances Pitts, Secretary, signed the report.

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.

California and the expositions. Yellowstone National Park. How to go and what to see
Creator: Union Pacific Railway Company
Date: Between 1914 and 1915
This pamphlet is a Union Pacific Railroad promotional advertisement for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, California, between February 20, 1915-December 04, 1915, including a travel excursion to Yellowstone National Park in the Rocky Mountains and other areas of interest.

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 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.

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.

Fishing in Colorado and Wyoming
Creator: Union Pacific Railway Company
Date: 1912
This Union Pacific Railroad Company promotional advertisement describes the beautiful and rustic scenery enjoyed in camp life and fishing as experienced in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming.

Folks who live in Kansas present this booklet and guide so that you may see their wonderful state . . .
Creator: Kansas Motor Club
Date: Between 1950 and 1960
A brochure created by the Kansas Motor Club advertising the state of Kansas and its hospitality. The brochure has several maps that focus on different areas of Kansas. Along with these maps are pictures of Kansas and brief descriptions of the state's many attractions.

Frances Pitts to Kansas State Historical Society
Creator: Pitts, Frances
Date: September 19, 1966
A letter from Frances Pitts, Secretary of the Hodgeman County Historical Society, to the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas. The letter lists the new members of the Executive Committee for their historical society and tells what they've accomplished in the last year at the museum.

From the river to the mountains via the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad
Date: 1876
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad promotional advertisement encouraging travel on its western line to the Rocky Mountains from the east. Includes timetable and illustrations by Topeka artist Henry Worrall.

Glidden auto tour, Dorrance, Kansas
Creator: Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981
Date: July 29, 1909
View of two men in an open automobile, competing in a Glidden auto tour, on a street in Dorrance, Russell County, Kansas. The Glidden auto tours were timed, long distance road rallies organized from 1902-1913 throughout the United States by the American Automobile Association (AAA) as a means of encouraging automotive travel and the development of safe roads. Also visible in the photograph are two men standing near a horse-drawn wagon loaded with lumber in front of Lindenmeyers General Merchandise store, a second wagon, utility poles and power lines, windmills, a church steeple, and the buildings and businesses along the city street.

Glidden auto tour, Dorrance, Kansas
Creator: Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981
Date: July 29, 1909
View of two men in an open automobile, competing in a Glidden auto tour, parked on a street in Dorrance, Russell County, Kansas. The Glidden auto tours were timed, long distance road rallies organized from 1902-1913 throughout the United States by the American Automobile Association (AAA) as a means of encouraging automotive travel and the development of safe roads. Also visible are spectators standing around the automobile in front of Lindenmeyers General Merchandise store, a wagon, pennant flags, utility poles and power lines, windmills, a church steeple, a large grain elevator and barn, and the buildings and businesses along the city street.

H.H. Lindell Hotel, Sedan Kansas
Date: Between 1890 and 1910
This photograph shows the H. H. Lindell Hotel in Sedan, Kansas.

Hi-Level "El Capitan" boarding at platform level
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: Between 1960 and 1965
View of passengers boarding an Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway's hi-level "El Capitan" train through center doors at platform level.

Historical marker for Frederick Funston's boyhood home, Allen County, Kansas
Date: Between 1940 and 1960
These photographs show the historical marker for General Frederick Funston's boyhood home in Allen County, Kansas. This house was originally built by Frederick's father, E.H. Funston. The marker was erected by the Kansas Historical Society and the (Kansas) State Highway Commission.

Hollenberg Pony Express Station historical marker, Hanover, Kansas
Date: Between 1950 and 1980
A photograph of the Hollenberg Pony Express Station historical marker in Hanover, Kansas. This station was established in 1857 by Gerat H. and Sophia Hollenberg. The Hollenberg Pony Express Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, and earlier, as a National Historic Landmark in 1961.

Immigration
Creator: Manhattan Independent
Date: January 6, 1866
This article advertises the many reasons that settlers should come to Kansas, including the pleasant climate and rich natural resources. The unnamed author also promises that immigrants who are willing to work hard can make a good living. The author seems convinced that Kansas will experience a population boom, as there is an abundance of "unoccupied land" ripe for the taking.

Isaac Tichenor Goodnow to Ellen Douglas Denison Goodnow
Creator: Goodnow, Isaac T. (Isaac Tichenor), 1814-1894
Date: October 22, 1857
Isaac Goodnow wrote from New York City to his wife in Shannon, Kansas Territory. This letter is one of many written from Goodnow to Ellen which update her on the status of his travels and fundraising. This particular example includes a mention of Goodnow's desire to solicit the support of Henry Ward Beecher, whose pamphlet "Defence of Kansas" speaks passionately against allowing slavery in the Territory.

John James Ingalls to Elias T. Ingalls
Creator: Ingalls, John James, 1833-1900
Date: January 2, 1859
From Lawrence, K.T., where he went to lobby the territorial legislature on behalf of Sumner's city charter and a "Pikes Peak Express Company," John J. Ingalls wrote to tell his father about the journey that took him through Leavenworth. He made some interesting observations about the condition of the roads and the general discomfort involved in overland travel ("The coaches are constructed with special reference to safety in passing over corduroy roads, through sloughs and ravines, having no regard whatever to the comfort of the passengers."), as well as nice descriptions of both cities, Leavenworth and Lawrence.

Kansas full of interesting places
Creator: Farmers Alliance Mutual Insurance Company
Date: Between 1950 and 1965
This brochure promotes Kansas attractions that are easily reached by automobile. It gives the location and brief description of each attraction.

Kansas good living!
Creator: Kansas Industrial Development Commission
Date: Between 1940s and 1950s
A photograph showing a billboard with the slogan "Kansas Good Living!". The sign was from the Kansas Industrial Development Commission, Topeka, Kansas.

Kansas in 1875
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: 1875
A pamphlet produced by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company to promote Kansas and its resources. It focuses on the Cottonwood and Arkansas Valleys of Kansas. Also included is a map of ATSF railroad connections with an advertisement of land for sale.

Kansas Pacific Railway depot, Victoria, Kansas
Date: 1880
This photograph shows the Kansas Pacific Railway depot at Victoria, Kansas. The structure was originally built by the railroad company as a hotel to accommodate the settlers until they could complete their own homes.