Published by permission from the historical society.

Transcribed by Mrs. McElroys' MMS class.

Mulvane is located on the county line between Sumner and Sedgwick Counties, five miles west of the corner of Sumner, Sedgwick, Butler, and Cowley Counties. The Arkansas River runs north to south about a half mile west of Mulvane. Wichita is located sixteen miles north by rail and twenty by car. (These statistics are from 1882 atlases and histories.) Now it is a much shorter distance by car traveling via K-15 Highway.

The land on which the original town site of Mulvane stands was owned by H. C. Helbert and J. D. Loper. They donated half of this land to the railway company and in August, 1879, laid out the town. The original Certificat of Incorporation of "The Mulvane Town Company" is found preceding this story. The original town site consisted of 160 acres; Prather's addition made an even 200 acres. Some time in this period George W. Hill, who owned land in Sumner County, made a deal with the railroad, because it crossed a large section of his land, that the depot would be located in Sumner County. By our research and records, we find that on June 19, 1886, George W. and Clara A. Hill laid out a plat called Hill's First Addition in the SE1/4, Sec. 6, Twp. 30, Rg. 2E. The plat was not given to the Mulvane Town Company in the agreement, but was for development by the Hills.

A name was to be chosen for the new city, so many of the city fathers met at the home of Clay Helbert (on Second Street north of the Legion Hall) for a chicken and noodle dinner. The dinner was served by Mrs. Clay Helbert and wives of men attending. Joab Mulvane, one of the prominent Santa Fe men who engaged in securing the right-of-way, extending the railroad south from Wichita and locating towns on the line, was also in attendance. The men mentioned many names but simply could not decide on one to suit all. Finally, Mrs. Helbert interrupted the men and suggested they name the new city after Mr. Mulvane, who had done so much to help with the Town Company. The name "Mulvane" met with approval of all concerned and was adopted.

The city was laid out by the Mulvane Town Company in august, 1879. It is the junction of the Santa Fe, having five lines running through the city, southeasterly to Winfield, southwesterly to Wellington, southwest to the Englewood line, north to Wichita and northeast to Kansas City.

Men seeing the future of the city were quick to start new businesses. J.E. Shaw opened the Corner Drug Store on Oct. 23, 1879. Jas. Brown was busy completing his building, which he had moved in from Littleton, when J.E. Shaw moved a building in from Wichita and hurriedly completed it to beat Mr. Brown by a few days. W.C. Robinson and his brother, T.A. Robinson, opened a dry goods and grocery store in the spring of 1880. Mr. Badger built a building in the fall of 1879-80 and sold it in the spring to O.B. Hardy who put in a stock of hardware. Levi Wilson built the first new house.

Dr. Whitehorn of Augusta came to the neighborhood before the town site was located. He was looking for a place to start a drug store. He built a house on the Geo. Hill farm and operated a drug store business from there. After the town was located, he moved this building to a lot just west of where the old Mulvane State Bank stood. His store perished along with many others in the great fire of 1893.

Mr. and Mrs. Osburn kept a boarding house in a shack, which stood near where the Co-op now stands, and the first settlers boarded with them. Joe Pierce opened a restaurant. Jap Crawford built the first hotel which was destroyed by fire a few years later. J. N. and I. P. Trickey opened a stock of dry goods and notions March 7, 1880.

The City of Mulvane by 1896 had never had a boom, but the town did enjoy a steady, healthy growth from the first. Mulvane until now (189996) had never issued any bonds and had no debts to pay.

Mulvane's post office was established in October, 1879, with J. S. Brown as postmaster. The first money order fro this office bears the date of Aug. 2, 1880, and transfers $2.75 from J. E. Shaw to the Novelty Plaster Works of Lowell, Mass. Jarvis Shaw was the next postmaster.

Daniel Lane built the Union Hotel on the north side of Main Street next to the railroad in 1883. It was destroyed by the fire of 1893 and rebuilt the same year as the New Union Hotel.

The private banking house of Warren and Herman was opened July 1, 1882. In September of the same year the junior partner left, and the business was continued by W. R. Warren. This bank went into receivership a few years after its inception, and J. L. Crum very capably administered the closing.

Mulvane was incorporated as a city of the third class by the district court of Sumner County, E. S. Torrence judge, on Sept. 27, 1883. The first election for city officers was held in Captain Kuhn's law office Nov. 6, 1883. A. D. Doyle was elected mayor; E. J. Kuhn, police judge; and David Badger, E. F. Emery, J. G. Booth, Geo. A. Hall and Frank Wagner were elected councilmen.

At the first regular election held April 7, 1884, the same officers were re-elected.]

Past-Present And Future

Mulvane's location is one of the finest in the state, being on a gentle southerly slope and high enough to be above the miasma rising from the river and bottom lands, and free from mud at all seasons, but not high enough to be in danger from passing storms, as is too frequently the case with our Kansas Towns.

Mulvane is named in honor of one of the founders, Joab Mulvane, of Topeka, an able attorney and member of the Arkansas Valley Town Association, to which corporation the "City of the Valley" is indebted for its existence, but not for its present commercial importance that is entirely due to the live, energetic, go ahead-a-tiveness of its business men and splendid producing country surrounding it.

Our young city is only an infant in days, but a giant in size; it being scarcely nine months since the first building was completed and occupied. Since that time buildings have been going up at the rate of one a day; and now we have over 49 business houses all occupied by good substantial business men. All classes of business are represented, from a peanut stand up to a dry good palace, and by all professions from a blacksmith, printer, up to a first-class doctor, besides a real estate man or two, and a "washee man" spoken for.

The following is a partial list of the business houses in operation at the present time. Dry goods, one; dry goods and groceries, three; furniture, one; hardware, two; drugs, two; notions, one; lumber yards, two; livery stable, one; saloons, two; restaurants, two; cigars and tobacco, one; hotel, one; boarding houses, two; wagon repair ship, one; blacksmith shop, one; blacksmith and wagon shop, one; contractors and builders, two; grain and stock dealers, two; barber shop, one; shoe shop, one; milliner, one; physicians, two; real estate, two; butcher shop, one; all in the hands of live energetic men who thoroughly understand their respective business or trades, and who do not expect to get rich in a day, but whose motto is 'to live and let live', and from day to day keep pace with our young city in her prosperity and wealth.

Water can be obtained in abundance and of the purist quality, entirely free from all alkalis, at from twelve to fifteen feet either by digging or driving wells. Driven wells are the most convenient and cheapest.

As for water-power, there could be one of the finest supplies in America at trifling cost, by applying one of the new current wheels that are now being manufactured, to the current of the Arkansas River. It is a well-known fact that the current of the Arkansas River is one of the most powerful in the world, compare to its apparent velocity, and is of sufficient volume to insure an abundance of power at all seasons of the year.

The Cowskin Creek, one mile west of the Arkansas River, affords water privileges that cannot be excelled by any stream of its size in the state, there being four splendid flour and grist mills in operation at present on this stream within a distance of fourteen miles. There would be ample room for two or three more within those limits and not diminish the working capacity of any one of them. There is enough grain raised within five miles of this stream to run twenty mills like those now in operation, and every pound of flour manufactured could be sold almost at the door of the mills to supply the Indians and government employees in the Indian Territory.

Fuel is an item at any time in the general economy of Kansan towns. In this matter we are blessed above our sister towns in having an abundance of timber on the streams near us for all our necessities in the fuel line, besides having easy communication with the eastern Kansas coal fields over the telegraph, will give us our choice from the finest coals in the world, at about five dollars or less per ton.

Stone- There is an abundance of the finest building stone found near the city, both magnesia and limestone. Lime is manufactured on the Walnut River, and sold from $.25 to $.49 per bushel. Sand is found almost any where in this part of the valley in abundance, and in spots rather too numerous to be profitable as an article of commerce. Brick have been manufactured at Winfield, Wellington and Wichita, the past season, on a large scale and have been laid in the wall at the cost of $9.00 per thousand. Experts tell us that we have as fine as clay, for the manufacture of brick, as there is in the state anywhere on or near our town site.

Lumber- Michigan and other pine lumber is, however, principally employed in the construction of buildings owing to the fact that it takes less time to build with that kind of material; and in Kansas everyone is always in a hurry One of the incentives to rapid building is high rents. A four-room building that will cost from $250.00 to $300.00 will rent for $15.00 to $20.oo per month, or about 75-90 percent on the investment.

Active measures are now on foot to build a free wagon bridge across the Arkansas River on the county line one mile west of town. The move is in the right direction and should succeed. This bridge question has been one that has been discussed in our school houses by the festive office seeker, in our pulpits by the itinerant preacher, on our stage coaches by the water-bound drummers, and last, but not least, by the honest formers and tax payers, who have been compelled to go to the county seat at least once a year to pay his taxes, or pay the sheriff to come to him. Sometimes it was impossible to get to Wellington without going by the way of Wichita to cross the river, then back to Belle Plaine to a bridge over the Ninnescah, thence to Wellington, making in the round trip 140 miles travel to get to a point in his county less than twenty miles from home; and now we have it before us again and with good prospects of settling it to our everlasting benefit. When this bridge is completed it will give us an easy outlet to the balance of the county, and to the county seat in particular, and bring trade from Palestine, Belle Plaine and London Townships; and a large portion of the country lying north of the county line on the west side of the river.

There are between sixty and seventy thousand acres of winter wheat growing in the townships adjacent and tributary to this point that will have to be marketed this season’ and as this point has advantages that no other town short of Wichita has for successfully handling this amount of grain, consequently, 9/10’s of it will be shipped from this point, either in flour or bulk.

There are three or four hundred head of cattle being fed in this vicinity for the eastern market that will be ready for shipment in a few weeks; also quite a number of car loads of hos, and over one hundred thousand bushel of corn in cribs for sale and shipment. Our stockyard is as good as any on the Santa Fe Railroad and the farmers and shippers are becoming aware of the fact. Quite a lucrative business has been carried on here this winter by several of our business-men in the way of shipping produce to Colorado and New Mexico.

In the face of 1880, the citizens on both sides of the Arkansas River raised sufficient fund to build a pontoon bridge across the raging Arkansas to accommodate settlers on both sides. The Mulvane Record, Aug. 13, 1880, reports the bridge is now complete and ready for use.

In conclusion we would say that being situated as we are in such close communication with the non-producing districts of Colorado and New Mexico, we will always have a ready market for all the surplus produce and at prices far in advance of any heretofore realized, and there is an era of such unsampled prosperity before us that will surprise the most sanguine.

The Mulvane Herald-Tell W. Walton, Editor April 2, 1880. (Edited)