I just love staring at this stone entrance at the Muscotah city park entrance at 6th and Kansas.Muscotah, a Kickapoo or Potawatomi word meaning either "the beautiful prairie" or "prairie on fire," is a town of 200 in Atchison County.
Crossed bats, a baseball and baseball hat honor their hometown boy, Joe Tinker, that made good.
Joe Tinker was one part of the Chicago Cubs double-play combination of "Tinker to Evers to Chance." Shortstop Tinker played from 1902 to 1916 and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Now, does anyone know the rest of the story? Who was A.B. Harvey or was the name Harvey Block? One reference says the town was founded in 1857. So what happened in 1895?
Have answers? Help us "Get Kansas!"
KE #2 Marci Penner
Posts
8 comments:
Beautiful prairie or prairie on fire... Either way, it means the same thing.
-Dennis
In 1895 A B Harvey was 44 years and lived in Grasshopper Township in Atchison County. He was born in IL. That's all so far.
Well that's better than I could have come up with.
So who knows the rest of the story...
A. B Harvey was a Banker and a farmer and came to the Muscotah regions of Atchison County in 1874. This is according to a 1903 County Atlas of Atchison County. I will try and report more to you all later after having a little research time to devote to the subject.
We have done good on this mystery. Almost got it solved in less than 24 hours.
What next Marci???
Ah, that can't be the whole thing. Surely there's more to come...
I sure hope so. I love mysteries!
Marci, keep them coming!
After checking with some old grizzly types, the following information was gleaned: A.B built a group of buildings on Main St.in Muscotah. His bank was a large masonry building on the corner. It later became a hardware store. The stone in the park monument came from his bank. It was the corner stone of the building. Somehow it was saved and found again in time for this erected monument.
I haven't had time to look through any old papers but will put that on my long term list of things to do.
An interesting aside about Muscotah. It was originally platted in 1857 and began its history about a 1.5 miles NE of its present location. After the railroad came through in 1870's, a new town of Muscotah was platted and everyone moved toward the railroad. A B Harvey would have come to the area about the time of the new town.
Anyone into Atchison County history drop me a line. The Editor of www.thenewsleaf.com
Post a Comment