Arkansas City Downtown Historic District
Walking Tour
Ormiston Building
Graves Drug
212-214 S Summit St
The Graves Self-Service Drug store held its formal opening at 212 S. Summit St. in April 1948. It opened in a rebuilt, redecorated and refurnished building previously known as the Arcade Building. It was the 11th drug store opened by Graves. The business also had stores in El Dorado, Winfield and several other towns in Kansas. Prominent Arkansas City businessman Guy Arthur Ormiston planned to build the Arcade Building after a devastating fire in May 1931 destroyed the Commercial Block building, a three-story structure with bay windows that was constructed in 1884 and as recently as 1925 had housed the Leland Hotel upstairs. Ormiston’s father, George, purchased the south portion of the Commercial Building in 1914 and later bought another 75-foot portion. It was occupied by several businesses, including a clothing store, Kirkpatrick Furniture and a shoe store, and later renamed the Ormiston Building. After the devastating 1931 fire — the second major fire on the east side of the 200 block of South Summit Street that year — Guy Ormiston decided to rebuild. The new Ormiston Arcade Building opened in early 1932. Before Graves refurbished the building, it was occupied by O.W. Fox, a druggist who relocated from 222 S. Summit St.; Clarence Bartell, a barber; C.H. Sanderson, who operated a ladies’ shoe and hosiery store; and Grant Sears, men’s furnishings. The American Legion owned the portion of the building at 214 S. Summit St., possibly as far back as 1952, as recently as 1983, which could account for the closed-up second-level windows. The architectural style of the Graves building is late 19th/20th century Classical/Italian Renaissance Revival. It is a two-story buff-brick structure with nine bays featuring palladian and arched upper windows, a stepped parapet at the roof, stone detailing, a cornice band and small circle panels between the upper windows.
K.P. Castle Block
Schmidt Jewelers
226 S Summit St
The three-story stone building at 226 S. Summit St., now occupied by Schmidt Jewelers, was constructed in 1889. It was known as the K.P. Castle Block. K.P. stood for the Knights of Pythias, a secretive men’s fraternal order that met on the third floor of the building. The K.P. Block replaced a previous structure known as the Pottle Building, named for the W.H. Pottle Dry Goods Company that operated there. By 1928, the K.P. Block also was called the Whittle Building, for the family that owned it. In addition to the K.P. hall on the third floor, there was a clothing store operating on the ground level and a bowling alley in the basement, according to the 1890 Sanborn Fire Insurance map of downtown Arkansas City. By the end of the first decade of the 1900s, The Globe, a ready-to-wear women’s clothing store, occupied the ground floor. Incorporated as part of the store was Lessem Mercantile, and in 1909 The Globe provided added room for the Lessem store’s expanded stock of women’s hats. By 1910 or 1911, L.D. Mitchell, a dentist, had an office in the building. The K.P. and dentist are not listed as occupying the building on the 1920 Sanborn Fire Insurance map, which shows a clothing and millinery store and furnished rooms on the third floor. In October 1926, the Brown & Miller Furniture Co. held an open house after remodeling the 226 S. Summit St. building. The entire building, from the basement to the third floor, was occupied by the furniture company. In the late 1960s until 1974, Richardson Interiors operated at 226 S. Summit St. before moving to a North Summit Street location. In 1999, Arkansas City native Luke Schmidt announced the opening of Schmidt Jewelers at the 226 S. Summit St. location. This vernacular-style structure with Richardsonian Romanesque influences features arched windows and masonry rustication, fitting for one of the oldest surviving buildings in Ark City.
Creswell Building
Remedies Salon & Boutique
300 S Summit St
In 1884, a two-story frame structure occupied by a luncheonette was on the lot at 300 S. Summit St. In 1886, the site contained a two-story brick structure called the Creswell Building, with a basement and a frame awning. A drug store occupied the first level and a billiards room was in the basement. In 1898, A.H. Fitch’s music store was located at 300 S. Summit St. A furniture store occupied the first level in 1905 and the building’s name was changed to the Trimper Building. A new address appeared on the north side of the building (101 E. Washington Ave.) and an undertaker was on the second level. An elevator also was installed by this time.
The People’s Store, a department store managed by W.S. Carter, occupied 300 S. Summit St. in 1925. In 1928, W.T. Head opened the Brownbilt shoe store, selling Buster Brown shoes at that address. Two years later, Ted Hedges bought the store. In 1933, Hedges announced he had completed a course in foot culture and he began offering lightweight arch supports for customers. In 1947, Froelich Shoes opened a store at 227 S. Summit St. and sold several shoe brands, including Buster Browns. This store was located at 300 S. Summit St. from about 1966 until 1969, by which time the store had changed names to Taylor’s Shoe Store.
Shear Success salon operated at the South Summit storefront from 1989 until at least 2016. Remedies Salon and Boutique has operated at the location in more recent years, and a separate hair and nail salon has occupied the East Washington storefront.
The two-story brick building built in the Commercial Vernacular style has been altered significantly through the years. The segmentally arched window heads have been boarded up and downsized, and the corbeled trim is obscured by a large fixed awning and replacement storefront. Although this currently is listed as a contributing building, these changes make it likely that it would become noncontributing if the district is ever amended, despite its status as one of the oldest buildings still standing in Arkansas City.
Sheridan Block
308-310 S Summit St
The Sheridan Block building was built in the late 1880s. In 1890, this three-story stone building was occupied by a harness business at 308 S. Summit St. and an agricultural implements store at 310 S. Summit St. A central stairway was installed inside the building on the Summit Street side, between the two businesses.
A number of different businesses have occupied the building through the years, but it probably is known best as having housed women’s clothing stores — first, Bridges Style Shop, which moved to 310 S. Summit St. in 1937; and second, Harvey’s Fashions, which opened in 1960 and continued to operate until July 2002, when Denim to Lace announced it was moving north to the 310 address from a few doors south on the same side of the street. Denim to Lace continued in business through 2006.
Previous occupants include, in 1920, the Arkansas Valley Gas Co. It occupied 308, while 310 was divided into two stores — a flower shop and shoeshine business. By that year, the upper floors of the building had rooms for rent. The Ark Valley Gas Co. remained through 1930, but by 1938, the Kemp Sales Co. and an optometrist occupied 308 S. Summit St. The American Café occupied the 310 location by 1925, but left the building by 1928. Bridge’s Style Shop was in business at 310 S. Summit St. from 1937 until 1960, when Harvey’s moved in.
The building, most recently home to the now-closed Special Threads dress/tuxedo shop at 308 and M’s Used Furniture Store at 310, has elements of the Richardsonian Romanesque, Romanesque Revival, Sullivanesque Influence and Italianate styles. It has a rock-faced stone façade with a band of round-arched window openings on the second floor and segmentally arched windows on the third floor. Historic views illustrate that a pressed-metal cornice and other features have been removed from upper façade. In addition to its rustication and arch work, this building features rosettes in cast-iron trim.
Eagle Block/Summit Block
312-322 S Summit St
Known as the Eagle and Summit Block building, this structure is one of the key historic buildings in the Downtown Historic District.
The Eagle Block and Summit Block were twin buildings adjoining each other, both built in 1886 — the Eagle Block north of the Summit Block. By 1890, a third building of the same style and structure was added to the south end of the original Summit building. From the mid-1880s to mid-1920s, many different businesses occupied the two-story stone buildings with a distinctive cast-iron façade on the upper story. They included a millinery store, tailor, grocery, hardware store, furniture store, electrical supply company, meat market, barber, shoe repair, dry cleaners, bakery and — in the early 1900s — a saloon.
The Peerless Bakery was in business at 318 S. Summit St. from about 1920 until 1940. The Crystal Barber Shop at 322 S. Summit St. started in 1923 and — as of 2021 — remained in business under that name after having undergone several ownership changes. The store that remained in business at the Summit Block the longest under the same owner was Duvall’s Pharmacy. It occupied 312 S. Summit St. for 40 years, from 1925 until 1965. The owner, Ethel Duvall, came to Arkansas City as a licensed pharmacist in 1914, after graduating from Valparaiso University in Indiana. The year she moved to Ark City, Duvall bought out the Bunker and Fretz drug store at 215 S. Summit St., known as the Walpex Building and the location of Woolworth’s. In 1925, Duvall moved her business across the street to the next block south, to 312 S. Summit St. The business continued operating at the Summit Block location until it announced a “quitting business” sale in 1965. Since 1935 until her death in 1974, Ethel Duvall also was known as Ethel Duvall Newbern. In 1935, she married Lee Roy Newbern, but her husband preceded her in death; he passed away in 1940.
Another business that occupied the Summit Block for many years was the Davis Mercantile Company, which sold men’s furnishings, clothing and shoes, at 314 S. Summit St. from 1917 to 1936. By 1948, Western Auto opened a store at that address and continued in business there until the mid-1970s. In more recent years, McDonald’s Used Books occupied the 314 space (with an accompanying vacuum store at 316 S. Summit St.) from 2002 until 2019, when the bookstore moved north to 110B S. Summit St. to become Blue Geranium Books and Gifts. (The vacuum business moved one block north and continues in operation today; following the move, the RooJax Company gift store briefly occupied this space.) The 314 storefront is now home to a beauty salon, while 312 S. Summit St. has been the location of Meiers Tax Accounting Service for years.
The Coffee Break restaurant at 320 S. Summit St. closed in 2011 after 35 years in business. Breaking Chains Ministries briefly occupied the location at 318 S. Summit St.
A two-part commercial block building with Renaissance Revival, Italianate and Queen Anne features, the Eagle Block and Summit Block building display iron pediments, classical pilasters, cornice treatment, modillions at the cornice and dentil bands. The upper-story windows are decorated with painted displays of frontier life from the 1800s.
Newman's Department Store
First Intermark
400 S Summit St
Albert A. Newman, an early settler of Arkansas City who played a key role in developing and building up the town, opened a small store in Ark City in 1870, the same year the town was settled. The Newman’s Dry Goods Co. prospered for many years and moved to several different locations along Summit Street as it expanded along with Ark City. It remained in business for more than 117 years, until it closed in 1988 as the oldest business in Kansas that had been owned continuously by the original family.
Construction of the Newman building began in 1916 and the new store opened in 1917. It is a palatial, five-story building at the southeast corner of Summit Street and Adams Avenue, defined by its plentiful windows and geometric trim elements. The stucco-covered building occupies a space of 100 by 132 feet and is solidly built of reinforced concrete, with recessed windows that provide plenty of light. Entrances to the building are on Adams Avenue and Summit Street.
The Newman Dry Goods store remained in this commercial-style Art Deco building until it closed. Three generations of the Newman family ran the store: A.A. Newman; A.A.’s sons, Earl G. Newman and Albert L. Newman; and Earl G. Newman, Jr. In April 1989, less than a year after Newman’s closed, Dave and Jan Vanderbilt bought the store and renamed it Vanderbilt’s. It specialized in boots, work clothing and Western wear. This store was closed in 1995. After renovating the building about five years later, First Intermark Corporation first occupied the store in October 2000. A grand opening was held in April 2001. In its early years in the store, a large percentage of First Intermark’s direct mail business included following up on sales for motorcycle dealers.
In 1870, Newman’s started out in a one-room, 20- by 40-foot wood frame building at 205 S. Summit St. In 1875, it moved across the street into a building at 206 S. Summit St., adding dry goods and groceries to its stock of men’s clothing, furnishings, boots, and shoes. A year later, the business moved to the two-story Goff and Milton building at 116-118 S. Summit St.; that was the first company-owned building. The business moved again in 1880 to Ark City’s first brick building, located at 126 S. Summit St. where RCB Bank now stands. That brick building was occupied until 1884, when the business moved to the Commercial Block at 212-214-216 S. Summit St. It occupied a main floor and basement there until 1895. Its next move was into the three-story Hill Block, a stone building at 302-306 S. Summit St., where Newman’s remained until it moved into its new five-story building at 400-406 S. Summit St.
S.H. Kress & Company
Hometown Rental
321-323 S Summit St
S.H. Kress & Company opened its new “five and dime” department store at 321-323 S. Summit St. in September 1910. The Arkansas City Daily Traveler said of the grand opening: “Crowds of men, women and children thronged the store ... W.D. MacAllister’s orchestra furnished music for the occasion, which was a very enjoyable feature of the opening.” The Kress store remained in business in Ark City until about 1970. In the early 1970s after it closed, the Dart Dollar Store opened at 321-323 S. Summit St., but it moved out within five years. Dart Dollar held its store closing sale in February 1974. Roger Sparks, who began in the music business in Arkansas City as a young man in the late 1960s, moved his store to the 300 block of South Summit Street in 1975. In 1984, he purchased an adjoining building at 321 S. Summit St. to open The Movie Store, a local video rental business. In May 1999, Home Town Rental-Purchase opened at the 321 location and operates there to this day.
The architecture style of the two-story brick building is late 19th and early 20th century Classical Revival and Neoclassical. The upper-story brick façade has corbeled quoins, four bays with paired pilasters, keystones over the windows and a denticulated cornice. The storefront is configured with a wide central display, window flanked by twin recessed entrances.
Oklahoma Tire & Auto Supply Company (OTASCO)
Sparks Music
313-315 S Summit St
In June 1933, the Oklahoma Tire & Supply Co. (OTASCO) announced it would open a new store in Arkansas City at 315 S. Summit St. on July 1. Thirteen years later, in 1946, the store was remodeled and doubled in size. A photo of the enlarged, two-story Spanish Eclectic-style building was included in an advertisement promoting the business at 313-315 S. Summit St. It features three window bays with stuccoed façade, terra cotta trim and an American Spanish tile roof.
The lots on which the OTASCO store stood were used for several different purposes from about 1884 until 1920. By 1884, they were used as lumber yards. By 1905, neighboring one-story frame buildings had been constructed on the lots. An iron-clad frame structure at 313 S. Summit St. was occupied by a luncheon business, with a shed behind it to the west, and a wood-frame horse stable was next door to the south, at 315 S. Summit St. In 1920, a restaurant occupied the 315 location, and a shoe shop and electrical motor business was next door. The two-story buildings on these lots were constructed in the 1920s or early 1930s.
By 1925, AC Floral & Seed Co. was located at 313 S. Summit St., followed by Piggly Wiggly in 1930 and Delux Photo in 1938. OTASCO expanded north to include this location by 1952.
Local merchant Roger Sparks, who began in the music business in Arkansas City as a young man in the late 1960s, moved his store to 313-315 S. Summit St. in 1975 and it continues there to this day.
Crescent/Beard Building
Brick's Restaurant/Accents Too
301-303 S Summit St
Ernest L. McDowell was one of Arkansas City’s pioneer merchants. He was eulogized by the Traveler newspaper on June 25, 1930, the day after his death. “Forty-six years of continuous service as an Arkansas City businessman have brought E.L. McDowell, veteran jeweler who died last night, tributes of admiration and regard from other business and professional men who have known him continuously since being in Arkansas City.” McDowell started in business in 1884 at 205 S. Summit St. He moved several times before he occupied the two-story brick building at 301 S. Summit St. in 1905, the year it opened.
It was referred to as the Crescent Block, after the original name of McDowell’s business, Crescent Jewelry. “Crescent” appears on the entry tower that faces the intersection of Summit Street and Washington Avenue. In 1913, McDowell made the news when a wireless time-receiving station he had installed above the entry tower of the building went into operation. McDowell’s Jewelry continued in business until about 1970. E.L. McDowell’s son-in-law, William Benedict “Ben” Curtis, took over the business after McDowell’s death and ran it until his own death in 1960. The Curtis family continued to operate it through the 1960s.
The Crescent Block also was known as the Beard Building, and “Beard” is inscribed on the building above the 303 S. Summit St. site. Another early-day merchant, George L. Beard, had started a small store in an iron-clad building at the 303 location. As his sporting goods business grew, Beard enlarged it, and in 1905 it was replaced with the two-story brick building he shared with McDowell. George Beard & Son sporting goods was listed in the 1910-1911 city directory and continued to operate at 303 S. Summit St. until at least 1938. In May 1946, C.H. Sanderson opened Sanderson’s Smart Shoes store at the 303 address. Sanderson’s changed names to Hobie’s Shoes in December 1970 and the shoe store continued to occupy the building until 1974.
An Ark City photographer, P.A. Miller, opened a photography studio on the north side of the building in 1905. He had a skylight installed on the roof. Miller’s Studio, at the southwest corner of Summit and Washington, is listed at 107 W. Washington Ave. In 1926, Mr. and Mrs. George Brill purchased the photographic studio and operated it until their retirement in 1968. The McDowell’s Jewelry building reopened in January 1975 as Brick’s Restaurant, and owner Brick Vining continued to develop that property and the adjacent storefront to the south, as well as other downtown properties. Accents Too, a gift shop that opened in 1995 in the 400 block of South Summit Street, moved to 303 S. Summit St., adjoining Brick’s, by 2000. It closed in 2020, but Brick’s remains open today as one of Ark City’s most popular eateries.
Built with elements of Italian Renaissance influence, as well as the Richardsonian Romanesque and Romanesque Revival styles, this building features arcaded block, grouped arched windows, elaborate molded and corbeled brick ornamentation, and a pediment.
American National Bank
Edward Jones Financial
227 S Summit St
The bank building at 227 S. Summit St. was built in 1890. It originally was the site of the American National Bank, chartered in March 1889. The site became home to Farmers National Bank in 1891. In 1907, the bank merged with Citizens State Bank, which moved to 227 S. Summit St. from its previous location at 127 S. Summit St. (now the site of the Union State Bank). The bank then was known as Citizens & Farmers State Bank. In December 1908, S.J. Gilbert, president of Security State Bank, purchased the bank building. In 1915, the bank became Security National Bank, which was later robbed on May 29, 1924. The robbers stole about $12,000 and fled in a Cadillac.
In 1890, the year it was built, the three-story, rusticated stone building housed a bank on the first floor, mezzanine and basement levels. Other occupants in the early years were the I.O.O.F. (Independent Order of Odd Fellows), on the top level, and a photo studio on the second level. By 1905, only minor changes in occupation occurred: a barber was in the basement, and the photo studio was replaced with printing and composing offices.
By 1912, the Commercial Club was located on the first level of the west portion, but the lodge hall, bank and barber still were there. Most of these functions, except for the barber shop, still were in place in 1920. By 1925, the bank building housed Security National Bank, a printing business, the Mid-Continent Petroleum Corporation on the second floor and the American Legion on the third floor. In April 1937, Security National Bank merged with Home National Bank and moved into Home National’s building at the northeast corner of Summit Street and Fifth Avenue.
Froelich Shoes opened a store in the 227 S. Summit St. building in 1947. (The shoe store relocated to 300 S. Summit St. in 1964.) During the 1970s, a women’s fashion-sportswear store occupied this building. By 2007, Riggs Tax & Financial Services moved into the building; the business later moved out in 2009. In August 2009, building owner John Sybrant began the task of taking off metal coverings on the building’s upper-story windows and installing windows that reflected the historical character of the building. After the renovation, the building was sold to Dan Jurkovich, whose Edward Jones financial services firm now occupies the first floor of the building.
One of the key historic buildings in the Downtown Historic District, the Security National Bank building features two architectural styles with grace. Arched window openings at the third-floor roof line area suggest elements of Sullivanesque styling, while its Richardsonian Romanesque and Romanesque Revival influences are seen in the rock-faced finish of the stonework, arcaded block, and use of carved stone featuring gargoyles and plants indigenous to this area.
Kirkpatrick's Furniture
Traver's Furniture
223-225 S Summit St
E. Kirkpatrick, co-owner of a furniture and undertaking business, moved the business to the new McCowan Block building at 225 S. Summit St. in September 1905. Earlier that year, McCowan, superintendent of the Chilocco Indian School, purchased two lots between Farmers State Bank and Morgan’s Music Store, the site of the new block. After the two-story, 50- by 130-foot stone structure was built, Kirkpatrick led an Arkansas City Traveler reporter on a tour of the building as he was finishing arranging merchandise for the store’s opening. Merchandise was being arranged on both stories of the building. The first floor was devoted to furniture, stoves, china, crockery ware and carpets. The ground floor had no partitions between the different departments; they were presented in one large, open room. On the second floor, larger items were displayed in the front room. At the back, or west, end of the second floor were two 16- by 60-foot rooms to be used for undertaking purposes. The basement was to be a stock room.
E. Kirkpatrick was a partner in the firm of Kirkpatrick & Shaffer until 1911, when Shaffer retired. Kirkpatrick bought out his partner’s share of the business and continued to run the store as Kirkpatrick’s Furniture until he died in October 1920. He was eulogized as a popular Ark City merchant and community builder. The furniture store continued in business at 225 S. Summit St. until the mid- to late 1920s.
McLellan’s Department Store moved into the building in 1930. The firm changed from a department store to a variety store by 1952, and by 1961, the firm’s name changed to the McCrory McLellan Co. McLellan’s remained in business until the early 1970s, when Brown’s Office Supplies, Inc., moved into the building from a previous location. Brown’s had been in business in Ark City since 1996. It later closed in 2010, and later that year, Willow Fashion, a women’s apparel shop, opened in this location and stayed in business for several years. In about 2018 or 2019, Traver’s Furniture, located at 221 S. Summit St., expanded to the store next door, where it offers a gallery of flooring supplies.
This commercial vernacular-style building features a rock-faced finish, alternating narrow and wide coursing, and Chicago-style windows.
The Parker Block
Traver's Furniture
219-221 S Summit St
The Parker Block, located at 219 and 221 S. Summit St., was built by October 1893, when The Arkansas City Daily Traveler reported that the new tailoring firm of Bardwell & Grays had moved into the building. William Penn Wolfe, the Ark City contractor who built the two-story building, also built the Knights of Pythias building at the northeast corner of Summit and Street Washington Avenue; the Zadie block, located at 208 S. Summit St.; and others, according to the obituary of his wife, Harriet C. Wolfe, who died in 1925.
The Parker building originally consisted of three storefronts. In August 1904, a fire broke out in the back room of Allen & Moore’s grocery store, located in the middle storefront, and L.S. Morgan, who sold musical instruments in the 221 store next door to the south, sustained the largest loss, estimated at $1,600 worth of merchandise, mainly pianos and organs in his back room; the loss was covered by insurance. The 1905 Sanborn fire maps show that the north store (219) was occupied by a meat market.
These functions remained through at least 1912. In a major alteration, completed by 1920, the building’s front was refaced to create one store from what had been three.
The two-story commercial prairie-style building has a brick façade with cast stone detailing, all with a painted finish. In December 1918, J.C. Penney held a grand opening in its new, expanded quarters in the Parker building. Penney’s first opened a store in Ark City on April 7, 1917, in a tiny, one-room building in the 100 block of South Summit Street. Within a year, the company had outgrown its original store and so the move south was made.
The Penney store stayed in business in Ark City for nearly 70 years. It closed in 1986 or 1987. In 1987, the building at 221 S. Summit St. was sold to Allen and Sherry Herman, according to the Cowley County Appraiser’s Office. From then on, it operated as a furniture store, now owned by their son, Traver Herman.
Matlack Building & Addition
Taylor Drug
201-203 S Summit St/109 W 5th Ave
The oldest building in Arkansas City’s Downtown Historic District — as listed in the 2017 resurvey by Brenda Spencer, of Spencer Preservation — is the Matlack Building, located at 201 S. Summit St. It was built in 1880. It has been a drug store under the names of Albert’s, Long’s, and Sollitt & Swarts in previous years, and currently operates as Taylor Drug. In its earliest years, it was a dry goods store owned by Stacey Matlack, for whom the building was named. The adjacent brick building at 203 S. Summit St. was constructed by 1884.
The two buildings together are among the earliest brick structures built in Arkansas City. At the time they were built, 203 was a one-story structure, while its neighbor to the north was two stories. A second story was added to 203 S. Summit St. by 1925, when C.R. Anthony Dry Goods occupied the ground floor; the top floor was occupied by a law office and investment company.
Matlack operated the dry goods store at 201 S. Summit St. from about 1879 until 1891. He was regarded as one of the most prominent, reliable and discreet pioneer businessmen in town. In 1887, the Matlack Building was extended to the west, and a two-story extension was built with a front entrance facing Fifth Avenue. But hard times struck unexpectedly for Matlack in early 1891, when the American National Bank failed. The bank was put under receivership, and the receiver broke an agreement to help the respected businessman.
That situation broke Matlack, both in spirit and financially. He left town for Oregon and was thought to have settled in Portland. By the mid-1890s, the Sollitt & Swarts drug store had moved into the Matlack Building from a location in the Colorado Building across the street.
Christopher C. “Kit” Sollitt came to Ark City in 1884 and became a prominent businessman and member of the city council before he died in 1928.
Harry Long, who had started working at the store in 1907 as an errand boy and janitor while still in high school, bought the store in partnership with John Parker in June 1919. Long acquired Parker’s interest in 1928 and became owner of a half-interest in the building; the other half was owned by the Swarts heirs. Long became a registered pharmacist in 1917. Like Sollitt before him, he also became a prominent businessman and civic leader. He served on the City Commission and as mayor. He concluded a 38-year career at the drug store in May 1945, when he sold the business to Bob Johnson.
The store continued in business as Long’s Drug until March 1962, when Albert Clemente moved his drug store from the Burford building to 201 S. Summit St. and combined his prescription stock with that of Long’s. Albert’s Drug continued in operation until Clemente’s retirement in 1983, after 32 years as a merchant and civic leader in downtown Ark City. “If there ever was a downtown businessman who did more for Arkansas City than Albert Clemente, that person is a well-kept secret,” wrote Stu Osterthun, The Arkansas City Traveler’s managing editor, in a story featuring Clemente in 1991. In 1983, Clemente turned the business over to pharmacist Fred Taylor and Albert’s became Taylor Drug.
Another prominent downtown business owner operated a men’s clothing store at 203 S. Summit St., the adjacent building to the south of Taylor Drug. Jack Kelley owned and operated Kelley-Gray Men’s Wear for 46 years, starting in 1940. Through the years, he served on the City Commission (and was mayor from 1951 to 1955), as Arkalalah chairman for seven years, on the Chamber of Commerce board of directors, and as the first president of the Arkansas City Industries Corporation.
Built in the early 20th century Italianate style, the Matlack Building is another key building in the Downtown Historic District. It features corbeled trim and a stepped parapet top. As for the Matlack Building Addition at what is now 109 W. Fifth Ave., early pictures show this structure having Queen Anne influence, with a distinctive turret roof area just behind the center arched window. The sign “Matlack” was moved from an earlier building front at 201 S. Summit St. to its present location facing Fifth Avenue. This addition features arched hooded molds over the second-floor windows and its use of window groupings creates a symmetrical façade accompanying its elaborate cornice and corbeling.
Cornish Photography Studio
125 W 5th Ave
When Arkansas City-based photographer George Bancroft Cornish built what was to be his final photography studio, he chose a location at 125 W. Fifth Ave.
Cornish was a well-known “Natural as Life”’ photographer, studying under William Prettyman. He worked with Prettyman photographing Native American tribes, cowboys and the Cherokee Strip Land Rush, eventually buying out Prettyman’s studio in 1905.
Cornish operated his studio in multiple locations with the help of his sister, Alice, until her death in 1916, and his assistant Edith Berroth.
He and his sister had dreamed of having “the most beautiful photography gallery in the Southwest.” While Alice didn’t live to see it come to fruition, her brother ensured their lifelong dream was realized in 1924.
Cornish hailed from a family of photographers, including his grandfather and his brothers, Arthur and Harry — both of whom worked for the Eastman Kodak Co. The family moved to Ark City in 1998 from Illinois and George Cornish lived here until his death in 1946.
Upon his passing, he bequeathed the studio to Berroth, who operated it until her retirement at the age of 74 in 1969. She sold the studio and building to Michael M. Marotta, a World War II Army veteran, who upon his honorable discharge in 1945 moved to Ark City and became Berroth’s partner in the business.
Marotta then sold the building to Otis Morrow and Jean Lough in 1979. Morrow converted it into law offices and operated his practice there for years, eventually selling the building to Tamara Niles in 2005. The offices continued to operate until 2020, when Niles moved away and put the building on the market.
The Cornish Photography Studio was designed by W.L. McAtee, an architect who moved to Arkansas City in 1917. He was the designer of several prominent buildings in the area, including First Christian Church.
While it was built in the Spanish Eclectic and Colonial Revival style, its red tile roof is unusual because it features straight-barrel Mission tiles as opposed to the traditional Spanish tiles. The building also features a hand-tiled parapet, wrought-iron railing, plastered stucco exterior walls, an asymmetrical west façade, arched windows and window grills, and the use of stained glass. Batchelder Mayan tiles grace the front-entry walkway.
I.O.O.F Hall
Cleveland Wellness Center
201 W 5th Ave
The Canal City Lodge No. 352 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) had been considering building their own lodge building for years. In 1906, the opportunity to do so came with the plans to establish a new post office designed to meet the requirements of the U.S. Postal Service and to reserve its second floor for the new lodge.
By January 1907, postmaster C.M. Scott received notice that the U.S. Postal Service had signed the lease for the new post office, to be built at 201 W. Fifth Ave. Work on the building progressed rapidly, even though George Hopper’s crew also was working on the new Carnegie Library not far to the west on Fifth Avenue. The cornerstone was set on June 19, 1907, containing a metal box with papers from the I.O.O.F. Lodge. On September 30, 1907, the new Canal City Lodge No. 352 I.O.O.F. was dedicated in an elaborate ceremony, with many Odd Fellow leaders from all across the state of Kansas in attendance.
By 1915, a new, larger post office building was built at the northwest corner of East Fifth Avenue and A Street. Meanwhile, the I.O.O.F. building continued to be used as an Odd Fellows meeting place for the Canal City Lodge and its female branch, the Rebekah Lodge, until at least the mid-1960s. In 1946, Aubrey Foster and Ernest Casey opened a furniture store in an adjacent building to the west (205 W. Fifth Ave.) that was named The Ark Furniture. After Casey’s death in 1960, the name changed to Foster’s Ark Furniture, and eventually Foster’s Furniture. The store grew and was expanded to include the I.O.O.F. building.
The last chapter of the I.O.O.F. building began in 1995, when Cowley County Community College purchased the building. The first floor eventually was remodeled to become the Ben Cleveland Wellness Center, which continues to operate there today. Much of the original appearance of this 1907 building has been maintained, including its late 19th and 20th century Classical Revival and Commercial Style. The old I.O.O.F. entrance can still be seen on the northwest corner.
Carnegie Library
213-215-217 W 5th Ave
Library advocate N.D. Sanders first began corresponding with famous industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie regarding funding a public library in 1906. Carnegie offered Arkansas City a $16,000 donation for a building, which was later amended to $18,400, with the stipulation that the City would guarantee a maintenance fund.
The first library Board of Trustees was established in June 1906, after a public vote to support the library was passed that month.
Six lots were purchased at South Second Street and West Fifth Avenue, and Smith and Shenck Architectural Firm, of Fort Worth, Texas, was selected to design the building.
Construction began in 1907 and the building was dedicated on August 5, 1908. When it opened, the library originally contained 3,600 volumes in its collection. Mrs. A.B. Ranney served as the first head librarian, keeping her position for 24 years.
The position of children’s librarian was first added in September 1923, when Mrs. P.A. Miller was offered the position. She previously served on the library board and had worked as a teacher in the local schools.
Major C.H. Searing bequeathed the library a legacy in his will, which was used to install two drinking fountains in the facility. A small China fountain was installed in the children’s department and a brown Tennessee marble fountain was installed on the main floor in August 1931.
A vibrant part of the community, the library organized Victory Book Campaigns during World War II. As the library collection grew, renovations were made to the original structure, including a new entrance in 1960 and a mezzanine in 1965.
In November 1980, the U.S. Postal Service vacated its building at 120 E. Fifth Ave. and the Arkansas City Public Library, which had simply outgrown Carnegie’s generous gift, moved into the newly available location on East Fifth Avenue, where it remains to this day.
The Carnegie building at 213 W. Fifth Ave. has remained empty ever since, although Cowley County Community College has periodically expressed an interest in it due to its proximity to the college campus.
The Carnegie Library was built in the Italian Renaissance style, with Neoclassical elements, and it features dark red brick with stone quoins at the corners, a pavilion/temple-style roof, Ionic columns, egg and dart border above dentil bands, and scrolled modillion brackets at the roof-line. The remodeled entrance features a glass vestibule and the building site is raised, with a stone retaining wall along the perimeter sidewalk.
Arkansas City Office Building
112-114-116 W 5th Ave
Known throughout its history as the Arkansas City Office Building, Fifth Avenue Office Building or simply the A.C. Office Building, this key building stands out as a very modern-looking structure juxtaposed against other, more classical architecture in the Downtown Historic District.
In November 1928, the H.W. Underhill Construction company was awarded a $198,600 contract to construct a five-story, Art Deco-style office building at 112-114-116 W. Fifth Ave., near the heart of downtown Arkansas City. It was planned to be open by June 1929, but weather-related issues delayed its completion until November 1929.
Early tenants included A.C. Savings & Investment Co., Ark City Drug Store, A.W. Ralston Investment Co., Santa Fe Building & Loan, The Janet Beeson Beauty Shop, Oscar Renn, J.A. Plumbley, George Templar, Drs. Day and Spalling, Dr. H.C. Gilliand, L.E. Brenz, H.J. Edwards, Ora Elwell, I.W. Bear, V.L. Overstreet, W.H. Rea, C.L. Zugg, H.M. Dummit, and Dr. M.M. and R.R. Miller.
Through the years, many doctors, dentists, insurance agents, loan companies, photo studios, real estate offices, architects and attorneys called this building home. It also housed the A.C. Coffee House, The Potter’s Wheel, The Cowley County Assessment Office, Kansas Gas & Electric, Kansas Power and Light, a business school, and many more.
The original group of investors went bankrupt in 1930 and the building was bought out by a Newton-based group of investors, before being sold for a second time later that same year. The building was purchased by Lou M. Bryant, owner of Bryant Hardware, in 1940. He passed away in 1965 while repairing a boiler in the Ark City Office Building.
In June 1982, new owner J.C. Bates set about renovating the building, including adding murals depicting Kansas history. But he sold it a year later to Union State Bank, located just to the east. The bank wanted to find a local owner to purchase the building and, in November 1988, Bob Reidlinger made that purchase. He was an insurance agent whose office was located in the building.
Reidlinger auctioned off the A.C. Office Building in June 2005 and the winners, Preston and Rebecca Hill, of Hampton, Virginia, purchased the building for $101,000.
While the Hills initially stated their intentions to move to Ark City and renovate the structure, by 2007, the building was fully vacant. The owners cited expenses as their reason for closing the building. It has remained shuttered for the last 14 years.
Local historian and former newspaper reporter Foss Farrar nominated the building to be placed on the Kansas Preservation Alliance’s list of Endangered Historic Places. The bid was successful and the building’s inclusion was announced in June 2012. What the future holds for what was once the commercial hub of downtown, no one knows. But it retains a proud place in the annals of Arkansas City.
The building is an Art Deco structure, featuring a mezzanine and tan brick front façade with stylized and geometric motifs. It also has a stone cornice with a shaped parapet featuring checkerboard paneled and carved detailing. The building-top vertical projectives create a vertical emphasis.
First National Bank/Conrad Block
Union State Bank
125-127 S Summit St
When the First National Bank building was built in 1883, it covered less space than it does today. Known as Union State Bank since 1898, the two-story brick building at the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and Summit Street extended about half the distance to the west, down West Fifth Avenue, as it does today as one of the key buildings in the Downtown Historic District. But the building located at 127 S. Summit St. did not originally extend north to include the 123 and 125 addresses, as it does now.
A previous, wood-frame building on the site housed the Cowley County Bank, which was started in 1872. Its officers were A.A. Newman, president; W.M. Sleeth, vice president; H.P. Farrar, cashier; and directors T.H. McLaughlin, H.O. Meiss and R.C. Haywood. In 1876, Sleeth and Farrar purchased all of the bank stock and made it a private bank called First National Bank.
They announced in March 1879 that a new building would be erected, and they moved into the new two-story brick building in 1883. A decade later, the bank experienced lean economic times and, in 1893, went into receivership.
Major Sleeth gave up all of his investments to liquidate the bank’s debt and he paid 100 percent to all of the bank’s depositors. The vacant bank building was occupied for the next five years by E.L. McDowell’s jewelry store. By February 1894, the First National Bank was reorganized, but by the early 1900s, the bank’s business was taken over by the newly formed Citizens State Bank.
George S. Hartley was president and Thomas Baird was vice president. It opened as the Union State Bank in January 1909, with Thomas Baird as president and O.E. Mabee as vice president. The bank purchased the building from the Baird Investment Co. on October 7, 1909, and Baird resigned his position about two years later. Baird’s successors as bank president were Fred C. DeMott, 1910-1940; Grover Dunn, 1940-1958; and the Docking family. Since 1956, control of the bank and the holding company, Docking Bancshares, Inc., has been with the Dockings.
Two Kansas governors, George Docking and his son Robert Docking, have served as chairmen of the board of Union State Bank. Gov. Robert Docking was president of the bank from 1958 to 1982. Robert’s son, Bill, took over the position in 1983 and currently is chairman of the board. After 31 years of serving as Union State Bank’s chief executive officer, Bill Docking handed the CEO position over to Eric Kurtz in February 2014.
The bank building has been modified several times through the years, but still retains its basic shape. Originally, it had 10 steps leading up to the front door. In 1928, these were removed and the floor was lowered to street level. The bank’s upstairs rooms were occupied for many years as law offices for W.L. and W.E. Cunningham, D. Arthur Walker and William Howard.
In October 1961, bank president Robert Docking bought the Fifth Avenue Book Store building adjoining the bank on West Fifth Avenue. The building continued to be used as a bookstore during the 1960s. By 1974, when the bank expanded to the west and north, the bookstore was demolished to provide easier access to the drive-through facility behind the bank off West Fifth Avenue.
Meanwhile, to the north at 125 S. Summit St.: In 1899, a two-story stone building replaced a frame dry goods store located on the east portion of this lot, where a saloon was housed. A billiards room and lunch café were located in the basement of the building’s west portion. In December 1908, owner C.B. Kinslow named the billiards and pool parlor the Salty Dog.
The saloon remained in operation until at least 1905, but was replaced by a cigar store by 1912. In August 1915, building owner W.B. Conrad announced the Salty Dog billiard and pool hall would be converted into a movie theater. On December 30, 1915, the Strand Theater opened. It continued in operation until at least 1937. In the 1950s, a bar called Modern Recreation was located in the building, which was later acquired by Union State Bank and incorporated into the bank building at 127 S. Summit St. A pool hall and bar have continued in operation at 123 S. Summit St. through the years, under various names and owners.
Built in the Italianate style, both of these buildings feature hooded segmental arches above their windows, egg and dart border columns with plant motifs, arcade block, and a definitive Italianate porch at the main entry.
Royal Cafe
117 S Summit St
A one-story stone building was built in the late 1890s or early 1900s at 117 S. Summit St. A restaurant operated in the north half of the building and a saloon occupied the south half. In 1912, a barbershop replaced the saloon, and by 1920, the entire building was a restaurant.
In June 1922, C.R. and H.H. Rawlings, a father and son, came to Arkansas City and opened the Royal Café at this location. It was described by The Arkansas City Traveler as a “fine eating house” that was furnished with $6,000 worth of equipment, including a counter, stools to accommodate 22 persons and 10 tables; all told, the restaurant had a seating capacity of 75.
Its wall equipment included a 16-foot range and steam table, and a refrigerator system to cool milk, water and foods requiring ice. Seven ceiling fans were installed to keep the establishment cool. The restaurant was one of five hotels and restaurants in Ark City that were honored by the Kansas Hotel Commissioner with the Red Seal for providing clean, wholesome food in sanitary and safe surroundings.
Unfortunately, the Royal Café closed in 1927 after five years of operation and owner H.H. Rawlings moved the business to Hutchinson. But by the early 1950s, Raymond Smith opened Smith Jewelry at 117 S. Summit St. and continued in business until the early 1970s. In 1972, Jess Kindred and his wife Nancy bought the store.
The Kindreds’ first occupation was a construction company called Kindred Construction. Jess had his start in the jewelry business by repairing watches at home before he and Nancy purchased the downtown store. Kindred Jewelry actually came about when another Ark City jeweler, Loren Grimes, hired Jess to work on clocks at Grimes’ first store on East Fifth Avenue. Jess took a correspondence course to learn more about watch repair and his interest was piqued.
Jess died in 2005 and Nancy closed the shop the following year after 33 years in business downtown.
The building, whose variety in design defines this commercial vernacular structure, is constructed of native rock-faced limestone with ornate carved detailing. It includes alternating horizontal bands above the storefront, including a row of small arches resembling a blind balustrade on the cornice. Stone piers framing the building include classical components with a plain column shaft and base that transition to local rusticated rock-face stones on the upper third and terminate with an arched cap.
City Hall
118 W Central Ave
The City Council of Arkansas City voted April 9, 1917, to commission the building of a new City Hall. Major Charles Hunt championed the project. William T. Schmitt, an Oklahoma City architect, presented the design specifications in February 1918. Everhardt Construction Co., of Salina, completed the current City Hall building in 1919.
The new structure replaced the former City building on the same site. It was built at a cost of $51,000 and opened in April 1919.
City Hall included a club room used by various community groups, including the Musical Club and Fortnightly Club. Plans existed for a memorial hall and auditorium to be built further to the north, which would have mirrored the current building but facing Chestnut Avenue, but they never materialized.
The Arkansas City Police Department initially was located at the north end of the building, but eventually moved into the basement, where it resided for decades, complete with jail cells and a secure area for dispatchers.
In July 1996, the City Commission of Arkansas City voted to purchase a building at 117 W. Central Ave., directly across the street from City Hall to the south, as a new location for ACPD. It was officially opened to the public on July 11, 1997. The basement was remodeled to house various offices, computer equipment and servers, and an Emergency Operations Center.
The Arkansas City Fire Department also was located at the north end of the building. There are multiple west-facing garage bays along the rear of the structure where the fire engines were housed. On the northeast corner of City Hall, an enormous tower still stands where ACFD at one time would hang its fire hoses to dry.
The City Commission purchased the former National Guard Armory building at 115 South D St. in July 1980. The Arkansas City Fire-EMS Department relocated there after completing renovations the following year. The north City Hall bays are now used for police storage.
Throughout its more than 100-year history, City Hall only has seen limited renovations, including two renovations to the city manager’s office in the past 20 years. A proposed sales tax vote for further building renovations and other City improvements failed in 2014.
In November 2015, the City Commission approved some additional renovations to the building. The City’s stated goal was to modernize the structure while keeping its historical integrity intact.
Workers from the City’s Parks and Facilities Division created a new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant and handicapped-accessible entrance to the Utility Billing Office; expanded the Finance Department’s customer service counters from two to three, with one being ADA compatible; created a larger waiting area with better traffic flow; and added an ADA-compliant unisex public restroom near the junction of the two main hallways.
The first- and second-floor hallways were repainted in a style and colors that matched the originals of the building when it was built in 1919, as determined by paint experts who analyzed the layers of paint when they were in town assisting with the Burford Theatre renovation. In 2020, this paint scheme was added to Cowley County District Court on the second floor.
City Hall was built in the late 19th and 20th Century Classical Revival style. It is a monumental free-standing building with a classical temple front and stone Doric columns. The center entry and ground-floor windows in end bays have pedimented surroundings. It features a limestone cornice, a defined parapet and an ornate carved panel that is centrally located on the parapet. The brick building has a natural-faced stone foundation and Ashlar stone detailing.
There are numerous monuments in front of City Hall, including recognition of a local company that manufactured the torch for the 100th Olympics, a Persian Gulf War memorial and an American Legion marker celebrating the organization’s 50th anniversary. A time capsule in front of the building was buried during the American bicentennial in 1976 and was opened in July 2021 as part of the City’s 150th anniversary celebration.
Old Arkansas City High School
Ireland Hall
300 W Central Ave
By the late 1880s, the Arkansas City school board was preparing to build a new high school building for the growing city. In April 1890, a design was accepted from Charles Sedgwick, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and work began July 10 of that year. Robert Baird, brother of pioneer resident Thomas Baird, was the local contractor in charge. Baird relied on the expertise of Joseph Bossi, a stone cutter from Milan, Italy, for the ambitious design.
This Richardsonian Romanesque building was built with locally quarried limestone of a nearly white appearance. The builders decided to offset the pale color of this stone with red-colored mortar. Vermilion, an ancient source for red coloring, was mixed into the mortar. What the builders did not know was that the vermilion would interact with the rain, staining the limestone blocks with the red coloring. The high school would henceforth be known as “The Red School House.”
Artistic features of lions’ heads and dragons carved in stone, along with two massive chimneys and a clock tower, contribute to the spectacular appearance of this distinctive building. (Ironically, clocks never were installed in the tower.)
The first high school class, with 194 students, started on September 7, 1892, although the building was not completely finished until 1893. It remained in use as the high school until 1922, when a new high school was opened. Arkansas City’s sixth-graders used the school until 1941.
After the last students left, the old high school was used by the USO during World War II, as a teen town, and also by the Red Cross.
By 1949, time had taken its toll and the school board was considering selling the old school. But interested persons suggested the building should be made available for the local junior college. A new chapter in the life of this old building began when Cowley County Community College acquired it in 1971. In 1974, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places and declared a state landmark.
After the college secured funding for a renovation of the lower portion of the building, which was completed by the summer of 1982, “The Red School House” returned to its original mission of education. The building was officially dedicated on December 12, 1982, and named after W.H. “Pat” Ireland, a strong community supporter who served on the college’s Board of Trustees for nearly 10 years. Today, Ireland Hall is home to Cowley College’s Criminal Justice, Cosmetology and Institute of Lifetime Learning programs.
Pilgrim Congregational Church
Vinelife Church
101 N 3rd St
Construction of one of Arkansas City’s most impressive historic buildings, the Pilgrim Congregational Church, began in 1891 and finished in 1893. It was completed just a few years after the old high school (now Ireland Hall), built in 1890. Both buildings are wonderful examples of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture, and both are built of cut Silverdale stone blocks with the Roman arches and towers typically found in this style.
The Congregational Church was one of Ark City’s oldest churches. Several of Ark City’s founding fathers, who originally came here from Emporia, were Congregationalists. Among them were A.A. Newman, Lyman Beecher Kellogg and Henry Brace Norton. (The latter two men were instrumental in securing and staffing the Kansas State Normal School in Emporia, now known as Emporia State University.)
The Congregational Church in Ark City had grown to 154 members by 1892. During the 1870s, its early members joined members of other denominations and met in several different locations in town. In 1887, the Reverend D.D. DeLong, a popular minister, was secured to unite the people and the church was incorporated. A building committee was formed in 1889.
Built of sandstone with limestone trim, the church features a bell tower 78 feet high. In 1949, it became home to the Nazarene Church and, in 2002, the Vinelife Family Church. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Reedemer Lutheran Church
320 W Central Ave
Arkansas City’s Redeemer Lutheran Church was organized in 1930, but the first services of the Lutheran congregation began five years earlier in 1925, when several different men from St. John’s College in Winfield started coming to Ark City to conduct services.
They were Dr. A.W. Meyer, president of St. John’s; Professor J.W. Werling; and St. John’s students Martin Kretzmann and G. Ladwign. Also conducting services in Ark City at that time was Pastor F. Worthmann, of Winfield.
Before Redeemer Lutheran’s first dedicated church was built in 1941, the Lutheran congregation met in various locations in Ark City, including the Oldroyd Funeral Chapel and clubrooms in City Hall. Charter members of the congregation were E.W. Ronsick, Herman Borchers, F.J. Wobbermin, Henry Hiller and John Fass.
The first resident pastor, the Reverend Paul Mehl, was installed in August 1930. Soon after his arrival, the church purchased a piece of property near the site of the current church building. On April 27, 1941, Redeemer Lutheran’s new church was dedicated at 320 W. Central Ave. The church held three services that Sunday that were attended by more than 800 people.
Architects Shaver & Sons, of Salina, designed the one-story church in the Gothic Revival style as developed for English chapels. The church is built of random-coursed stone blocks in varying sizes. It features a front-facing gable at the sanctuary with a low flat roofed bay on the west and intersecting gable at the rear, facing west. The front gable end features tripart long and narrow windows with pointed arched tops. The stained-glass windows on the rectangular bay are aluminum framed with irregular lights, similar to Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs for Prairie-style homes.
In March 1957, the voting body of the congregation accepted the bid of R.S. Lord, of Ark City, for remodeling and expansion of the original church. The expansion added 2,772 square feet of new floor space. The project was completed by February 1958 and the church held a formal dedication on the 16th of that month. In 1984, Redeemer Lutheran held two services of dedication and an organ recital following another building renovation that included the addition of a new Rodgers 720 organ and four new stained-glass windows designed by church artist Mark Anschutz.
Central Christian Church
206 W Central Ave
The Central Christian Church of Arkansas City was born one night in 1877, when 13 men and women met in the Parker schoolhouse 3 miles east of town to discuss the need for a church. From 1877 until 1882, the small congregation met outside of town. But two years later, they began to hold services in a hall located where the Burford Theatre now stands. Then they began meeting in the First Ward school building (now Roosevelt Elementary School). By 1886, the congregation had built a 28- by 40-foot frame church located on Central Avenue, just north of the current church’s entrance on First Street. The current church building was begun in 1921 and completed in 1923. It was constructed in red brick with cut stone features. The entrance is framed with Ionic columns supporting an entablature inscribed with “Central Christian Church” above.
First Church of Christ Scientist
201 N A St
The citizens forming the nucleus of the First Church of Christ Scientist in Arkansas City were granted a charter in 1888. Church services were held continuously since that date at various locations until a church property was purchased in 1898 at 108 N. Second St. In November 1911, the church purchased property at the northwest corner of A Street and Chestnut Avenue, where the current building now stands. The cornerstone of this new church was laid on November 2, 1915, and the terra cotta brick structure was completed and used for services on July 16, 1916. Dedication services were held on May 27, 1917. The church features a Greek revival style and resembles the Pantheon in Rome, with its circular sanctuary, shallow pediment and Doric columns.
Trinity Episcopal Church
224 N A St
About two dozen Cowley County residents met on a cold winter night, December 27, 1884, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wyard E. Gooch, and signed a resolution to establish a Protestant Episcopal Society. The society soon made arrangements with the Rev. Mr. McKay of Emporia to conduct an Episcopal service in Highland Hall in downtown Arkansas City (where the Burford Building now stands). The Rt. Rev. Thomas Vail, the first Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Kansas, visited Ark City on Oct. 21, 1885, and held a service in the First Presbyterian Church. During the rest of 1885 and all of 1886 services were conducted by laymen, Mr. Gooch and Dr. A.J. Chappel leading most of them. After conducting a baptism and confirmation ceremony in Ark City in July 1887, Rt. Rev. Elisha Thomas, newly elected Bishop Coadjutor of Kansas, returned here a few days later to establish the Trinity Church parish. Mr. Gooch and Mr. Herman O. Meigs were appointed as the first wardens, and the Rev. W.W. Ayres of Wickford, R.I., was called as rector of the new parish. Trinity Church was officially admitted as a parish in communion with the Diocese of Kansas in December 1887. Its first church building was a wood-frame structure built in 1888, located in the 300 block of East Adams Ave. The church seated 200 people, cost $1,300, and served the parish for 34 years. The cornerstone of Trinity’s present stone church building at the southeast corner of A Street and Walnut Avenue was laid on January 1, 1922. On December 14 of that year, Bishop James Wise of Topeka participated in dedication ceremonies of the new church along with the church rector, Rev. Frederic Busch. The church was built to the memory of the late Andrew J. Hunt, who had served as senior warden of Trinity Church and was a vital force in the parish until his death in 1918. Hunt was president of the New Era Milling Company in Ark City, and one of the most widely known millers in the country. Under the leadership of the Millers National Federation, $12,000 was raised toward the church’s construction cost of about $60,000 total. Many of Hunt's colleagues from throughout the country attended the church dedication. The church is built of Silverdale stone and adheres to the Gothic architectural style typical of Anglican churches. (Arkansas City Traveler , 1976) (Arkansas City Daily Traveler, 1921) (Arkansas City Daily Traveler, 1922) Trinity added a new Education Building to the south of the church in 1959. It has served as a multi-purpose building that has been used for workshops, dining, as a gymnasium, and a day school. The Trinity Montessori Day School was held in the Education Building from the late 1960s until September 2014. (Arkansas City Traveler, 2014)
First Presbyterian Church
321 S 1st St
A Presbyterian church was organized in Arkansas City in 1873, to be designated as the First Presbyterian Church. The first meeting place for members as the church was being organized was in a store building at 207 S. Summit St.
The first designated church building was erected in 1873 and used by several denominations until they established their own buildings. It was a wood-frame structure with a steeple at 311 S. First St. Additions were made to the building in 1882, 1900 and 1909.
Construction on the domed sanctuary building at 321 S. First St. began in 1913 and it was dedicated in 1915, with Dr. William Gardner as pastor. It is a tan brick structure, built in the Greek Revival style, with four Neoclassical columns employed at the church’s east porch entrance.
A beautiful, antique glass rose window installed in the church’s chancel was dedicated on March 23, 1941, to the late Mrs. Albert Faulconer. Dr. Frederick Maier, pastor, led the congregation through the ceremony. A new two-story education wing and a small chapel were dedicated in 1954.
Sacred Heart Catholic Church
320 S B St
In the 1870s, Jesuit priest Father Paul Ponziglione visited early Catholic settlers in the Arkansas City area. Father Ponziglione was a missionary who traveled by horse and buggy from Osage Mission (now St. Paul, Kansas) to minister to Osage villages and camps, as well as Catholic settlers in fledgling towns in southeastern Kansas. In 1886, Florian “Fred” Trimper and his wife, Christina — devout Catholics born in Germany — came to Ark City and offered their home for church services. In October 1886, Father Bernard McKernan was assigned to Winfield as a pastor and also served Arkansas City as a mission church.
The first Catholic church building in Ark City was a small frame structure built in 1886 and located in what is now the 900 block of North A Street.
But that location was considered inconvenient because, at that time, it was outside the city limits. In 1898, another wood-frame church was built at the southeast corner of A Street and Fifth Avenue, just west of the former opera house (now the site of the Arkansas City Recreation Center). In October 1900, Father Martin Degnan was sent to Ark City as the first resident priest and served here for 28 years. By 1919, the congregation had outgrown its small church and construction work began on the current church building at the northeast corner of B Street and Adams Avenue.
The new Sacred Heart Church, dedicated on November 11, 1920, is of the Richardsonian Romanesque and Romanesque Revival architectural style. It is built of Copper Chief brick, is 120 by 42 feet and has two 85-foot-tall towers.
Sacred Heart School was built just to the north of the church in 1926.
In November 1944, a longtime Sacred Heart pastor, Father Arthur Holtz, was named administrator of the parish and served as pastor until September 1961. On September 18, 1960, Mark K. Carroll, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, traveled to Arkansas City to dedicate a Sacred Heart parish recreation building behind the church and school in the 300 block of South C Street. The Sisters of St. Joseph taught generations of Ark City area students at Sacred Heart School. They came to Ark City to staff the school in September 1926 and ended their ministry here at the close of the 1990-91 school year.
5th Avenue Presbyterian Church
122 S B St
Greater Grace Church of God in Christ, formerly known as Great Grace Family Worship Center, continues a nearly 150-year tradition of worship in the oldest dedicated edifice still being used for worship in Arkansas City.
The historic Fifth Avenue United Presbyterian Church sanctuary bears a cornerstone stamped 1874 and it has never been used for any other purpose. In recent years, there has only been one change to the interior, the creation of a unisex restroom on the main level, and one exterior change with the addition of a powered lift to increase access to the main level.
The irreplaceable stained-glass windows include a biblical depiction of the New Jerusalem. The stained-glass windows on the main level are nearly 100 years old. Pending improvement projects include the restoration of the bell tower on the southwest corner of the structure.
The church’s history extends back to December 1872, when the Garnett Presbytery held a special meeting. The Reverend W.R. Erskine was appointed to establish a church in Arkansas City. In March 1873, 11 local people were accepted into membership.
Those charter members included Mr. and Mrs. William F. Ramsey, and Major and Mrs. William Sleeth. Major Sleeth was one of the founders of Ark City, and a well-respected businessman and civic leader. He was elected an elder of the fledgling church, along with James L. Shaw. Until the church building was constructed in 1874 at a cost of $3,000, the congregation met downtown in Peter Pearson’s Hall. Representing the vernacular architectural style with Italianate elements, the building at 122 South B St. was constructed of lumber that was cut at Sleeth’s lumber mill on the Walnut River. Thomas Baird also supplied some lumber for the construction. Volunteers did much of the construction work.
The cost of the red bricks for the structure was noted as $407. The bell that was to be placed in the church’s belfry arrived in January 1876 and was rung for the first time on Sunday, the 23rd of that month.
The first full-time church pastor was the Reverend McClanahan, from Monmouth, Illinois, who married Hattie Thompson in the first wedding to take place in the church.
The church building has undergone several renovations over the years. The original church consisted of the room that is now the church auditorium. In 1913, an extensive remodel was completed. A two-story addition on the church’s north side was completed for a gallery and a lecture room. The pulpit was moved to the south and the floor was built in an amphitheater style. A new square-shaped corner bell tower was added, facing the intersection of B Street and Fifth Avenue.
Also in 1913, a memorial stained-glass window, depicting a road leading to the New Jerusalem, was installed in honor of the late Major Sleeth as the gift of Mrs. Emma Sleeth, his widow. It was placed below the circular stained-glass window where the front entrance had been located. The entrance was moved later to the tower addition on the building’s southwest corner.
The church was enlarged again in a building project completed in 1921. An annex to the west side of the church was built that included a pastor’s study. The entrance was changed again, to the west side.
A stained-glass window of Christ was placed in a former entrance in the church tower. The church was re-roofed in 1937 and the interior was redecorated. The Fifth Avenue United Presbyterian Church celebrated its centennial in June 1974. The church’s pastor, the Reverend Amer Stocking, was assisted by former pastors, the Reverend Harry W. Orr and the Reverend Don M. Swaim, in celebrating this morning service.