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The Barton County Historical Society has been recording memories, recollections, and experiences about people living and working in and around South Hoisington as part of its oral history project “South Hoisington: Stories from the Other Side of the Tracks”. Founded in 1886 and incorporated in 1887, the City of Hoisington was formed to attract and benefit from the Kansas and Colorado Railroad, which would later become part of the Missouri-Pacific Railroad. To accompany and promote the oral history project, museum staff and volunteers and installing a display highlighting the Missouri-Pacific’s history in Central Kansas and its influence on the development of South Hoisington.
In 1911, the Missouri-Pacific Railroad (MoPac) began construction of their Division Shops, along their rail line on the south side of Hoisington, to service steam engines running the route to Pueblo, Colorado. Until World War II, this facility was the largest employer in Central Kansas. Featured in the exhibit are items donated by Tom Tanquery of Great Bend, whose father and grandfather worked for the railroad. Tanquery created four shadow boxes of MoPac memoribilia, incorporating everything from railroad lanterns and spikes to train schedules and passes. Additional items, including plats, maps, and photographs are being pulled from the museum’s collections and worked into the display.
MoPac’s shops created job opportunities and soon the “South Town” community attracted both African American and Hispanic railroad workers and their families. It has become part of the larger story of the experiences of ethnic minorities in Kansas with a unique railroad accent. The oral history project hopes to capture a shared experience of what occurred in these communities when they existed at their peak, explained Beverly Komarek, Executive Director of the Barton County Historical Society. “By combining human stories with the information from railroad records, newspapers, publications, and census records, the project hopes to build an awareness of and appreciation for what it was like to live in this community, a place that no longer exists.”
The project has been funded in part by the Kansas Humanities Council, a nonprofit cultural organization promoting understanding of the history, traditions, and ideas that shape our lives and build community
The BCHS is located on South Highway 281 at the Arkansas River Bridge in Great Bend, Kansas. Additional information can be found at http://bartoncountymuseum.org.
