1887 to 1990

After meeting some of the early town’s people, you would have without doubt asked them if they could live a somewhat normal life here on the wide open prairies. Is there a school for the children, a church for Sunday, and what do you do on a Saturday night for relaxation? The answers would have been varied, but very positive.

Education has had a long history of importance in Milton Township. Mrs. E. T. Eaton taught the first term of school in a small house built on the southwest quarter of Section 20 in what became District 95. The Holden School was built later in 187124 and was located on the north side of Section 20, just west of the half-mile hedge row. As Whitewater organized, District 95 was relocated to town and the first school building was built in 1889. It was located one block west of Main and one half block north of Rock Island Avenue (currently Topeka Street) on the east side of the street.25 Miss Mary Margaret Neiman was the first teacher. A high school was first opened in 1900. A brick building was erected in 1909 to house both the grade and high schools. In 1923 the north building of the Whitewater Grade School was built for the high school and served the community until Remington High School was constructed north of Brainerd in 1963.26

Rev. D. B. Shuey organized the first church in Whitewater, the Grace Reformed Church in 1888. Rev. Henry Acker relocated the Evangelical Lutheran Church to Whitewater in 1889, which he had organized in Annelly in 1881; he built the new sanctuary for $1,400 on the site of the present Federated Church. The Federated Church was established by the merging of the Lutheran, the Reformed, and the Christian congregations in 1924.

The town also had three dance halls and three saloons on the street one block west of Main during the 1890s. Several fraternal organizations were created: the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Whitewater, 1889; the Mason Lodge 280, ca. 1890; Ancient Order of United Workmen; Grand Army of the Repubic; and the Modern Woodmen Camp 2860 was charted on May 9, 1896 with J. W. Stiger as First Counsul and J. M. Pace as First Clerk. 27 The first ladies' order was the Rebekahs, another was the Woman's Relief Corps. Baseball and softball have long been a favorite sport of the community, and local and church leagues continue to perpetuate this popular pastime.

Early on horses had such value for work and transportation that horse theft was frequent. Horse power was essential and drove the economy. The community formed a neighborhood watch group for their protection and the Whitewater Anti-Horse Theft Association at one time had 168 members.

Politics were also an important component of community development. Prior to 1890, residents of Whitewater went to Brainerd to vote in country, state, and national elections since there was only one voting precinct in the area. Dr. Horner’s band of 18 members often played at political rallies as well as other venues. 28

The first street lights and church front lights were coal oil wicked, subsequently gasoline-mantle systems were used, and then electricity. The first use of wind power was by the Rock Island Railroad to pump water from the creek nearby.29 Electricity was first installed in the Whitewater Mill by R. H. Farr in 1913. KG&E was granted an electricity franchise by the city in 1921.

Whitewater installed their first city sewage system in 1953. Most septic tanks in the city were closed and the residents were put on the city sewage line. In 1980 and 1981 the sewage system was updated. A larger filter tank was built and larger lines were installed.

The Whitewater Fire Department was established in 1891. The first fire station was a small building on Main Street. The next station was built in ca. 1920 and was located under the water tower and is now used to store city equipment. The present fire station was finished in 1980. In 1923 the city purchased a Model T Pumper to augment the bucket brigades; updated equipment was added as needed: a 1954 Ford LeFrance Engine (Pumper), a 1981 Ford Collins Engine, and in 2008 an American LeFrance Engine. The Whitewater firemen are all trained volunteers. The G. H. Roach barn was the first fire in town. On November 19, 1893 the Evangelical Lutheran Church burned to the ground. Another major fire was the Carter barn in which a mule burned. The next was a stable of Chester Smith in which a cow burned. The two greatest fires to date were the Korber garage/Smith Bros. furniture store in April 1930 and the last major in-city fire occurred on August 1930 when the Lamer and Neal buildings housing the Golbeck Café and Dr. Regier’s office burned to the ground. 30, 31, 32, 33

The City Library was established about 1928 by Mrs. James A. Thompson who served as the librarian at least through 1935. The library was first located in the basement of the school building. In 1949 it moved into the frame building south of Neuman’s Hardware, which was built by Fred Breising, Sr. in 1890 for his meat market. The new Whitewater Memorial Library building was erected at Elm and Topeka in 1980.

In 1889 Whitewater had five general stores: Roach Bros., John Eilert, G. H. Otte, T. J. Whiteside, and S. L. Motter.

The first harvesting machines sold in Whitewater were: McCormick, Henry Weachman; Plano, L. H. Oldfield; Deering, Irwin Bros., E. L. Neal, agent; and Champion, Gerhard W. Penner.

The Whitewater Bank of Brainerd vacated their brick building in Brainerd in 1889 and moved their business operation to Whitewater on a farm wagon. A local farmer, wanting to make a deposit after he had sold his hogs, caught up with the “bank-on-the-move” one-half mile west of Brainerd and gave them his check for deposit. This was, no doubt, the first drive-up window with extended customer banking services.

The Whitewater Bank of Brainerd failed during the depression of 1891 and was reorganized by George Peter and Isaac Howard Neiman into the Bank of Whitewater on April 3, 1891. The first officers were J. C. Kirkwood, president; I. H. Neiman, vice-president; G. P. Neiman, cashier; and R. G. Kirkwood, assistant cashier. The first board of directors included G. P. Neiman, I. H. Neiman, T. C. Newcome, J. C. Kirkwood, A. H. Rich, J. W. Steiger, and R. G. Kirkwood.

The first bank was on the location of the present American Legion building. The present bank building was erected in 1895 (at the corner of Main & Rock Island). In 1897, the bank put down the first brick sidewalk in town using Fessler Kiln bricks, replacing the wooden boardwalks.

In 1892, James D. Joseph purchased an interest in the bank and became a director and assistant cashier on April 1, 1892. In 1920, Mr. Joseph purchased a controlling interest in the bank and became controlling officer. He served as cashier and president, and in 1949 retired from the bank having served 57 years. Through his efforts the bank got the nickname “The Biggest Little Cattle Bank in Kansas.” Mr. Joseph would make buying trips to Texas and would return with train car loads of feeder cattle, which he sold to local farmers. Arthur Nigg who married Mr. Joseph’s daughter, joined the bank in 1931. When his father-in-law retired he became president and served from 1949 until his death in 1955. Marion Joseph Nigg, his wife, then filled the presidency and served from 1955 to 1967. John C. Umbach joined the bank in 1951 and assumed the presidency in January 1967. He is the son-in-law of Marion J. Nigg and served until his retirement from banking in 1983. Bob Whitaker was elected president in 1983. Don Patry is the current president. The Bank of Whitewater is the oldest continuously operating bank in Butler County.34

The Peoples State Bank was organized in 1908. A large building with a colonial type front was erected on Main Street. This was the bank that was protected by the machine gun in the Bruhn Blacksmith Shop. The banks, including the Bank of Whitewater, organized the downtown merchants into a vigilante group. They provided World War I Army rifles and sawed off shotguns with ammunition. The guns were serviced once a year. In the upstairs window of Bruhn’s Blacksmith Shop was a World War I machine gun. It was trained on the door of the Peoples State Bank. The idea was that if the bank burglar alarm went off, these vigilantes were to grab the guns, load them, and shoot the bank robbers. There is no record of any bank burglar alarm ever sounding. This group disbanded about 1940, but the guns remained with many of the merchants.35 The bank failed after the stock market crash of 1929 and the Bank of Whitewater bought all interests.36

Another business with a noteworthy historical past is the Whitewater Mill built by R. H. Farr in 1899. By 1906, the mill had become the largest grain station in Butler County. The two leading brands of flour produced were “Home Queen” and “Whitewater Rose.” In 1918, the Whitewater Mill and Elevator were purchased by Levi Zimmerman, Paul Ross, Murry Ross, and Carl Ross. Within a year or two, they also purchased a small flour mill in Ottawa, Kansas. Levi Zimmerman and Paul Ross managed the Whitewater facility and in 1929 additional brands also included “Red Bird” and “Winner.” Of this flour, 75% was “Self Rising.” In 1934 the Whitewater Mill concrete head house was constructed; two years later the first annex was added and the second annex a few years after the first. In 1936, the group purchased the Goerz Mill in Newton; other acquisitions included the Kansas Milling Company of Wichita, the Wichita Terminal Elevator, and a flour mill in Arkansas City. Levi and his nephew Ted Zimmerman purchased the Whitewater Flour Mills Company from the other stockholders in 1954 and continued to manage the mill for 20 years. At times there were as many as 32 employees, making it the largest employer in Whitewater. In 1974, several local farmers purchased the mill for use as a country elevator, naming it Whitewater Mill, Inc. For 7 years the mill was used to make Cream-of-Wheat for the Nabisco Company. In 1987, the flour milling equipment was sold and the mill became a grain storage terminal and farm supply/feed store. In May 1989, the Whitewater Mill was sold to Farmers Grain Co-op of Walton, Kansas. 37, 38, 39, 40, 41

The location of businesses in 1920 Whitewater have been diagramed in Figure 7.

Contact Us:
P.O. Box 87
Whitewater, KS 67154
Phone: (316) 799-2137