The Water Tower

I suppose I remember this water tower. But to tell you the truth, I don't have a single story to tell about it. Still pretty cool though.

Jerry Ney's House

This is where my friend, Jerry Ney lived. It was just behind Artie's house. I don't know much about him or how he turned out. I do remember though, his little sister died and they moved to Claflin. And that's the last I knew of him.

Modern Facilities

This was taken from the back side of Frank and Bertha's store. In the background is their house and in between is their out-house. Gross...

Last House Standing

This is where Vernon Krier, Jay's dad lived after he left the farm. I don't know but I assume he probably lived there till he died.

I showed these pictures to my aunt a few days ago. What's cool about that is my mom and aunt lived here when they were kids too. She told me this was where the Arbuckles used to live. Whoever they were.

I didn't go up to it but I could tell no one had been around for a while now. The grass was in the process of taking over the sidewalk and driveway. Bet a guy could get a pretty good deal on it.

Hitschmann: A Kansas Ghost Town, Part Two

It’s funny, the guy from the elevator wasn’t from Hitschmann and once I told him I used to go to school there, he started asking me what I knew about the place. I named off a few people. One of them was a kid named Jay Krier. He told me Jay lived just north of town and offered up directions to his house. I declined the offer though. I’ve always been a little worried that Jay might still be mad at me for tearing up his dad’s alfalfa field. I’ll get to that later though, like always, I’m getting ahead of myself.
I probably should have started off today by saying that if you missed last week’s column, I’m telling a story about a Kansas ghost town named Hitschman and some of the people who lived there. This week is the second part of what will probably end up being a four part story about the place.
Alright then, where was I? Oh yeah, after the guy from the elevator and I talked for a while I told him I’d noticed the side door of the school was open and was wondering if he thought anyone would freak out if I went inside to get a few pictures. He told me to go ahead, just be careful. There had been a bunch of thugs living in it and were tearing the hell out of the place a few years back until the cops finally busted up their meth lab. He said there used to be signs warning about the chemicals but they’d been gone for a long time too.
I was thinking about that story as I walked back to the school and thinking about how sad it was but I wasn’t all that surprised either, not in today’s world anyway. Oh well, what do you do?
Just inside the front doors of the school is a big stairway that leads up to the classrooms. I stood there for a couple minutes thinking back to the last time I came down those stairs, I had no idea it would be 43 years before I’d be back.
As I climbed the stairs I noticed the water fountain and remember thinking it used to be a lot taller. Then I stepped into my old classroom. I stood in the same spot my desk used to be. I could almost hear Mrs. Seimpson taking roll call, leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance, and following that up by leading us as we recited the “Lord’s Prayer.” Now that’s something you’re not likely to hear nowadays. I noticed the closets we used to hang our coats in and thought to myself how upset she’d be if she saw how messed up they were today.
As I stood there I wondered what ever became of my old classmates. I went to school there for three years and each year there were five of us in our class. Besides myself there was Jay Krier, Artie Beck, Jerry Ney, and a girl but I can’t remember her name.
I walked out of my classroom out into the hallway. I went into the boy’s bathroom and yes, I know this is going to be gross but the urinal cracked me up. It used to be taller than I was. I went into the girl’s bathroom and realized this was the first time I’d ever been in there. I don’t know what the penalty for going into the girl’s bathroom would have been but I’m sure it would have severe in those days. I went into the “big kids” room. About the only thing I can remember about this room is it was where they kept the old Xerox machine. I always loved it when I got to help make copies of whatever we were copying. How many of you remember those old machines? Do you remember the smell of the ink? I just loved that.
I went down that stairway to the basement and the first thing I noticed was the stage. That old stage provided me with one of the most embarrassing moments of my young life. It was during one of our Christmas programs. We were singing that old Christmas Carroll that went “down through the chimney with ol’ St. Nick. You know the one. When we got to the part that went “up on the house top, “click, click, click.” Well, my job was to step forward and hit two sticks together with the beat. It was going so well too. I don’t know, maybe I got a little carried away but when I smacked my sticks together for the third and final time one of them broke in two. That by itself wouldn’t have so bad I guess. But I don’t know why that one piece just had to fly out into the crowd and hit a lady sitting in the front row on the leg. All I knew was that I wanted to die. But, the show must go on. And go on we did. At the other end of the basement was the kitchen and I could almost smell the home made dinner rolls they used to make.
Guys, I’m sorry but I’m going to have wrap it up. Next week we’re going to go over to Artie Beck’s house, then walk over to Frank and Bertha’s store for a pop. Remember, if you’re interested, you can join in on the conversation by going to my blog at http://www.rm235.blogspot.com/. I’ve already heard from a man named Al who lived in Odin and is very familiar with the places I’m talking about. It doesn’t get any better than that. Hope all is well with you and yours.

Stairway to Knowledge

My class was the one on the right. I remember getting in trouble for running up and down these stairs.

My Old Classroom

This is where it all started. We had K-6th graders in this room. If I remember right, all combined, there were 12 or 13 of us. The frame of the old black board is still there. In what looks like a boarder along the top of the black board is where Mrs. Seimpson had the Alphabet, you know. Man, that was a long time ago.

The Boy's Room

Yes, I do remember peeing in this urinal. It's funny though, it used be taller.

The Girl's Room

Okay, I know the last two shots have been gross. But hey, it's all part of the deal.

The "Big Kid's Room"

This is the "big kid's room," the 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. As you can see it eventually became home to a bunch of meth heads in later years. I'd be willing to bet that the furniture scattered around is from some of the houses around town.

The Stage

This is where is was standing when I hurled that broken stick at the lady sitting in the front row.

The Kitchen

The cooks would have a fit if they saw how much of a mess their kitchen is today.

Al, I thought you might enjoy these pictures.

Hitschmann: A Kansas Ghost Town, Part One

I’ve got a story to tell you today. It’s a good one too. But in order to do it right I’m going to have to spread it out over the next three or four weeks, hope you hang with me. It’s a story about a town that sits about 25 or 30 miles north-east of Great Bend called Hitschmann. It’s a story about a two room school house I went to Kindergarten through the second grade in. It’s about some of my old classmates, I don’t know, guys like Artie Beck and Jay Krier come to mind. I’ll probably talk about their parents too, especially Jay’s dad, Vernon. I’m going to tell you about the old general store/post office/pool hall and the couple that owned the place. I’m going to talk about my dad and his friends, my mom always referred to them as his worthless drinking buddies. Yeah, looking back, she was probably right. But I couldn’t talk about any of that without talking about growing up in the oil fields. We’re going to talk about the good times as well as the bad.
So how about it? Why don’t you grab yourself something to drink and kick off your shoes for a while. This ought to be a good trip and we might as well get going.
It all started last Wednesday when I was talking to Denise Hall (the boss) on the phone from Great Bend and told her about my plans to get a few pictures of an old school I used to go to that wasn‘t very far away. I thought it would make a good story. Yeah, I got the pictures I wanted alright. I got lots of pictures that day. So I’m going to something that so far, I’ve been reluctant to do. I’m going to invite you to visit my blog at http://www.rm235.blogspot.com/ I post my column on it every week. And as we go through this story, I’ll be posting more pictures of the things and places I’m talking about. If you’re interested, come on in and look around. And if you’re so inclined, feel free to post a comment or two. Just do me a favor though, keep it clean. I know I can’t control what people say. But I do control what gets posted. I’d love to hear from you.
I left Great Bend that morning and headed north through Hoisington then east through Redwing toward Claflin. About three miles west of Claflin there’s a county road that takes you north through Odin and about another three or four miles further up the road I came to an intersection I hadn’t seen in over 40 years.
I made that right hand turn just like I’d watched my dad do so long ago. And as soon as I’d made the turn I could see Hitschmann’s grain elevator. It’s funny too. The minute I saw it, and it’s kind of hard to explain, but everything just felt right. It felt kind of like I’d never left. Wow.
Then there it was. Coming into town from the west the first thing I noticed was Frank and Bertha’s old house. And right next door was where Art and Luceille Beck used to live. I turned into town on the second and last street and there it was. My old school. You know, I really hadn’t expected this to be an emotional trip and it’s not like sat around crying. It was more like all the sudden I remembered everything. The old school was abandoned 30 plus years ago and it showed. It was weird but as I got out of the truck, I realized I’d parked in the same spot my mom used when she picked me up after school. Pretty cool. I looked across the street and saw Frank and Bertha’s old store. It’s probably sat empty as long as the school. I was walking around taking a few pictures when I noticed it. The side door was open. Uh, oh, decision time. Man I really wanted to get in there but it didn’t feel right. It’s not that I worried about being arrested for trespassing. I was more worried about getting shot. I walked back out to the street and I realized there wasn’t another living soul anywhere around. The entire town was deserted.
Well almost, because harvest was in full swing there was a man working at the elevator. I went inside his office and told him who I was and that I was from Topeka. I could tell right away he wasn’t impressed. That’s when I told him I’d gone to school there in the early 60’s and really wanted to get a few pictures of the place. We had a good talk and found out we knew a lot of the same people. He showed me a book written by a guy named Daniel Fitzgearld. It was a book about Kansas ghost towns and Hitschmann was in it. Bam!
Yeah, that’s what this story’s about. It’s about more than a Kansas ghost town. It’s a story about the ghosts themselves. Hope you come along for the ride.
Remember, you can visit Kevin McGinty’s blog at: http://www.rm235.blogspot.com/

The Hitschmann Intersection

I remember seeing a Pepsi guy take this curve too fast. Way back in the day, Pop trucks had those open bays. Remember that? Everything was in wooden cases and glass bottles. Anyway, I guess the ol' Pepsi guy decided not to shut his bay doors probably to save a little time on the route. Bad idea! He had wooden cases and broken pop bottles strung everywhere.
Hitschmann is just around this curve and straight ahead about three miles.

There It Is

There it is, the Hitschmann elevator just like
it's supposed to be.

Alomst There

Coming into town from the west. The first house on the right
belonged to Frank and Bertha and the one to the left is where
Art and Lucielle used to live.

Main Street

This is a shot of Main Street. The building on the left is
Frank and Bertha's. And as you can see, parking wasn't
a problem.

Hitschmann School

I was standing in what used to be the playground when I
took this picture. The classrooms were both on the upper
floor. My room was on the right. We had K-6th and the big
kids (7th, 8th, and 9th graders) room was the one on the left.

Frank and Bertha's Store

Unless you've lived in a small town it'd be hard to understand
what I mean when I say this little store was the heart of
the town. But hey, I'll get into more of that next week.