4 City approves
Douglas Design District plan for the avenue. Now it’s up to the neighbors.
7 Mr. Coffee: At
Clifton Square, a coffee roaster opens his door to sell his wares by the cup.
8 Holiday Happenings:
A roundup of holiday events and shows to attend right here in the old neighborhood.
THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER Vol. 3 No. 1
COLLEGE HILL
• CROWN HEIGHTS • UPTOWN • SLEEPY HOLLOW
DECEMBER 2009
REVERSALS OF FORTUNE
The remarkable A.A. Hyde — the early College Hill resident who lost a fortune, earned another, and then gave nearly all of that one away. PAGE 12
PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN M. HYDE
Early College Hill resident A.A. Hyde was one of the city’s most prominent and philanthropic citizens. He had a progressive streak, too. He is pictured here with his Rauch & Lang electric car, an unusual vehicle for its time. He never learned to drive.
2
LETTERS
THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ DECEMBER 2009
WHAT TIME IS IT? A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
T
he moon is over Edgemoor and there are headlights on Highway 54 and it is barely even rush hour. Your College Hill kid just got home from school and he’s out there in the gloom tossing his backpack around in the yard. “Time to come inside,” you say. “Why? Because it is getting dark out there and because we said so, that’s why.” Night is falling in the old neighborhood, it is only five o’clock, and already the kid is taking a tone. These long nights are unsettling for everyone. Maybe you spent your Thanksgiving like we did this year—watching other people cook all afternoon while you cracked jokes and sipped wine in the fading light of the kitchen. And when the meal was done and the dishes cleared and the bottles empty, it felt like midnight. There were constellations over the back patio, but it was only 7-ish, several hours before you could politely excuse yourself and get some sleep. Freaky. Perhaps by the new year we will be used to all this darkness, but for now it feels like a prank, like we’ve all been short-sheeted. The whole decade felt that way. Remember Y2K? We were all pretty excited about that until the Barrier’s clock ticked over to 12:01 a.m. on Jan.1, 2000. Some of us had stocked up on party hats and bottled water, convinced that survival was about to get interesting. And then what? Shortsheeted is what. Nothing bad or exciting happened at midnight, despite or perhaps because of all our anxious preparation, so we pouted, grew indifferent and never even bothered to name the ensuing decade. The 00’s? The 2000s? The aughties? Who knows? Most of us are probably just happy to call it over. Bring on the tens and the teens, we say. Bring on the fresh calendars, the new times, the brighter days. Perhaps finally then, when the night falls early, we can relax in our new knowledge that it is not as late as we think that it is. In the meantime, here at The Commoner, the porch light stays on till at least 2012. We hear that things are supposed to get interesting that year, too. BARRY OWENS EDITOR
WRITE THE EDITOR:
We welcome your letters. No subject is out of bounds, so long as it is local. Letters should not exceed 300 words and may be edited for clarity and length.
E-MAIL US: editor@collegehillcommoner.com WRITE US: 337 N. Holyoke, Wichita, KS, 67208 CALL US: 689-8474 ADVERTISE: jessica@collegehillcommoner.com, or 689-8474 THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER VOLUME 3 ISSUE 1 DECEMBER 2009
PUBLISHER
J ESSICA F REY O WENS
EDITOR
B ARRY
OWENS
CONTRIBUTORS J EFF R OTH
THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER
Published monthly by The College Hill Commoner 337 N. Holyoke Wichita, K.S. 67208 316-689-8474 editor@collegehillcommoner.com www.collegehillcommoner.com
THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ DECEMBER 2009
OP-ED
3
Lights That Show You Care
O
ne of the great things about living in this neighborhood is the annual display of luminaria. For some, it may also be one of the not-so-great things, because you are definitely expected to participate. They say it’s voluntary, but it isn’t really. It’s required. It’s four kinds of mandatory, under penalty of ostracism and unflattering gossip. If your of curb is DAVE KNADLER stretch the only one on the block missing a perfectly aligned row of glowing rectangles, you might as well have a sign out front advising neighbors that you download perverse things off the Internet and wouldn’t be averse to stealing presents out of their vehicles, should the opportunity arise. Just a word to the wise: If you’ve considered not putting out your luminaria this year, forget about it. Get your keister up to Ace Hardware pronto and buy whatever they tell you. Except the paper sacks. Some
moments in life that stick with you. will say with a straight face that the bags work just as well as the higher- Long story short: Paper sacks are for meager lunches, not luminaria. end luminaria, the kind I now own I’m not real crazy about the canwhich are formed from aviationdles, either. It’s the wind thing grade composites, but don’t you again, and the possibilibelieve it. It’s a joke the old-timers Displays in this part ty of catching the bags themselves on fire — play on newcomers. of town range which does result in a They find your from a lifesize festive display, but one naiveté amusing. reproduction of a that is all too brief. They may also invite you to go Christmas village Besides, assuming you snipe hunting at (over on Douglas) do manage to get all the candles lit, you have to some point. to a single cheap stand in the front room Remember: You string of lights watching them like a need the right tool tossed carelessy sheep dog among for the job. You don’t go duck huntonto a nearby bush crazed lambs. That’s time that could be better ing with a sharp (my place). spent with a tumbler of stick, and you don’t cheap whiskey, watchdo luminaria with ing “A Very Brady paper sacks. Christmas” and broodYou may ask ing over other holidays how I know this. Simple: It is an insight acquired dur- gone awry. When you pick up your luminaring several hours hunched over a row of sodden sandwich bags, a pile ia supplies, don’t forget the color codes. It’s white for College Hill, of charred matches at my feet, cursbrown for Crown Heights. This is ing the candles within for not stayimportant. Around here, we don’t ing lit despite the driving sleet and place a high value on nonconformi30 mile-per-hour wind -- the sort of ty. Picture a person with large white wind that snatches away one’s holiday spirit and sends it whirling away teeth – the motivational speaker Tony Robbins, for example. Now toward Oklahoma. These are the
picture one of those teeth brown. Or vice versa: Say Joel Osteen’s teeth were all sort of beige, except for the single white one, glowing like the Christmas star. You get the picture. Remember your color, and report violators to the authorities. For the rest of your holiday lighting, you’re on your own. Displays in this part of town range from a lifesize reproduction of a Christmas village (over on Douglas) to a single cheap string of lights tossed carelessly onto a nearby bush (my place). In between, we have sleighs on rooftops, 50,000 watts worth of rope lighting twisted into fanciful shapes, and huge inflatable teddy bears that often appear to have consumed too much eggnog. You may want to drive around and get some ideas. But don’t get any ideas about passing on the luminaria. Your block captain may seem like a nice person, but she also has a job to to do. You don’t want to get on her bad side. Then again, if you’ve waited this long, it may already be too late. If so, here’s one additional nugget of advice: Don’t come whining to me. Writer Dave Knadler lives in Crown Heights.
Need a cheap and easy thoughtful gift for a distant friend? Consider a gift subscription. Call for details: 689-8474
4
THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ DECEMBER 2009
Above: Sketched rendering of raised meridian and sidewalk landscaping as proposed by the Douglas Design District for Douglas Avenue between Washington and Hydraulic Streets. Right: A view of the street as it appears today. The Wichita City Council approved the District’s design concept for greenscaping the avenue and reducing the four-lane street to a three-lane street in College Hill.
City Approves Douglas Design District Concept BY BARRY OWENS Last month, the Wichita City Council approved the conceptual plan put together by the Douglas Design District to dress up the avenue from downtown to College Hill. It involves greenscaping the sidewalks, adding benches and bus stop shelters, reducing vehicle traffic from four to three lanes and adding bicycle lanes to the avenue, among other improvements meant to give the broad avenue a more human scale. This month, city planners and Douglas Design District members will present the plan to the College Hill Neighborhood Association during its meeting at 7p.m., Dec. 15, at East Heights United Methodist Church, 4407 E. Douglas. All neighborhood residents are invited to attend. The plan, more than two years in the works, is estimated to cost close to $10 million and take 10 years to complete. No city funds are committed to the project and the Design District is considering a combination of funding sources, including transportation grants and other federal funds, special assessments to local property owners, and investment from Design District members. “We’ve still got a lot of questions, and changes may come down the line, but to get the city’s support behind that initial vision is a huge step,” said District member Scott Nelson, with Carson Bank. “It’s kind of like the end of chapter one,” he said. Chapter two begins this month as District members continue to pitch the plan to local neighborhood associations,
Rendering of proposed three-lane Douglas Avenue from Rutan to Oliver in College Hill. The plan would place bike lanes near both curbs and a turning lane in the center of the road. Sunday parking on Douglas between Rutan and Oliver would be eliminated. Curbside parking would remain on Douglas between Hillside and Rutan under the plan.
property and business owners and other “stakeholders” along the avenue, Nelson said. The plan proposes to link downtown to College Hill, from Washington to Glendale streets, by creating unifying signage and street furniture that identifies the area as a pedestrian friendly “design district.” There are more than a dozen independently owned furniture, home design and decor stores along Douglas within the proposed district. The plan breaks down the avenue into three sections from downtown to College Hill—East Downtown, East High and College Hill. “As good as parts of that streets are, the whole thing could be better,” Nelson
said. “To get the city’s attention to focus on that whole area is the thing that pleases us most.” In the East Downtown area (Washington to the Canal Route) the District proposes installing a raised and landscaped median between Washington and Hydraulic streets, updating the crosswalks at Hydraulic, and landscaping the barren sidewalks. Under the plan, the East High section (the Canal Route to Hillside) would also see landscaping along the sidewalks, an upgraded crosswalk at Grove, and a reduction of vehicle traffic lanes from four to three to make way for bicycle lanes—a change that would extend through College Hill to Oliver Street.
The plan also calls for reducing the speed limit corridor-wide from 35 to 30 mph. The plan would also eliminate onstreet Sunday parking on Douglas in College Hill, though parallel parking would remain from Hillside to Rutan. The reduction of traffic lanes and the introduction of bicycle lanes on Douglas would be the most drastic change to the avenue. Similarly, the city is considering adding bike lanes to 1st and 2nd Streets. “I think that there are a lot of questions on that, and there will continue to be,” Nelson said. “It is a new concept for the city of Wichita. In some of my travels to other cities, I’ve seen it and I can tell that you get very used to it—and that it works.”
5
THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ DECEMBER 2009
Ripped Off: Burglars Target College Hill BY BARRY OWENS Thieves descended on the old neighborhood last month, striking at nine homes in the area, stealing whatever they could carry or wheel away, including cars. Several of the burglaries happened while the residents were home and asleep upstairs. In College Hill, where five burglaries were reported, three of the homes were burglarized while the homeowners were inside. It is a frightening crime and residents were quick to sound the alarm. “As citizens and homeowners, the best thing we can do right now is to spread the word to our neighbors and let them know what is happening, turn on outside lights, lock all doors and windows, and watch our houses and each others’ properties,” Joy Eakins, president of the Belmont Place homeowners association wrote in a widely circulated email. “Please notify police immediately if you see something out of character.” Came one reply: “Lock up tight! Turn on the lights! Don’t have a dog? Get one!” Local media also descended and the widely reported stories of the burglaries likely scared the suspects off as no burglaries were reported later in the month. But The Commoner couldn’t help but notice that something else had
A thief or vandal last month ripped off the Belmont Place portion of the old street sign at the corner of Belmont and Douglas. While not as troubling as the rash of home burglaries in the neighborhood, finding a replacement for the iconic sign may be a burden to Belmont homeowners.
BARRY OWENS
gone missing during the crime wave— the Belmont Place sign atop the cast iron signpost at Douglas Avenue appears to have been literally rippedoff. It is not clear when the sign disappeared, as none of the homeowners on Belmont that The Commoner spoke to late last month had even noticed that it had gone missing. “Oh, ____! Really?” one of them said.
“Probably in some kid’s bedroom,” said another. It seems unlikely that the same thieves who burglarized local homes would bother with the sign, as it has no value other than sentimental. But its disappearance is another burden for Belmont Place homeowners, which has its own association and recently spent $100,000 to refurbish the iconic wrought iron arches and stone columns that bookend the street.
Open House You are invited to tour one of the most recognizable buildings in historic College Hill. December 5 & 6, 12 & 13, 19 & 20 From 1-6pm
Cookies & hot chocolate served. Call ahead for groups larger than 4.
Church of Scientology & Hubbard Dianetics Foundation 3705 E. Douglas 682-8080
Eakins, the president of the Belmont Place homeowner’s association, said the group is working with the city to determine who has ownership of the sign (the association owns the arches). If the city owns the sign, they are likely to replace it. But Eakins said the block would not welcome one of the city’s standard green signs. The current street signs on Belmont Place, which appear to be original or at least reproductions of the originals installed in 1925, are considerably more rugged, handsome and presumably expensive than the flimsy green street signs found on poles throughout the rest of the city. “If they want to put one of those up there, we won’t let them,” Eakins said. “We’ll pay for the right kind.” Eakins said the block residents should be forgiven for not noticing the damaged sign, as the block had been a target of the thieves and even her own home was among those broken into last month. Between that, and the summer long resurfacing of the arches, which included the complete dismantling of the arch at Douglas, the block homeowners have been through a lot this year. “There has been so much going on on the street, that is sort of an ‘Oh, well, I guess we’ll fix that too,’” she said.
6
THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ DECEMBER 2009
THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ DECEMBER 2009 Fresh Roast Coffee Company, a small wholesale roaster of specialty coffees last month opened a sidewalk espresso bar at No. 2 N. Clifton (outside of Clifton Square). Customers are served through a window in the door. Patio seating is available on the shop’s south side. Below: Owner and operator Tim Wiesner demonstrates the roaster.
Mister Coffee He roasts, he brews, he pours. Tim Wiesner hopes to offer the freshest cup of joe in town. BY BARRY OWENS You have to love the widgets, as most any successful manufacturer will tell you. It’s clear within a few minutes of meeting Tim Wiesner, owner and operator of Fresh Roast Coffee Company, that he loves his product—the humble coffee bean. Several hundred pounds of them are stacked, old world style, in the gunny sacks that they were shipped over in from Columbia, Brazil, and Sumatra. He spoke lovingly of them the other day as he showed a visitor around. “Never alike,” he said of the raw beans. “It’s an agricultural product so it takes on the nuances of the area in which it is grown. You get one one year and it tastes one way, you get it the next year and it tastes different. You are always learning because it is always changing.” Wiesner has been roasting coffee since 1996, first at 2605 E. Douglas and in recent years in a quaint little cracker box space on Clifton Street beside Clifton Square. “It’s small but tiny,” he says of the office-sized space where he keeps his bags of beans and a roaster. But it is room enough for Wiesner’s operation. Wiesner roasts and sells coffee by the pound. And last month he begin selling coffee and espresso by the cup, serving customers
through a window in the door. He brews each cup individually, so the coffee is as fresh as possible. “So far people haven’t minded waiting,” he said. “It’s worth it. I always tell them that the proof is in the palette. Wiesner came around to his love of coffee the hard way, by drinking gallons of “horrible” hospital coffee during his career as an advanced practice registered nurse, and later as owner of a pharmaceutical research company. The latter work lead him to San Francisco, where he discovered fresh-roasted coffee and wondered why he couldn’t get that at home. He decided to learn how to roast coffee himself and went to the source, Alfred Peet, to learn how. Peet, based in Berkeley, Calif., (famous to coffee aficionados as the maker of Peet’s Coffee) is credited with bringing custom coffee roasting to the U.S. Until his death in 2007, Peet taught the process to others, including the founders of Starbucks. “I picked his brain,” Wiesner says. Wiesner has now been roasting coffee for years, but like most artisans, he says there is no mastering his craft. “It’s the zen of trying to find perfection,” he says. “You never roast it, or at least I never have, and say ‘This is perfect.’ It’s kind of a funny thing, coffee.”
7
8
THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ DECEMBER 2009
Holidays at Home: Entertainment in College Hill BY BARRY OWENS Face it. You’re family is just not as enamored with the old Peanuts holiday special on television as you remember being as a child. That doesn’t mean your hopes for an old fashioned holiday have to be dashed. Consider taking in a holiday show at a local theater. Equal parts earnest and corny, Christmas reviews deliver just the right amount of sap to get you and yours in the holiday spirit. Or why not spend an afternoon down at the local tree lot? At Blessed Sacrament, proceeds from the tree sales go to a good cause. And they deliver. Or consider a trolley tour of College Hill, lit up with luminaria and thousands of Christmas lights that are sure to wow the little ones, and even some of the bigger ones. There’s plenty to do right here in the neighborhood to keep your spirits up. Here’s a look at a few: CROWN UPTOWN CHRISTMAS A Crown Uptown Christmas plays through Dec. 31 at the Crown Uptown Theatre, 3207 E. Douglas. The show features holiday musical favorites set to song and dance numbers. It also features comic renditions of “The 12 Days Of Christmas, “Radio Hour,” “Christmas Rock,” “Rudolph the
The show, a Wichita Community Theatre production, plays ThursdaysSaturdays, 8 p.m., and Sundays at 7 p.m., through Dec. 20 at the Wichita Community Theatre, 258 N Fountain. For show and ticket information, call 686-1282, or visit wichitacommunitytheatre.com.
A Crown Uptown Christmas, a holiday review at the Crown Uptown Theatre, plays through Dec. 31. The musical features holiday standards and comic renditions of Christmas favorites.
Redneck Reindeer,” “Letters To Santa” and “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Holiday song favorites include “Most Wonderful Time Of The Year,” “Santa Baby,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “The Christmas Song,” “Sleigh Ride” and more. Performances are Thursday through Sunday evenings with a matinee Dec. 10. For show and ticket information, call the Crown Uptown box office, 681-1566, or visit crownuptown.com.
CHRISTMAS BELLES Christmas Belles is a comic tale of a church Christmas pageant that spins out of control as three squabbling sisters try to reign in the mayhem. The show’s program puts it this way: “Admist an ailing Santa, a vengeful sheep, and a reluctant Elvis impersonator, a family secret emerges that just might derail the entire production” which, to add to the pressure, is to be shown live on cable television.
HOLIDAY LIGHT TOUR The College Hill Holiday Trolley Light Tour is set for Dec. 13., 5:30-9 p.m., beginning at East Heights United Methodist Church, Douglas at Crestway. The tour offers a trolley ride through College Hill and hits all the highlights of the neighborhood lit up for the season. The tour is put on by volunteers from the College Hill Neighborhood Association. Tickets, $6, are for sale Dec. 7-12 at Traditions Furniture, 3224 E. Douglas. MEN’S CLUB TREE LOT The Blessed Sacrament Men’s Club Tree lot, on the school’s playground, is open 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays, and 12 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Proceeds from the tree sales go to charity. Delivery is free.
Fa
THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER â?š DECEMBER 2009
COMMUNITY CALENDAR CHNA Meeting Set The College Hill Neighborhood Association will meet this month— all neighborhood residents are invited—for its quarterly meeting. The meeting is set for 7 p.m., Dec. 15, at East Heights United Methodist Church, 4407 E. Douglas. The agenda includes a presentation by city planners and members of the Douglas Design District on a plan, recently approved by the city, to greenscape Douglas Avenue and reduce vehicle traffic lanes from four to three to make way for bicycle lanes. The agenda also includes introduction of new executive officers, discussion of the association’s structure and committees, discussion on membership, an update on the holiday light tour and an open forum for residents to sound off and ask questions.
Second Sunday Recycling College Hill United Methodist Church, 2930 E 1st St., accepts neighborhood recycling this month on Dec. 13, 8-11 a.m. All recyclable items will be accepted but styrofoam and PVC.
JE=;J>;H M;TBB <?D: J>; ED; J>7J C;7DI >EC; JE OEK
Local Bands Host Benefit Local rock bands Double-Crossed Hipsters, The Lo-Fos, and Mr. Brew â&#x20AC;&#x201D; each of them made up of musicians who live in the old neighborhoodâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; will unite this month for a show in Old Town to benefit Rainbows United. The show will also feature folk and rock singer/songwriter Quinn Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Keefe. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Keefe, a former Wichitan now living in Denver, will front the band Loose Wood. The show is a benefit for Rainbows United. The struggling non-profit agency provides services for more than 2,300 local special-needs children and recently declared bankruptcy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They have been through some hard times lately. We want to show our support for them, and help out the kids,â&#x20AC;? said Gus Frey, who lives on North Clifton and rehearses with his band, DoubleCrossed Hipsters, on nearby Yale. The show is set for 7 p.m., Dec. 26, (doors open at 6 p.m.) at Rock Island Live, 101 N. Rock Island. Admission is $10 at the door and includes two tickets for prize drawings. Drawings will be held throughout the night and prizes include a guitar from Uhlik Music, a lawnmower, and other items donated by local sponsors. There is no limit on the amount of tickets that can be purchased. All proceeds go to Rainbows United.
7HEN SHOPPING FOR A NEW HOME
YOU HAVE A CHOICE IN YOUR NEW ADDRESS 9OU ALSO HAVE A CHOICE IN WHO YOU WANT TO WORK WITH 7HILE )ÂŻM WORKING FOR YOU
) WONÂŻT REST UNTIL YOUÂŻRE RESTING SOUNDLY IN YOUR NEW FAMILY ROOM )ÂŻLL WORK CLOSELY WITH YOU TO FIND THE RIGHT ONE ÂŞ THE ONE THAT MEANS HOME TO YOU
3JB 'BSNFS WWW RIAFARMER COM
/FFICE \ $IRECT X
9
ARTS
10
“Jayhawk Journey - Docking Gateway” by Jim Clements
A clock by Van Dusen Clockworks.
Cigar box cabinet.
THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ DECEMBER 2009
Rescued and refurbished door hardware. Photos by BARRY OWENS
Left: A dress form affixed with blown glass by artist Richard Stauffer sits in the Artifacts basement, along with architectural pieces such as newel posts, doors and a set of steam organ pipes from a Gypsy wagon. The dress form will soon find a home upstairs. The other pieces will be used to create new works by artist Amy Herd, below.
Art & Artifacts A local shop where old becomes new and the once practical finds a more fanciful purpose. BY BARRY OWENS “It just feels good here,” says Amy Herd, owner of Artifacts, about her space in Lincoln Heights Village. The light is good, the ceilings are tall, and you should see the basement. It’s used only for storage now, but it’s large enough to be a gallery in itself and Herd hopes to one day convert it to art class space. Herd moved her shop and gallery to Lincoln Heights from her first, smaller
space on Central near Edgemoor over the summer. This month, she’s hosting Sunday art shows from 1-4 p.m. The shows feature works by regional artists including old world oil paintings by Robles Art Studio (Dec. 6), a presentation by noted crop artist and Kansas landscape painter Stan Herd (Dec. 13), and paintings of the University of Kansas by various artists (Dec. 20). “I wanted to do something different
and I thought that maybe Sundays were a day that people took time out to do something that they wanted to do rather than had to do,” she said. Herd opened her store, originally called Architectural Artifacts, five years ago. Prior to that, she showed her photography and architectural antiques, including adapted use pieces such as wall vents made into picture frames, at art shows. She has since set aside her photography, for now, and focused more on design, including iron furniture. “I find the old iron, draw up designs and have my iron guy build it,” she said. “It goes along with the theme of adapting architectural pieces into a new purpose. It blends the old curved and crusty iron with a clean line frame.”
The pieces are finished in brushed steel or burnished copper. “It’s quite fun and offers a one of a kind piece of furniture,” Herd said. “And, yes, it is ‘art.’ ” Aside from architectural elements, “fun” seems to be central to most of the work displayed in the shop. There are clocks (created by local Van Dusen Clockworks) made from old tea service, a cabinet constructed of cigar boxes and boat oars, and twee kits containing robin eggs, vails and cryptic instructions that look practical, but are only whimsical. “I like traditional art, but I love the funky stuff,” Herd said. “Life doesn't have to be that serious. You can have fun. If art makes you feel happy, it makes you feel something.”
THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ DECEMBER 2009
11
12 BY JEFF A. ROTH
HISTORY
THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ DECEMBER 2009
F
or more than 100 years, jars of Mentholatum have found their way into medicine cabinets around the world. Early College Hill resident A.A. Hyde saw to that. The aromatic salve in the little green jar helped clear stuffy noses and heal chapped lips — it also helped to heal a town whipsawed by financial excesses and economic collapse. The community assets which bear Hyde’s name, such as Hyde Elementary and the YMCA’s Camp Hyde, are a testament not so much to his success but to the generosity he showed when he shared that success with the city. This happened, however, only after his outlook on life undertook a dramatic conversion, perhaps while walking down Douglas Avenue. Albert A. Hyde, originally from New England, arrived in Wichita in 1872 as a 24 year old. He was employed to open and manage a bank for Leavenworth and Wichita investors during the town’s early cattle drive days. He slept at the bank, a former saloon, his bed pulled in front of the safe to guard the bank’s treasure from drunken cowboys or other “loose characters.” Master of Money, George Irving (Fleming H. Revell Co., 1936), p. 23. He was not an idle thinker but an innovator, conceiving a number of patented products from a silver coin separator to a men’s shoe scraper. The market for real estate in Wichita, however, began to heat up in the mid-1880s and the potential for profit did not escape young Hyde’s attention. He left banking employment and dove headlong into loan brokerage and real estate sales. During the 1880s “town lots” were being built up with businesses as the young town prospered. Vacant land nearby was considered desirable for residential purposes. Hyde acquired 80 acres of land south of Douglas from Washington to Hydraulic from Noah Ellis who owned the nearby water mill, on Hydraulic. The land was platted as the Hyde Addition. One of its streets was named after Mr. Ellis and the rest were named after the women in Hyde’s life: wife Ida, sisters, in-laws, and a friend named Fannie. He set aside a 4 acre tract of land nestled between Lulu and Fannie for Wichita’s first public park, Hyde Park. It was sown in bluegrass, planted with trees, and featured a bandstand in its center. Hyde advertised his home sites as “close to business” and “close to the street car line.” He and other promoters, however, had their eyes on the city’s prairie outskirts for larger housing additions. They subscribed to the growing belief that continued immigration would create a demand for homes as far as the eye could see. To showcase his confidence in the land east of town Hyde built a towering spindled and gabled Queen Anne home, designed by Willis Proudfoot and George Bird, prominent local architects, on a lot in recently platted College Hill Addition, formerly the admired hillside orchard of
A.A. Hyde with one of his grandchildren outside the family home. The early College Hill resident was one of the city’s most prominent and philanthropic citizens.
PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN M. HYDE
REVERSALS OF FORTUNE The remarkable A.A. Hyde — the early College Hill resident who lost a fortune, earned another, and then gave nearly all of that one away.
8
Featuring rarely-seen family photographs. SEE NEXT PAGE M.R. Moser. The ornate wood-clad home was situated northwest of the future corner of Roosevelt and Second streets. He named his 1886 castle “Hillcrest” and filled it with his growing family. Hyde’s achievements lead to early leadership roles in the city. He helped to establish and build the Grace Presbyterian Church (at its original location at First and Cleveland). He cofounded the Maple Grove Cemetery with his brother-in-law George C. Strong. He was among the earliest subscribers to raise money to build the YMCA’s ornate stone building at 1st and Topeka (today’s
Scottish Rite Masonic Center), another Proudfoot and Bird design. He partnered with Michigan native and College Hill land investor George C. Merriman to incorporate the Merriman Park Land Company for the sale of lots around the rolling terrain of its private park. Real estate investing, however, would prove to the undoing of his and many others’ fortunes. A.A. Hyde made remarkable profits in land deals and encouraged friends and relatives to try their hand in the game. Their good fortune is revealed in real estate abstracts relating to the College Hill area. Hyde in-laws George and
Pattie Strong bought an 80 acre farm northwest of today’s Douglas and Oliver from Soloman Ridle, a Pennsylvania farmer who had been farming there since 1871. They paid $500 for the farm and in less than a month sold half of it to an investor in Liverpool, England for $2,437. In October of 1886, less than two years later, they bought the 40 acres back and sold it to a widower in Rochester, New York for $12,000. The Strongs, by selling the 40 acre tract for $300 an acre, having only paid $6.25 an acre for it, made a 4,700-percent return on their investment in two years time. In a matter of just a few months vacant College Hill fields, or at least the paper that financed their purchase, would come to the desk of Sheriff Rufus Cone for an unwelcome and unprofitable disposition. Warnings were being sounded in 1886 against investing in the speculative outlying additions. Marshall Murdock, editor of the Wichita Eagle and usually one of the town’s loudest boomers, expressed dire predictions that the speculation in land lots would lead to financial ruin; that some people, namely the town’s credulous men and women, would inevitably be left behind. He envisioned thousands of prairie acres dumped onto the market, once a panic set in. He feared for one woman in particular – the widow with three children, whom was heard on a street car, dwelling so hopefully to a friend, that she had mortgaged all that she had, to put it into an “outside lot.” In an 1886 editorial Murdock took the town’s movers and shakers to task, challenging their morals in the matter: “If the pretended Christians, who are playing this confidence game were the men to be finally caught, it would be all right, but they are the fellows whose cold dollars will be lying in the bank vaults. “That poor woman’s heart’s blood will inevitably stain the soul and conscience of some speculator in a way that no long prayers made in churches on Sundays, that no subscriptions made to build other churches, will ever wipe out.” The real estate market collapsed shortly thereafter. Murdock was wrong in one respect – Albert A. Hyde’s “cold dollars” were not protected in a bank. Nearly everything he owned was mortgaged and in play in the real estate game. Hyde, and presumably the widow on the street car, lost it all. His unsold lots were foreclosed upon. His bank investments in Kingman and Pratt went worthless falling into receivership. Hyde & Humble, a stationary store he owned, once described by the Kansas City Star as the leading book, toy, and game store in Wichita, was sold at a huge loss. Even “Hillcrest” was at risk. Hyde’s pledge obligation to the YMCA building fund came due; he mortgaged his home to raise cash to satisfy that obligation. Now he had house payments that he couldn’t keep up with. To save Hyde’s house and help him provide shelter for his growing family (now numbering 7 children and 2 live-in relatives), a sympathetic banker and friend, Col. Hiram W. CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ DECEMBER 2009
Family Album
HISTORY
13
Rarely-seen photographs of the Hyde family and early College Hill.
8
John M. Hyde, grandson of A.A. Hyde and Professor Emeritus of History at Williams College, Williamstown, graciously lent The Commoner copies of vintage photographs from the Hyde family archive for this article. The photographs, some of them dating back more than 100 years, show not only a young family, but glimpses of a young College Hill. The A.A. Hyde family poses for a photograph in 1898.
Ida Todd Hyde, circa 1925.
Hyde’s College Hill home, “Hillcrest,” shown above in the 1930s and in the inset in 1887. At left: 348 N. Roosevelt, where Hyde’s sons Albert and then George, were successive owners. George’s children (at left) Elizabeth, George Jr., John and infant Arthur spent their childhood days there in the 1930s. Top: George Hyde’s children gather around infant Arthur. Above: John, Elizabeth and George Hyde, Jr. skate in the yard following a 1936 Kansas ice storm. 324 and 320 N. Roosevelt can be seen in the distance. Right: Christmas morning, 1935. Far right: Described as a noted “speed-artist” A.A. Hyde’s chauffeur William “Bill” Mitchell sits astride a Pierce (as in Pierce Arrow) 4 cylinder motorcycle.
HISTORY
14
THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ DECEMBER 2009
REVERSALS OF FORTUNE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12
Lewis, bought the bankrupt Hyde’s mortgage. By agreement with his new “landlord” 41 year old Albert Hyde was reduced to living as a tenant in his own home; a caretaker, protecting it from those who would carrying away the plumbing and other fixtures. Master of Money, pp. 34 & 35. The conspicuous house on the hill was to stand there stoically for the next decade. Hyde was still part owner of the cemetery to his north. Occasional sales of grave sites provided a meager income to his family. The older boys in the family would water and tend to its trees and shrubs. Hyde however, still an innovator, began to experiment with home remedies and “stove top” concoctions. He had reasonable success with a Yucca plant soap formulation, enough success that by 1889 a small factory went into operation in a three-story brick building on the north edge of Hyde Addition, between Laura and Pattie (still standing at 1213 E. Douglas). The older Hyde boys Bert, Edward, Alex and Charles, contributed to the family effort by packing soap cakes in the small factory. A.A. continued to experiment in his kitchen. He perfected a formulation of petrolatum (petroleum jelly), camphor and menthol crystals, the latter imported from Japan and available by catalog from Kansas City, for instance. Locals were impressed with its soothing aromatic properties. To Hyde this product appeared to have real potential. Walking home on Douglas after work one evening he crossed Hydraulic and it struck him, a name for his new product: Mentholatum. The catchiness of the brand name and years of clever packaging and advertising were to propel Mentholatum into becoming a worldwide remedy. For that story see Amazing Mentholatum (Angeles Crest Publications, Inc., 2006) by Alex Taylor, great-grandson of A.A. Hyde. The young business grew. By 1898 it was clear; A.A. Hyde was to become a very rich man. He did not, however, forget the havoc of his younger years in Wichita’s real estate boom. That earlier calamity had caused him to turn to
A.A. Hyde with his Rauch & Lang electric car, an unusual vehicle for its time. He never learned to drive.
PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN M. HYDE
scripture. The passage that struck the deepest chord was from the Sermon on the Mount, “Lay not your treasures up on Earth …” Hyde took the admonition to heart and embarked on a life’s philosophy of giving away any wealth surplus to his basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. This was not the 10-percent tithe also mentioned in scripture, this was everything beyond one’s worldly needs. Hyde’s conversion meant spending the second half of his life giving away an entire fortune. In 1909 the Mentholatum operations were moved down the street to a newly constructed Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival building at Douglas and Cleveland. The progressive Mr. Hyde had his building designed to take advantage of a construction technique new to Wichita — reinforced concrete. He also personally directed updates and additions at the Hyde house. He had his horse barn to the north torn down and replaced it with a reinforced concrete garage, somewhat to the chagrin of subsequent property owners who decades later encountered its daunting footings in their backyard. With his family mostly grown and established, Hyde occupied himself with giving the Mentholatum profits away. While many around the world benefited from his generosity, the list
of local beneficiaries alone is impressive: Grace Presbyterian Church (and many other local churches), the YMCA (including a branch operation on Water street for the city’s nonwhites), the YWCA, the American Indian Institute (a learning center that was located near today’s WSU), the Mexican Mission Church, the Wichita Children’s Home, the Salvation Army, Wesley Hospital, Fairmount College, Friends University (and other regional colleges), the Boy Scouts of America, YMCA’s Estes Park Conference Center, YMCA’s Camp Hyde, Camp Bide-a-wee, the Phyllis Wheatley Children’s Home, the Fresh Air Baby Camp (now the Girl Scouts Little House in North Riverside Park), plus the employees of Mentholatum – their recreation building still situated north of the 1909 factory building. A.A. Hyde dispersed millions in Mentholatum wealth. By the time of his death in 1935, preceded by his wife Ida in 1933, he held only 400 shares of company stock (worth $60,000). The only tangible assets in his estate were old “Hillcrest” and its furnishings, a five passenger Ford sedan and a Model A Ford truck, the latter of which were allowed to go to chauffeur Bill Mitchell. A.A.’s children were by then all successful in their respective
endeavors, perhaps even a little more so as a result of a related facet of Hyde’s philosophy, leaving little wealth to be inherited. A.A. Hyde had been a loving husband and father, doting grandfather, a good citizen of Wichita and an unofficial godfather to College Hill. When the city proposed to terminate College Hill’s street car service at Hydraulic to save money, Hyde led a petition drive protesting the proposal — even though he himself had been chauffeur driven most of his life. For his neighbors who relied on the College Hill trolley for transportation he built a gazebo-style trolley stop on the northwest corner of Roosevelt and Douglas, which lent itself to occasional band concerts and ice cream socials. The children of the neighborhood benefitted as well. Albert and Ida Hyde’s “yard” gently sloped from Roosevelt to Yale and provided ample space for children’s play. At times it featured a ball diamond for local pick-up games. The unofficial park also featured playground equipment and a stone grotto wading pool. A.A. offered to donate the home site to the City of Wichita to serve as a city park after his death, requesting only that he be allowed to live there for the remainder of his life with property taxes abated. The offer was declined. After A.A.’s death his frugally maintained old mansion was not as desirable as the land it occupied. A real estate ad politely called the “improvements” on the site to be “of little value.” So after attempts to sell the property with its house and sturdy garage failed old “Hillcrest” was demolished, courtesy of a local company’s wrecking ball. The Eagle commented on the departure of the College Hill landmark, “Children in the College Hill district, past and present, long will remember the old Hyde home, for the plot of ground just west of the house was used by them as a playground.” Today six College Hill homes occupy the former footprint of Hyde’s 1886 “Hillcrest.”
THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER ❚ DECEMBER 2009
15