The College Hill Commoner, Sept. 2009

COLLEGE HILL CROWN HEIGHTS UPTOWN SLEEPY HOLLOWVol. 2 No. 10 SEPTEMBER 2009

14 Jay Laessig: The man behind thechair at College Hill’slongest running barber shop.

4 Changes comingto the College HillNeighborhoodAssociation. A newleader is sought.

10 The blues man in our own backyard.Critically acclaimedblues singer lives inCrown Heights.

• ••

THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER

THE 1880s REAL ESTATE BOOM THAT SHOOK COLLEGE HILL PAGE 12

BOOM!

REVEILLE

When you get out of the Navy you tell yourself thatyou will never again work for an outfit where theboss can walk into your sleeping quarters, shake

you out of the rack and tell you to get on deck. Mostly, youhold to that. But then you have kids.

“Wake up,” they say, “and get us some juice.” You want to swear because you’re salty and it’s early,

but you know better. You roll out, mutter and fumble yourway down to the galley and pour the little urchins somejuice. Things are grim for awhile until the coffee is brewedand it is best to avoid a lot of chit chat until the Old Manhas his second cup. By then, the chipper First Mate has putout a little cereal, cut the crust of the picky one’s bread,found the backpack and the homework, checked the forecast,gathered the foul weather gear and fished the car keys out ofthe couch. The little one is diving into the bucket of Legos.The bigger one is out the door in time to beat the bell. Thedog has even been for a walk. And there you sit, foggy,uncertain and unfit for duty for at least another hour or two.

And so it goes here at the Commoner, where the OldMan keeps the night watch and pays for it dearly everymorning. Perhaps you’re a parent. Maybe you’ve been in theNavy. You know the lure of the night and its dangers. On agood night, when all is calm, you can steam ahead full andmake up for lost time. On a bad night, there are icebergs andthe distracting clink of the ice maker and nothing gets donebut damage. It’s only just past midnight as I write this, fartoo early to know what the night will yield. But already, I’mpicking up a distant signal.

“W-A-R-N-I-N-G, it flashes. “M-O-R-N-I-N-G A-H-E-A-D. T-U-R-N B-A-C-K. T-U-R-N B-A-C-K N-O-W-!”

BARRY OWENSEDITOR

THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER z SEPTEMBER 20092

A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

WRITE THE EDITOR: We welcome your letters. No subject is out ofbounds, so long as it is local. Letters should not exceed 300 words andmay be edited for clarity and length.

E-MAIL US: [email protected]

WRITE US: 337 N. Holyoke, Wichita, KS, 67208

CALL US: 689-8474

ADVERTISE: [email protected], or 689-8474

LETTERS

THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONERVOLUME 2 ISSUE 10 SEPTEMBER 2009

PUBLISHERJESSICA FREY OWENS

EDITORBARRY OWENS

CONTRIBUTORSKATIE GORDON, DAVE KNADLER,

JOE STUMPE

THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONERPublished monthly by

The College Hill Commoner337 N. Holyoke

Wichita, K.S. 67208316-689-8474

[email protected]

TO THE EDITOR:Ever sense I started reading The

College Hill Commoner, I’ve wantedto express my thoughts regarding ourcommunity and your paper. My wife,daughter and I have lived in CollegeHill since July 2006. We relocated toWichita from Southern California dueto a job opportunity, for me, thatallowed my wife to not work outsidethe home, and my daughter to attendBlessed Sacrament Catholic School(where the tuition is covered in onesmonthly tithing of eight percent). Theicing on the cake is that we get tomove into a really cool old home, in aneighborhood with brick streets, anabundance of old growth trees, a flow-ing park, a unique community poolwith a vintage pool house, and mostimportantly a neighborhood with asense of community and an overallimproved standard of living for us.

Our first year here was very diffi-cult. We don’t have family nearby, did-n’t know anyone and the weather, land-scape and culture were foreign. Manytimes, over the years, we seriously con-sidered just packing up and returningto So Cal.

As much as College Hill is NormanRockewellesque from the outside, it isalso a tight-knit community from theinside where many current residentsgrew up as well as their parents. I stilldon’t feel as connected as I would like,however, I do recognize that dependson me being pro-active in the commu-nity. But reading the Commoner hashelped me in this area.

Ever since The College HillCommoner showed up at mydoorstep…. I feel much more connect-ed to the community. I love the storiesbehind the local people and the peoplebehind the stories. I look forward toreading about the upcoming events. Ilook to see which businesses advertiseand how they lay out their advertise-ment. (I particularly like the retrostyle).

Being on the wrong side of 40,(knocking on 50’s door) with an eightyear old daughter, I love the wayCollege Hill and The Commoner offera piece of old “Americana” for myfamily. It reminds me of my youngchildhood of a simpler time, where Ilived in Savannah, Georgia until I waseight.

The Commoner helps me to recog-nize the uniqueness of our communityand it helps me appreciate my neigh-borhood much more than if I didn’thave it to read. I recently bought sub-scriptions of The Commoner to bedelivered out of state to my in-lawsand my mom who love knowingwhat’s going on in our neighborhood.

Thank you very much. And ever sograteful.

TIM SHIPPEN

NEIGHBORHOOD & PAPEROFFER OLD AMERICANA

SINGLE TRASHSERVICE WOULDSAVE US MONEY

TO THE EDITOR:I have a friend and long-time col-

league who lives in a neighborhoodnot very far northeast of College Hillwho says that he pays less than $40for three-month contracted trash col-lection with Waste Connections.They have had that contract for manyyears. In College Hill, some of us paymore than $68 for the same service byWaste Connections. We who live inCollege Hill do not have a neighbor-hood contract with a single trash col-lector. Perhaps we should organizeourselves to our mutual advantage. Abudding politician could endear him-self with his College Hill neighborsby initiating such an effort, don’t youthink?

SAMUEL C. WEBB

SOMEONE MOVEDTHE BIG BUN

TO THE EDITOR:In the caption to the story

“Sketchy Past” [August issue] youwrite that The Big Bun was at Centraland Hillside. You moved it a mile— itwas on the northwest corner ofCentral and Oliver, where theQuikTrip is nowadays. After The BigBun was torn down a tire store wasbuilt on the site, and then theQuikTrip. All that in 40 years.

JOHN M. DAVIS

EDITOR’S NOTE: Right you are,John. Thanks for pointing that out forus and our readers.

The College Hill Commoner pub-lishes neighhborhood anniversaries,births, birthday wishes, bar and batmitzahs, congratulations, graduations,milestones, memorials, obituaries andmore. Call to inquire about rates anddeadlines: 689-8474, or [email protected].

ANNOUNCEMENTS

3THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER z SEPTEMBER 2009 OP-ED

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Time flies. One minute you’resitting in a college classroomwith your whole life in front

of you. The next minute … well,you’re still sitting there, becauseonly one minute has elapsed. Butfast forward a few decades – I’lljust step out for a couple of beers

while you do that– and, presto!Still in the class-room. Only thistime you’re olderthan the professorand there’s hairgrowing out ofyour ears.

Where doesthe time go?That’s a rhetori-cal question; I

know where it went. In my case,about 70,000 hours went into anewspaper career that lasted a fewyears less than I expected.Interspersed here and there were afew too many vacations, one stock-market crash, any number of dubi-ous choices. Thus do gray-hairedmen don moldering backpacks andmount bicycles for a daily ride up toWichita State University. As theysay, it’s a long, strange trip.

It gets stranger when you’re onyour bike and realize that WSU is

not, technically, reachable by bicy-cle. I’m still not sure why city plan-ners didn’t just go ahead and put amoat around it, maybe a few tanktraps. They did pretty much every-thing else to fortify the campusagainst non-motor-ized traffic. You’vegot 14,000 studentsand I’ve seen maybetwo bike racks.Which, I guess, isenough. Bikes are sorare you feel con-spicuous peddlingaround, like a guyon a unicycle jug-gling chickens. Whois this older man andhis strange contrap-tion? Does he notown a car? Did hemisplace his parkingtag in the same wayhe misplaced his Shocker Card?

But you can understand whybikes aren’t common at WSU. Sofew of them get there. Try to ridenorth from Crown Heights, forexample, and all roads bend strange-ly uphill toward this post-apocalyp-tic Elks Lodge on 13th Street. Youpedal by and hear somebody inthere coughing, but you never see a

living soul. Take a side street, missa turn, and somehow you’re back atthe Elks Lodge. That’s when yourealize you’ve been riding for hoursand the campus isn’t any closer.Something about the Elks Lodge has

evidently wrinkled thespace-time continuum.It’s eerie.

The other option isto ride directly upHillside or Oliver. Myphilosophy on this isthat I’m not cripplednow and I prefer toremain that way. Thegrim reaper comessoon enough; whytempt him? Statisticsshow that most bicy-clists attemptingHillside will be sentcartwheeling into thehigh weeds before they

get to Popeye’s; on Oliver youmight make it as far as the postoffice. Let’s just say this is not areal bike-friendly town. Try to rideany arterial in Wichita and you canhear the minivans accelerating aquarter-mile away, hoping to get apiece of you. And if they thinkyou’re a college student, well, allbets are off.

But the urge to retake beginningalgebra is strong. At WSU they callus returning adults, as though we’resalmon coming back to spawn.We’re impelled by some force high-er than logic. That force is oftencalled unemployment. Personalconvenience is not a factor. Ifcheating death on a bicycle meanssaving some precious money, andsaving some precious hours insearch of that mythical parkingspace on campus, by God we’regoing to do it.

We do sort of hope that theyoung and attractive students wepass, the ones with all the phonesand the friends, will mistake us forcharismatic faculty members andallow us our dignity. But we’re alsohappy if they don’t notice us at all.We’re musk oxen among thegazelles, after all; the salmonmetaphor only goes so far. Butunlike the capricious gazelles, we’rehere primarily to prove we’re not asdumb as we look. We’re here seek-ing a career at the same time mostother people are seeking retirement.Quixotic, I know. I suppose it fitsthat some of us are riding bikes.

Writer Dave Knadler lives inCrown Heights.

No Campus for Old Men

DAVE KNADLER

Let’s just say this isnot a real bike

friendly town. Try toride any arterial in

Wichita and you canhear the minivans

accelerating aquarter-mile away,

hoping to get a piece of you.

4 THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER z SEPTEMBER 2009

Gorlich to Step Down as C.H.N.A. President

BY BARRY OWENS

For the first time in a nearly adecade, College Hill will have a newleader. Celia Gorlich, the longtimepresident of the College HillNeighborhood Association, is step-ping down this month.

“The time has come,” saidGorlich, who has been president forthe past nine years. “ I think I cansafely say that due to big changes inmy personal life and a way increasedwork load at my work, I’ve got toquit because I don’t believe that I’vebeen doing the best job for the lasttwo years, at least. It’s been too muchfor me.”

The neighborhood associationwill hold elections this month duringits general meeting Sept. 29, 7 p.m.,at East Heights United MethodistChurch, 4407 E. Douglas. The meet-ing is open to all College Hill resi-dents.

Aside from Gorlich’s position aspresident, the board is seeking candi-dates for vice president, secretaryand treasurer.

“We have tried many, many timesto get people to step forward to be inoffice. People have come up to be onthe board to be treasurer and secre-tary. But very few people want totake over the whole enchilada,”Gorlich said. By stepping down,Gorlich is forcing a shake up at thetop.

John Belt, who is chair of the nom-inating committee for the association,said he received some nominations forGorlich’s and other positions lastmonth, “but not as many as we’d like.”

The association is accepting nomi-nations this month.

“We need new people,” Gorlichsaid. “We need new ideas.”

Gorlich has been heavily involved

with the neighborhood associationsince its inception in the 1990s. Shestarted on the crime committee,launched the newsletter, then it wason to the vice presidency, and finallythe presidency. She is only the thirdpresident in the association’s history.

During her tenure Gorlich helpedto stop the butchering of College Hilltrees by utility companies, mediatedisputes between neighbors, organizeevents, represent the neighborhood atoutside events, and oversee the busi-ness of the association, which is a501c3 non-profit organization. Mostrecently, she and the associationworked with the city to extend theCollege Hill swimming pool hours.But it was vocal opposition a fewyears ago to the construction of aWalmart Supercenter just outside theneighborhood that got the most press.

“We did great grass roots organiz-ing in the neighborhood and I don’twant anybody to think that it wasn’twhat we did. It was,” Gorlich said ofstopping the retail giant. “City hallnever ignores College Hill.”

But Gorlich said she is mostproud of building up the membershipof the association by increasing the

newsletter mailing to all residents,including renters, and going door todoor when necessary to spread theword.

“I believe that I did a good job inreaching out to different people inthe neighborhood who hadn’t beeninvolved before. I reached out torenters. I believe that is important. Iwould hate for people who rent inthis neighborhood to feel that theyare not invested in the neighborhood,because they are,” Gorlich said.

But in recent years, membershiphas plateaued, association meetingshave been limited to once a year,and Gorlich found that she wasn’tknocking on as many doors as sheused to.

“I haven’t been out there ascheerleader,” she said. “That’s whatI feel bad about. I just can’t do itanymore.”

Beth King, who is currently vicepresident of the association, calledGorlich a “truly solid leader” whohad “grown weary.”

She praised Gorlich’s dedicationto leading and listening to the entireneighborhood, which is more eco-nomically diverse than a drivethrough the toniest blocks wouldsuggest.

“It is easy in a neighborhoodgroup to surround yourself withpeople who think like you do,” Kingsaid. “I don’t think that is good lead-ership. To reach out to other peopleis important, and to be open to oth-ers people’s ideas I think is equallyimportant.”

Gorlich said she is open to theidea of just living quietly in CollegeHill for awhile. But not too quietly.

“When I go to the park and I seepeople not picking up their dogpoop, now I can yell at them,” shesaid, laughing. “That’s sort of myhobby. I didn’t feel like I should dothat as president.”

More seriously, she said she iseager for someone else to take onthe fight for awhile.

“I’ve never minded people call-ing me and asking me what to doand who to call, and I still wouldn’tmind,” she said. “But it will be nicenot to be the point person. It’s beena lot of years.”

Celia Gorlich, longtime president of the College Hill Neighborhood Association, will step downthis month. She says it is time for “new people” and “new ideas” to steer the association.

BARRY OWENS

New leaders, new ideassought for College HillNeighborhood Assoc.Elections this month.

“I haven’t beenout there ascheerleader.That’s what I

feel bad about.I just can’t do it anymore.”

The College Hill Neighborhood Associationis accepting nominations for the followingoffices: president, vice president, secretaryand treasurer. Anyone interested in runningshould contact John Belt at 687-9453 or viaemail at [email protected]. Candidatesshould plan to provide information aboutthemselves and be prepared to share thatinformation at the meeting Sept. 29.

BY BARRY OWENS

A 10-year plan at cost of $10 mil-lion to beautify and unify DouglasAvenue from Downtown to CollegeHill was welcomed, though not yetapproved, by the city last month.

The Douglas Design District, amerchant’s association set on upgrad-ing the avenue with better lighting,street scaping, signage, bike lanes andother features, presented its plan to acity council workshop in August.

This month, city planners and dis-trict members will begin presentingthe plan to the public during an openhouse Sept. 28, 5-7p.m., at the RedCross building, 1900 E. Douglas.

“We have the plan and now wehave to go out and pitch it,” saidMonica Smits, a Design District mem-ber and owner of Aspen Boutique inCollege Hill. “The cost is overwhelm-ing, but we have a plan for that, too.”

The ambitious plan calls for privatefunds to pay for half of the cost ofimplementation, with the hope that thecity can find a way to pick up the rest.

City leaders praised the conceptlast month, but it’s a long way from

approval. After the plan is rolled out tothe public, it will go before the neigh-borhood advisory boards in Octoberand is not likely to make it to the fullcouncil until next year.

The plan, which started as a pro-posal to unify the design and furnish-ing stores near Downtown two yearsago, has since grown into a moreambitious project to make the avenuemore pedestrian friendly and commer-cially appealing. The District would

span from Washington to Glendalestreets.

“We are just a small group of busi-ness owners, but we want to see afuture on Douglas Avenue,” Smitssaid. “We are so excited that the cityhas embraced it. Everybody that hasseen it has embraced it. Everybodyloves Douglas Avenue. It is the heartof our city.”

District wide the plan, as presentedlast month, calls for:

• Reducing the speed limit from 35to 30 mph.

•Installing historic lighting andburying the current above ground util-ity lines.

• Retaining on street parallel park-ing.

•Installing bike lanes.•Installing benches, public art, his-

torical markers and other street fea-tures.

Other sections of the avenue, nearDowntown, would see landscapedmedians and upgraded pedestriancrossings.

Near East High School and inCollege Hill, the plan calls for reduc-ing the lanes of traffic from four tothree to make way for on-street bikelanes. Additionally, the plan seeksstreet landscaping in locationsbetween Hillside and Rutan.

While the plan was born out ofbusiness interests, Smits said it hasevolved to include to neighborhoodand residential interests. Each of theneighborhoods along the route havebeen involved in the planning throughrepresentatives from their neighbor-hood associations.

“It is for the people,” Smits said.“Without the people, we don’t havethe businesses. Without the business-es, you don’t have the street.”

5THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER z SEPTEMBER 2009

RENDERING: THE DOUGLAS DESIGN DISTRICT

Rendering of a proposed bus stop design planned as part of the Douglas Design District, whichwould run from Washington to Glendale streets along Douglas Avenue.

Merchants and City Pitching Design District PlanPublic has first chanceto see Douglas Avenue

plans this month.



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Neighborhood Meeting SetThe College Hill Neighborhood

Association will hold a general meet-ing on Sept. 29, 7 p.m., at East HeightsUnited Methodist Church, 4407 E.Douglas.

The meeting will include an updateand discussion with Robert Layton,Wichita City Manager, and a presenta-tion from the Douglas Design District.

The meeting will also include elec-tion of officers, including president, vicepresident, secretary, and treasurer.

The meeting is open to all CollegeHill residents.

DDD Information MeetingCity planners, along with members

of the Douglas Design District, will pres-ent their plans to upgrade and beautifyDouglas Avenue during an open houseSept. 28, 5-7p.m., at the Red Cross build-ing, 1900 E. Douglas.

The public is invited to attend tolearn more and to ask questions.

Church Hosts Open HouseCollege Hill United Methodist

Church, 2930 E. 1st St, will host an openhouse Sept. 13, 4-6pm, at the church.

All are welcome. Hot dogs will beserved and there will be a petting zooand bounce house for the kids.

Art Show at the CrownThe cast and crew at the Crown

Uptown Theatre will host an openhouse and art show this month.

The open house is Sept. 6, 12-3pm. The art sale will include origi-nal jewelry by Craig Green andoriginal art by Monte Wheeler.Karen Robu will be selling auto-graphed CDs. The theatres’s artisticdirector, Tom Frye, will be sellingcopies of his plays.

There is no charge for admis-sion.

“We’re trying to open up theCrown and let people see what it isall about,” Frye said.

Film Fest Seeks VolunteersThe 2009 Tallgrass Film

Festival, Oct. 23-25, is looking forvolunteers to help with this year’sevents. Volunteers are needed for allshifts. Help is also sought for day-time hours the week before the fes-tival.

For a list of potential positions,go to tallgrassfilmfest.com andclick on the volunteer link on themain page.

For more information, GayQuisenberry at [email protected] or at 409-3376.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Waxing


OCT. 5

Don't miss an evening of food, dancing, auction and good fun! Join Wichita Habitat for Humanity for the first Tool Box Bash event.

Saturday, October 10 from 7-10 p.m.at the Broadview Hotel in downtown Wichita.

TICKETS $35 EACH AND TABLES FOR 10 AVAILABLE FOR $350.

Tickets & info: 269-0775 or www.wichitahabitat.org

All proceeds benefit Wichita Habitat for Humanity’s affordable homeownership program.

Event sponsored by NorthStar Comfort Services and many other generous sponsors.

BACKYARD BLUES MANCrown Heights mechanic (and Texas Blues figure) to headline Blues Crawl

10 THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER z SEPTEMBER 2009ARTS

BY JOE STUMPE

Lewis Cowdrey straps on abeat-up acoustic guitar andgrins.

“Here’s another reason I likeWichita,” Cowdrey says before launch-ing into an old blues number. “I got thisat a garage sale for not quite $5. It does-n’t play great, but neither do I.”

Many would beg to differ.Cowdrey, who will headline the Sept.27 Fall Blues Crawl Afterparty in OldTown, was one of the founders of thefamed Austin, Texas blues scene thatproduced Stevie Ray Vaughn, theFabulous Thunderbirds and more.Accounts of that fertile period inmusic history routinely referenceCowdrey alongside both Stevie andJimmy Vaughn, W.C. Clark, Lou AnnBarton and others who went on togreater popularity.

Today, Cowdrey lives in CrownHeights with his wife, Karin, whoworks for Spirit (and who plays in theBoeing jazz band). He works on oldVolkswagons to help make ends meet(his personal collection includes twoBugs, a Fastback and VW bus). Hethinks he played about four gigs lastyear for a total of $125.

“That’s not a profession, that’s ahobby,” Cowdrey says.

Wichita Blues Society president

Patti Parker calls him “a hidden treas-ure in Wichita.”

What happened?Hell if Cowdrey knows.One decade he’s touring Europe

on the heels of a CD that’s drawingrave reviews and the next he’s...not.

Not that Cowdrey is complaining.He’s mostly always considered it aprivilege to play for an audience.

“I got to be something without beinganything,” he said. “I got to be the bluessinger.”

BORN BEATNIKFull-time occupation or not, the 63-

year-old Cowdrey still looks like a musi-cian with his earring and gray stubble.He’s a story-teller, though not in the lin-ear sense of first this happened, then this

happened. Instead, a story about ridingthe Greyhound bus will veer into anaccount of a female murderess he met onone trip and then swerve into an aside onthe similar tales that make up the bestblues songs. But here’s the linear part ofhis story:

Cowdrey grew up in the west Texastown of Lubbock. Buddy Holly had putLubbock on the map musically (“I’d sayBuddy Holly was the most importantwhite guy since Bob Wills,” Cowdreysays), but the bespectacled rocker hadplenty of company: Waylon Jenningswas a disc jockey on the local radio sta-tion, session sax legend Bobby Keys wasin the high school band at the same timesas Cowdrey, and future Austin fixturesJoe Ely and Jimmy Gillmore were alsoaround.

“There were musicians everywhere,and everything was changing,” Cowdreysaid.

Cowdrey took his first piano lessonat six, got his first harmonica at the ageof eight and a saxophone a few yearslater. He thinks his father would havemade a great musician, but he was tied toa job with the railroad, the family trade.Cowdrey saw a different future for him-self.

“When I was nine or 10, I was pret-

Lewis Cowdrey, a blues musician and Crown Heights resident, is a singer and songwriter,guitarist and harmonica player. He will headline this month’s Fall Blues Crawl Afterparty inOld Town on Sept. 27.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

PHOTOS: BARRY OWENS

ty sure I was a beatnik,” he said. Hejoined a band at 18 and never lookedback, although his chosen professionwould rarely pay the bills on its own overthe decades to come. He raced motorcy-cles and attended college, but music usu-ally came first, especially jazz and blues.

AUSTIN CALLINGCowdrey moved to Austin in the

1970s and played in various bands,including Lewis and the Legends,Sunnyland, the Fabulous Rockets (start-ed with Angela Strehil) and the Storm(started with Jimmy Vaughn). “That (theStorm) was me and everybody whobecame famous in Austin,” Cowdreysaid.

Like other members of the Texascapitol’s blues scene, he hung out atAntone’s and jammed with the estab-lished African-American bluesmen whocame through town to perform there.Eventually he got to play with just abouteverybody he idolized—Jimmy Reed,Albert Collins, Lightning Hopkins andOtis Rush.

Cowdrey hosted an open mic nightat Antone’s. He toured Europe and Israel.In 1994 he released a CD, “It’s Lewis,”on Antone’s label, backed by players likeClark and drummer Freddy “Pharoah”Walden. Wrote one reviewer: “Quitesimply, ‘It’s Lewis’ is, we feel, the best

Texas Blues CD of the last 20 years.”The CD sold about 10,000 copies

worldwide, but Cowdrey said he nevermade any money off of it. And the gigs—at least those worth playing—dried up.

By the time he moved to Kansas inthe 1990s, Cowdrey said, “I thought Iwould never play again.”

But of course he did, and still doesoccasionally. In Wichita he’s performedwith Barry Harris, Jesse Anderson,George Graybill, Tim Johnson, Cliff andJessie Major, David Graham and others.

“I know a lot of famous guys just alittle bit,” Cowdrey said. “The unfamousguys are just as impressive, which is whyI like Wichita.”

PUB SHOWCowdrey plays guitar and harmoni-

ca, sings and writes songs. Above all heconsiders himself an entertainer, some-one who can gear his show to the crowdwhether they want covers of other peo-ple’s famous songs or his own originals.Performers who moonlight as prima don-nas are “ludicrous,” he said. “I’m like,hey dude, the show must go on.”

For his Afterparty show atAmerica’s Pub, “I intend to do a bunch ofsongs that mean a lot to me, and I intendto respond to people’s requests.”

He plans a folky acoustic set,another focused on the harp and a thirdfeaturing perhaps his best weapon—avoice just high and piercing enough tocut through any Texas roadhouse.After all these years of playing, hedoesn’t mind admitting that he’s stillexcited by the opportunity.

“Every time you pick up a guitarthere’s a certain level you want toreach—and not get run out of town ona rail.”

Playing the blues has been a lot ofthings to Cowdrey — a dream, a job, ahobby. “But mostly it’s something Iwouldn’t want to do without,” he said.

11THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER z SEPTEMBER 2009 ARTS

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Much has been writtenabout the 1880s “BoomPeriod” of Wichita, atime when local real

estate values reached irrational andunsustainable heights, only to be fol-lowed by a market crash that wipedout many early Wichita fortunes. Duringthis time the word “boom” was locallyused more as a verb than a noun or adjec-tive, as in to promote or boost the youngtown. For the broader story read Wichita:The Magic City, by H. Craig Miner(Wichita-Sedgwick County HistoricalMuseum, 1988). As Miner documents,Wichita reported more real estate trans-actions in 1887 than any other Americancity except New York and Kansas City.The promoters of the day swept manynovice and seasoned investors alike intothe “buy low, sell high” speculationgame. The boom in the valley reverberat-ed up to College Hill.

During the 1880s the farmsteads ofCollege Hill were becoming less impor-tant to their owners for subsistence andmore valuable as real estate subdivisions.Stables, barns and chicken coops werebeing displaced by avenues, alleys, evena trolley track. A look at the transforma-tion of the farms into prospective hous-ing additions reveals the optimism (andcompetition) of the early landowners ofCollege Hill. Their activities provide amicrocosm of the larger Wichita boom ofthe 1880s.

M.R. Moser, College Hill farmer andimplement dealer in town (whose adver-tised slogan was “The Old Reliable”),was undoubtedly aware of the risingprices for commercial lots and home lots,both in town and in the country. In 1884he had his College Hill farm surveyedwith a view to future streets and homes.Moser joined with his neighbors to thesouth to plat the College Hill Addition inOctober of 1884. This addition featured a“park” in its center (roughly today’sClifton Square together with the largehomes on the south side of Douglas). Thepark was intended to be the grounds of ahoped-for college. The wisdom of thetime suggested that if a college were builtin an area it would have a buoyant effecton surrounding real estate values.Promoters sought investors and faithdenominations to raise capital and buildthese citadels of higher learning in anumber of Wichita locations. This onewas proposed to be called CentralUniversity (centrally located betweenFairmount College to the north andWichita University to the south), all grac-ing the rise being called “College Hill.”

In 1886 Mr. Moser platted the northpart of his farm on the hill as theBrooklyn Heights Addition to Wichita,evoking eastern connections similar tothe commercial establishments in town,such as the New York Store, the BostonStore, and the Philadelphia Store. Theimmediate acreage around his farmhousehe platted as Moser’s Addition. Also thatyear Merriman Park Place Addition was

platted by George O. Merriman, a pro-gressive thinker from Michigan who hada desire for an urban plan that would bemore intriguing than the conventionalgrid layouts in town. He achieved thiswith a design that incorporated meander-ing and curved streets around the land hereserved as a park.

Fanciful, even humorous nameswere given to the new residential addi-tions. James and La Quincy Phillips, in apun on the city of Rome’s famedCapitoline Hill, named their additionCapital Hill (as in wealth is made here).Their contribution was a rectangle fromtoday’s Central to Second Street,Broadview (formerly Capital Avenue) toCrestway (formerly East Street). CapitalHill was described favorably by the pressat the time as “a little bijou of an addi-tion.”

Other subdivision names exploitedthe perceived desirability of the hilltopterrain such as Grandview Addition andHighland Park. Farther to the south, onthe other side of Lincoln, Magic Hill wasplatted (where real estate fortunes couldbe made, as if by magic). For the landowners of College Hill, the boomingbusiness of 1880s real estate sales wasviewed as easier pickings than 1870sfarming.

North of Augusta Road (Central), onCemetery Road (Hillside), lived anotherprominent hillside farmer, Andrew “A.J.” Cook. He was the original settler ofthe quarter section that stretched fromtoday’s Wesley Medical Center to BluffStreet and north by half a mile. In 1885he platted the north half of his farm intothe Frisco Heights Addition, so namedfor the St. Louis & San Francisco rail-road tracks (now since removed) thatclipped the northwest corner of his farm.He platted the south half of his farm,originally known as Cook’s Hill, asProspect Hill Addition, a name evokingthe booming prospects for one wiseenough to buy lots from him and build ahome there. Prospect Hill additionallyfeatured a country school house built byCook, located on the northwest corner ofBluff and Central.

As a pioneer settler, Cook was a con-temporary of the early College Hill pre-emptors and land speculators E.F. Staley,J.M. Thomas and James Humphrey.Cook, however, did not pull up stakes ashis first neighbors had done. He stayedon and became something of an entrepre-neur, describing his occupation to thecensus takers over the years as nursery-man, arborist, farmer and implementdealer. He was also an inventor, focusedon bringing commercial freight and pas-senger boat travel to Wichita.

Since settlement of the ArkansasValley in the 1870s there had persistedlocal dreams of navigating the ArkansasRiver by steamboat for travel fromWichita to the Mississippi River, the Gulfof Mexico, and the world beyond.Additionally, river freighting of localproducts was predicted to enhance the

12 THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER z SEPTEMBER 2009HISTORYBY JEFF A. ROTH

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

For the land owners of College Hill, the booming business of 1880s real estate sales wasviewed as easier pickings than 1870s farming. A map from 1887 shows newly formed sub-divisions, including Prospect Hill, Frisco Heights, Brooklyn Heights, Capital Hill, Moser’s,Merriman Park and Grandview.

BOOM1880S REAL ESTATE BOOMECHOED IN COLLEGE HILL

MAP: COURTESY OF JEFF ROTH


valley’s prospects of becoming a com-mercial giant of the Southwest. A fewboats in fact made it up to Wichita,including the sternwheeler the TomRyan, whose captain was figurativelygiven the keys to the city by MayorWilliam Greiffenstein, who promised thecaptain all the lager and pretzels hedesired during his stay in April of 1880.Other steamers were less fortunate inplying the Arkansas, like the onelaunched later that year in front of a largecrowd gathered at the old iron wagonbridge at Douglas Avenue. Launchingwith fanfare, it slid to a halt on a sand bara mere 140 feet from its departure point.The embarrassed passengers were forcedto abandon ship and wade to shore, asMiner notes in Wichita, The Early Years1865-80.

Cook was convinced, however, of thenavigability of “The Big Sandy” as it wassometimes called, enough so that hepatented a steam powered dredge boatthat would, in theory, create channelslarge enough for the steamers to bypassthe sand bars. History does not record ifhis invention was ever built.

Either due to jealousy or simply afierce competitive spirit, he got into aspell of catcalling with his neighbor tothe south, M.R. Moser, about the originsand desirability of their respective tractson College Hill. The intensity of theirexchange suggests the fervor with whichthey valued their land. It all started whenthe Wichita Beacon featured a glowingarticle about Mr. Moser’s fine brick resi-dence, large orchard and fresh waterspring, entitling the article “Moser’sHill.” The heated exchange was playedout in the paper for all to read. [See side-bar on next page.]

The spirited development of theCollege Hill farms into potential homesites progressed through the 1880s, pri-marily on its western slope facing town.Newspapermen, mindful of supportivead revenue, wrote enthusiastically of thegrowing district and sales activity on thehill.

From the Beacon, Oct. 13, 1886:“N.F. Neiderlander has sold two of the

finest lots in Merriman ParkAddition…College Hill continues toboom.” A month later, during a tour ofthe area by horse and buggy, a Beaconreporter recorded his guide’s comments,“This lot belongs to H. Imboden, this toA.W. Bitting, this to Judge Mitchell, thatto Captain White of the Beacon, that onthe left to Bird, the architect, that on theright to his partner, Proudfoot…”

The following year architects WillisProudfoot and George Bird did in factbuild their country cottage homes adja-cent to Merriman Park: Proudfoot’s“Hillside Cottage” at 303 Circle Driveand Bird’s “Aviary,” at 330 Circle Drive.It is commonly held that the architectsbuilt these residences as model homes toserve as examples for others to follow inCollege Hill and elsewhere. As if seedingthe town’s other suburbs, two cus-tomized copies of Bird’s Aviary werebuilt in the waning months of 1887:“Fairmount Cottage” at 1717 N.Fairmount, and “Riverside Cottage” at901 Spaulding Avenue. A fifth surviving1887 home designed by Proudfoot andBird stands at 133 S. Charles, which atthe time was part of a suburban develop-ment being promoted around GarfieldUniversity, now Friends University.

The Beacon reporter in the buggycontinued the hyperbole regarding theboom on the town’s eastern heights: “Weare drawing in the fresh air, and gazingon the scene stretching away below us onthe west, where lies the city, wreathed ina cloud of smoke, rising from manufac-tories, mills, residences and businesshouses. There, too, lies the river, itscourse marked by the trees on its banksand further on stretch miles upon milesof farms, dotted everywhere with housesand groves…’I had no idea you had sucha beautiful site for residences within sucheasy reach of the city,’ were the firstwords uttered by the writer, and then westarted to drive round the circling roadsthat have been laid out with such care,with a view to making the park as pictur-esque as possible…”

The “easy reach” of the suburb was areference to the extension eastward of therecently established mule car line. The

addition of trolley service was a boon toany outlying real estate development andso it was enthusiastically reported in theBeacon, “Major Powell informs us alsothat he will transfer his graders and tracklayers to Douglas avenue, and will, asrapidly as possible build the line out eastfrom Hydraulic avenue, the present ter-minus of the line, to the north west cor-ner of Merriman Park Place…This issure to be one of the best lines of the sys-tem, as the heights on our eastern limitsare rapidly being bought up and settledupon for permanent residences.”

The glowing accolades for MerrimanPark, College Hill, Prospect Heights andFrisco Heights would soon be silenced.The unabated, escalating and unrealisticprices being paid for city lots hadreached unsustainable heights. Civicleaders, notably Eagle editor MarcellusMurdock, called for a halt to the specula-tive madness. The runaway train of local,eastern and foreign real estate investorsbegan losing steam in late 1887 andground to a halt by mid-1888. The bub-ble burst, the boom went bust.

The building of homes on CollegeHill likewise came to a dead stop. Insome cases partially built homes wereabandoned, leaving nothing but stonefoundations. The prospect for a collegeuphill from Douglas and Park Avenue(Rutan) drifted away. The nearby col-lege to the north, Fairmount, fell shortof opening its doors because of theboom collapse, and the neighboringschool to the south, Wichita University,closed its doors in just a few short years.The Hillside Cottage and the Aviaryattracted no other copies. They weredestined to stand without neighbors forthe next 20 years, lonely sentinels overthe park.

BOOM: 1880’S REAL ESTATE BOOM ECHOED IN COLLEGE HILL

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

HISTORY

In the spring of 1879, earlyCollege Hill neighbors A.J. Cookand M.R. Moser traded barbs onthe letters page of one of the localdailies. Below is an excerpt.

Cook: “My attention has beencalled to a mis-name (sic) in yourissue of the 12th calling the hilleast of town, Moser’s Hill. The firstentry of three fourths of a sectionwas made by the writer…The hillwas therefore called Cook’s Hill.When the Sabbath School wasorganized at our school house, itwas called by the appropriate nameof Prospect Hill. (Beacon, March26, 1879)

Moser: “It appears that Mr.Cook is a little ‘off’ in his cardregarding Moser’s Hill…I have noobjection to Mr. Cook calling hisplace ‘Cook’s Hill’ or ‘Prospect Hill’or any other name he chooses, butmy place is known and recognized…as Moser’s Hill.” (Beacon, April 2,1879)

Cook: “The citizens of ProspectHill have no objection to Mr. Mosercalling his own farm by any namehe wishes so long as he doesn’tendeavor to carry it beyond hislegal possession.” (Mr. Cook goeson a long property ownership rantabout the original land preemptorgetting claimed jumped, but theoffending interloper died, and theadministrator of his estate sold theland without the original squatterhaving a chance to contest the saleand save his claim). (Beacon, April16, 1879)

Moser: “I have some time towaste on the idiotic ravings of A.J.Cook….A.J. must be full of truth,for none of it ever comes out ofhim, particularly when he assertsthat I have ever given a name to myplace. He knows, if he is capable ofknowing anything, that I nevercalled my place ‘Moser’s Hill’…except in reply to some of hisspleen. The name was given by theeditors of the Beacon, and the edi-tors of other newspapers, who hadvisited the place and admired itsbeauties. These notices seem tohave galled the sensitive Cook tosuch an extent that, like the buz-zard, he desires to empty his filthupon me or any other person whocan’t see ‘Cook’s Hill.’ I believe thatis all I have to say in reply to A.J.Cook, and with these few kindremarks will drop the subject of“A.J. Cook v. Moser’s Hill.” (Beacon,April 23, 1879)

PHOTOS: JEFF ROTH

JEFF ROTH

“Hillside Cottage” at 303 Circle Drive, above,and “Aviary,” at 330 Circle Drive, below.Architects Proudfoot and Bird built the homeson the park in hopes of attracting morebuilders and buyers to College Hill.Sketched rendering of the A.J. Cook’s patented steam powered dredge boat that would, in

theory, create channels large enough for the steamers to bypass the sand bars of theArkansas River. History does not record if his invention was ever built.

14 THE COLLEGE HILL COMMONER z SEPTEMBER 2009ETC.

BY BARRY OWENS

It is another Wednesday afternoonat the neighborhood barber shop.Light rock plays on the radio, the

daily newspaper is well thumbed, andthe row of retail talcs and musk aftershaves look freshly dusted. Owner JayLaessig lounges in his chair and waitsfor his two o’clock. A regular.

They’re all regulars here at VillageBarber & Style, which is College Hill’slongest running barber shop. The shophas been in Lincoln Heights Villagesince the shopping center first openedin 1949. Laessig, who bought the shopfrom Bill Skidmore in 1988, is only thethird owner.

“I’ve got customers that startedcoming here in the early 1950s,” saidLaessig.

In walks Ron Brown, the twoo’clock, a physician. He’s been gettinghis hair cut here for 30 years.

Laessig drapes him with a smock andgets straight to work. The job takes aboutseven minutes. Brown reaches for hiswallet, Laessig reaches for his calendar.

“Two weeks?” the barber says.“See you in two weeks,” Brown says.And it so it goes at this shop, where

the haircuts are both ritual and rite ofpassage.

To be sure, there are any number ofplaces to get your hair cut in the neigh-borhood and Laessig’s shop doesn’thold the patent on tradition, familiarityand comfort. But it does seem to hold asentimental place in the hearts of gen-erations of College Hill men and boys(girls and women, too).

“People will fly in to get their kid’sfirst hair cut here, because this is just

where you go to get your first hair cut,”said barber Jeana Davis, one ofLaessig’s three employees.

“We’ve got one customer who comesin from Oklahoma,” Laessig says.“We’ve got guys that come in fromLyons, Haysville, Derby, Mulvane, thewest side, the south side. Cheney. Allaround.”

Laessig has no answer as to why.“It just becomes like a family deal,”

he says.Though his wife, Peggy, retired last

year (she was a beautician) Laessigsaid he has no plans to retire soon. Hewould miss the customers.

“They become my friends,” he says.“I don’t even know my neighbors.”

Laessig has been a barber all of hisadult life (“I started barber school theday I turned 21”) and while manymight attest to his skill with the shears,it is likely only part of the reason theykeep coming back.

“He’s like the mayor of the village,”says Amy Herd, owner of the neighbor-ing shop, Artifacts. “He brings choco-lates to everyone every day. He askshow they are doing. He keeps an eye onthings. It’s nice.”

Between customers on this after-noon, Laessig visited the shoe store and

the cafe and the flower shop. Everyonegot a piece of chocolate.

“When they’re not in, I just leave iton their desk,” he says.

By mid-afternoon, though, things hadpicked up at the shop and there was a linewaiting to sit in Laessig’s chair.

“How have you been? Didn’t youjust go somewhere?,” Laessig asks oneof the customers.

“Just got back from Table RockLake,” he says.

“That’s a clear lake,” Laessig offers.“Cold, too,” the customer counters.And then they are off into a wind-

ing conversation about feeder streamsand the number of locks on theMississippi river and what FranklinDelano Roosevelt had to do with it.When they hit a snag, Laessig pro-duces an atlas to look up a fewanswers.

“Some people don’t want to bebothered, others want to talk,” Laessigsays, shrugging off his skill at drawingpeople out. “But there are some thingsyou don’t talk about: Politics, some-body’s wife, somebody’s car, theirhunting dog. There’s one other thing,but I can’t think of it right now.”

No time, anyway. The next customer is waiting.

The Barber Will See You Now (And In 2 Weeks)Village Barber & Style, in Lincoln Heights Village, is the longest running barber shop in College Hill. Above: Owner Jay Laessig gives customer Ron Brown a trim.

PHOTOS: KATIE GORDON


Summer ain’t over around here until the dogsget a dip in the College Hill pool. That day camelast month during the Dog Days of Summer, anannual fundraiser for the Kansas HumaneSociety. Some dogs were easier to get into thewater than others.

Photos byBARRY OWENS

Come on, boy

We love it.. WaterWalk is a great place to call home. It’s exciting to live in the middle of all the

activities in the heart of the city—Music Theatre; Wichita Symphony; the Orpheum; all of the

Old Town Development, and a short walk to Intrust Bank Arena. We believe a strong communitycore is essential to a healthy progressive city and WaterWalk is part of it.

GUS & MARY CAMPUZANOWATERWALK PLACE RESIDENCE OWNERS

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Documents

The College Hill Commoner, Sept. 2009