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 Bloom - The area was first settled by
the
Thomas J. Vanderslice family, with 4 brothers, in the early 1880's who built
homes there. Situated along the Santa Fe Trail, it soon became a stopping
point for travelers. The brothers called the area Bloomburg, after their
Pennsylvania hometown, which was later shortened to Bloom. Bloom first gained a post office in 1885, but did really become
a settlement until the Rock Island Railroad came through in 1888. The railroad
tracks crossed a section just a little south of the original settlement and a
number of homes and businesses were moved closer to the rail line. By 1888,
there was a hotel, 3 grocery stores, and a school.
Always a small village, its post office closed on April 30, 1891 and by 1893,
the town was not longer active due to severe drought. Many of the buildings
were moved or torn down, leaving just two families left in the vicinity --
the S. O. Albright family and the Oscar J. Andrews family. There were; however,
a number of area ranchers and in 1904, the post office reopened. These
cattlemen also needed a store and in1908, S.O. Albright, an original homesteader, opened a store.
Two years later, other businesses had also been established. Bloom's population peaked at a couple of hundred residents in
the 1930s when it boasted a hotel, gas station, restaurant, post office and
lumber yard. Over the years, it declined and its public school was closed and
merged with Minneola in the 1960s. Its post office closed forever in
1992. Today, the only open business is the grain elevator. Its original train
depot still stands, the grain elevator and several homes are today surrounded by farms and ranches.
Bucklin -
Established at the junction of two divisions of the Chicago, Rock Island &
Pacific Railroad, the town was founded by the railroad in May, 1887 and
named for a Rock Island civil engineer. Bucklin gained a post office in
August, 1887 and the first train made its appearance in October. That
first year, the town grew quickly adding two grocery stores, two general
merchandise stores, a hardware store, lumber yard, blacksmith and a hotel.
The station was connected to
Dodge City via
the railroad in 1888. A bad drought in the 1890s caused a number of
settlers to leave, but by 1905, the town was growing again. It was
officially incorporated in 1909 and the following year, reported a
population of 696. At that time, it had two banks, the weekly Banner
newspaper, a couple of hotels, and several retail businesses.
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LEGENDS
OF KANSAS
