Black Day for News Cameraman - Medora, Kansas

From April 19, 1961 Hutch News
By TED BLANKENSHIP
My "Bad Day at Black Rock
turned out to be a "mad morning
near Medora" Tuesday.
You never know when tempers
will flare and you will find yourself
and your camera lymg in the
muck of the Little Arkansas.
It didn't quite happen, but
there were times when things got
a little uncertain.
An attempt at news suppression
by threat on a lonely railroad
trestle in Reno County was
the last thing I anticipated when
I left my breakfast table Tuesday
morning.
But here's what happened:
I got a call from the editor.
A routine assignment: a teenage
girl had tried to lead a horse
across a railroad trestle, and the
animal had caught a hoof between
the ties.
When I arrived the veterinarian,
Dr. Brace C. Detter Jr., of
Nickerson had given the mare an
anesthetic, and was trying to get
her legs tied so she couldn't hurt
herself.
A group of Medorans, apparently
farmers, was helping. A tractor
was ready to move the animal
off the tracks on a wooden
sled.
No Publicity
"We don't want any publicity,"
said one of the men.
"Here comes a TV man," said
another.
I hastened to point out that I
was from the Hutchinson News,
not a television station.
"You're not going to take pictures
of that little girl's horse,
are you?" another little girl
asked, animosity in her eyes.
"I have a job to do," I replied.
The girl, I determined later,
was Martha Suarez of-Hutchinson.
I then waded across the stream
to get on the east side of the;
group of men so I wouldn't be
shooting against the sun.
One of the men said it was "no
skin off my nose, but it would be
nice if you wouldn't take any pictures."
I again explained that I was
following orders and had to do
my job as best I could. What
was used in The News would be
determined by my superiors.
"Wliy don't you be real mean
and leave it out this time," he
said. After all, those little girls
have had enough trouble for one
day."
By this time Dr. Detter had finished
tying the mare and she was
being loaded onto the sled.
Touch of Sarcasm
"I hope you got all the pictures
you wanted" said Miss
Suarez, a touch of sarcasm in
her voice. "Why don't you go
get a picture of that little girl
crying in the car? That ought
to make you a good front page
picture."
About that time one of the men
working over the horse asked me
how I would like to have him
throw me and my camera into
the mud under the trestle.
I think I am just horse enough
to do it," he said.
I thought to myself that he
probably was horse enough, but
said nothing. I didn't want to
lose my film or my self respect
at the moment.
By this time the horse was on
the sled, and I decided it was
time to leave. I stopped to get
one more picture, and at this
point Miss Suarez planted herself
in front of my camera to blot
the view. It truly was time to
go-As I turned my car around on
the gravel road, I wondered how
much help I would get if I backed
my car into the ditch.
I tried to drive carefully.

Medora, Kansas - A Reno County town

Becker's Bunkhouse.

Here's a map showing old Medora and new Medora.
Medora moved a mile to the southwest in 1904 or 1905. There is nothing left of the original town site.

A general store - the photo was taken in old Medora.

A postcard from the early 1900s.

The Medora school - a learning center moved in 2011 to another location. The school sits vacant.

Story from Medora - Feb. 14, 1913

But Medora Has Faith - Seeking to locate missing man through clairvoyant
 
HER TIP WORKED ONCE And Medora Figures It Might Work Again In Finding Embezzler.

Medora's faith in clairvoyance Is
causing the search for George
Mitchell, missing manager of the Kansas
Lumber company at Medora, to be
conducted along psychic lines.
A committee from Medora, beaded
by tho father-in-law of the missing
man, who Is- just as anxious to got
his hands on him as the lumber company
is, went to Wichita yesterday
to consult a clairvoyant, in tho hope
of getting a lino on .Mitchell's whereabouts.
The clairvoyant advised them that
the missing .manager has gone to
Canada. Which has somewhat shaken
their faith In the pBychlc wireless
operator, tor any ordinary man would
guess Canada as a refuge of an tmbeszllng
caehler,' The committee returned
last night somewhat skeptical.

'The Clairvoyant's Tip.
The people at .Medora have been
strong lor t h e Wichita clairvoyant
ever since she tipped off where Axel
Johnson's sweetheart was hiding,
after a lover's quarrel.
. Axel Johnson was second trick operator
at the.Rock Island station at
'Medora, and lie loved Nettle Thurnian,
a pretty Medora . maid. After their
•little quarrel she went away on a visit
and ho didn't fcuow where she had
gone. Axel went to Wichita, consulted
Madam-Somethlng-or-other, and she
advlsod him to try "Jola." He did
and found Nettio there. They came
to Hutchinson, Were wed a n d ' a r e living
happily-ever after. But that, of
course, has Both lug to do with the
missing Medora manager mystery.
Was Modal Young. Man. '
George Mitchell lias been manager
of the Kansas Lumber company business
at Medorn for two years. Ho
enmo to Mcdorafrom Bmporla, where
bis parents live.
Ho was regarded ;is a model young
business man, went In the best circles,
was highly regarded, and married the
daughter) of a 'prominent Medora merchant.
Now ho la gone, his aocounts are
short, it Is alleged; and he loaves his
wife on a sick bed and helpless, with
a little child to care for.. i .
The invt'H_tigattoiii:beliig mado Into
his accounta'.'By'.tfi'e Company Bhows
it la alleg'ej. tnat the shortage is fully
$500 andmay bo much more.
-Sheriff K. C. Beck Is' sending out
hundreds of photographs and description
cards In an attempt to locate the
missing manager, who "will be prosecuted
for embezzlement.

Punkin Center: a former Reno County neighboorhood

There are no pumpkins in Punkin Center.

Never have been, says 85-year-old Anna Hill with a laugh, although she says she has considered taking a tire she painted orange, printing on it the words "Punkin Center" and putting it at the intersection of where this little neighborhood once existed.

  "I thought about putting that up so people at least know where it is," she said.

There are only five other states with a Punkin Center, including Texas, which has five or six. But this Reno County ghost town is the only one that shows up on a website dedicated to the nation's funniest named towns. There's nothing there anymore, except for an old garage that's falling down in the middle of a pasture, and Anna and Dalton Hill's home, which is just a half mile to the west.
Nevertheless, Anna Hill, who has lived in the same house since birth, said her memories are fond of the little stop in the road she calls home.

The neighborhood gathering spot used to have a few homes, a store/fueling station and a school. Now a few old outbuildings, including this old garage, are all that is left.
Punkin Center is located at the intersection of Illinois and Haven roads in Reno County.


Here's a link I found to another picture - it shows the old store before it was torn down. http://www.dispatchpressimages.com/press-photo/punkin-center_4f2be47109cfe107234233.html

Castleton, KS - A Reno County ghost tow

For a fleeting moment, this little town was touched by the silver screen.

It was 1951, Francie White Grilliot recalls. She and her grade-school friends were excited to be part of the background in a Hollywood motion picture being shot on location in their hometown of Castleton - a film to be called "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie." A wardrobe of old-time clothing was kept at the high school, and her mother, a seamstress, was charged to make it fit the extras. 

The film crew transformed little Castleton into Sevillinois, Ill., a town set in 1905. They built a fire station, barber shop, livery stable and other period pieces that were situated around the already existing post office and Santa Fe depot. And for about two weeks, Castleton boomed with activity.

But then the crew packed up and headed west, and the tiny town of Castleton, already well amid rural decline, continued its downward spiral.

The post office closed in 1957, and the red brick depot, which had attracted the eye of the Hollywood producer, was razed in the early 1960s.

"There's not much left," Francie said from the kitchen table in the farmhouse where she grew up.

Castleton, Kansas.

A view of the elevators, which are owned by Mid Kansas Cooperative

Like all towns, Castleton founders had dreams for the stagecoach stop platted by C.C. Hutchinson in 1872. Hutchinson already had founded the city of Hutchinson, which eventually would secure the county seat of Reno County. He named Castleton after his new bride's hometown in Vermont.

Much of what is left can be seen from Tom Grilliot's lane: the tall bins of the cooperative elevator, a few dozen houses and a community church. There's a dozen or two homes, as well

A faded sign on the two-story township building still reads "Sam Eichenbarger, General Merchandise," which, according to a 1970 story in The News, was seen in the film. The basic plot in "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie" centers on a man who moves to a small town and sets up a barber shop, Tom Grilliot said, adding the movie has highs and lows for its characters.
It starred David Wayne, Hugh Marlowe and Jean Peters as Nellie. Peters was Howard Hughes' girlfriend at the time, and Hughes had hired a chaperone to make sure Peters didn't stray. Fresh roses from Hughes arrived at her room at the Bisonte Hotel in Hutchinson every morning, according to News editor Stuart Awbrey's column from the 1960s.
Awbrey said he was traveling west after the Castleton filming, so he stopped in to see the director, Henry King, who was putting finishing touches on the film.
"King was using the studio's biggest sound stage, and on it was a re-creation of what had been at Castleton a few weeks before," Awbrey wrote. "The railroad station seemed to have been rebuilt, stick for stick, and rubbed to the same dilapidated look. And, of course, the barber shop, firehouse and such might have been moved directly form central Reno County. I was stunned."
"What was that bit about getting authenticity in Kansas?" Awbrey asked.
"Well, we salvaged some scenes from our trip," King said. "But after we saw the runs out here, we decided on some script changes. And I wasn't too happy about the lighting we got in Kansas."
Thus, how much of Nellie's release was actually filmed in Castleton is anyone's guess, it seems, although Francie Grilliot says she thinks she saw herself in the film.

The town grew to 450 people. It had two blacksmiths, a livery, a depot, meat market, groceries, hotel, restaurants, hardware and a creamer, the article stated.
Then came the death dealer, Charlie Hornbaker, the unofficial mayor, told The News when the post office close.
"The auto not only ruined our town, but others," he said. "We can now go to Hutchinson in the time it took to hitch up the horses. But who'd want to go back to the horse and buggy days?"

"Like a condemned man marking time on the wall, Castleton chalks up another loss when its weather-beaten, 85-year-old post office closes its doors for the last time Friday - no longer a necessary part of the postal system, wrote News reporter Jim Banman. "The village will mark the passing, as it did the closing of the Santa Fe depot, by digging a few scoops of loam, making a mound and placing a few flowers on it."

,A memorial was erected in the 1950s to those who served their country.

The high school closed in the 1950s and the grade school a decade or so later. In 1955, the Santa Fe ran its last Doodle Bug train, and Hornbaker bought tickets so all Castleton youngsters could have the last ride to Hutchinson.
The post office closed in June 1957, and in the early 1970s moved to Great Bend. It's still on display at a museum.