Harry Pratt Wareham was one of the city's most influential businessmen, owning numerous downtown buildings and supporting many of the city's first infrastructure projects. For example, he and a partner began the city's first telephone exchange in 1894. When the city flooded in 1951, many of the furnishing inside the hotel were destroyed. The building was restored in the 1980s, but by this time, consumer preferences had shifted in a manner that created little opportunity for an independent downtown hotel in "The Little Apple."&nbsp;

The former Wareham Hotel, now home to a restaurant and apartments.

Undated photo of the Wareham hotel's dining room

The Wareham Hotel now home to several apartments and Harry's restaurant

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History of Riley County from Riley County Historical Society

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Downtown Manhattan Historic District Nomination Form, National Register of Historic Places

Construction of this six-story building began in 1925 and completed the following year. Building owner and leading Manhattan businessman Harry P. Wareham stated that it was his intention to create the city of Manhattan's first "skyscraper." While his building and hotel could not compete with the skyscrapers of the Big Apple, this steel-reinforced building "had no equal" in the city of Manhattan Kansas according to the local newspaper. The hotel included dining rooms and a lobby on the main floor and 150 hotel rooms on the second through fifth floors. The top floors housed what would today be known as "luxury apartments," including a private residence for the building's owner. Today, the building is home to Harry's Uptown restaurant on the first floor (named in honor of Harry P. Wareham) and apartments on the upper floors.

The Historic Wareham Hotel

This short walk through the heart of Manhattan begins at the headquarters of the city's women's club and several other historic Kansas homes before moving on to downtown historic landmarks such as the Carnegie Library and Wareham Hotel. Be sure to also look in Clio for landmarks and museums on the Kansas State campus and the city's historic train depot. 

Downton Manhattan Kansas Walking Tour

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As an Arts and Crafts style bungalow, the Woman's Club House served as the home to the Manhattan chapter of the American Woman's League, organized in 1909. Women's Leagues grew popular during the Progressive Era, part of a broader trend of promoting self, civic, and societal improvement. Indeed, women began to make strides in influencing public policy and, by 1920, as a result of the 19th Amendment, were allowed to vote in U.S. elections. A stipulation of the Manhattan chapter involved a need to obtain property within two years of its organization. Thus, the group purchased a lot in Manhattan in 1910 and began construction on the bungalow in 1911 (partially gifted to them by the E.G. Lewis Publishing Company, whose owner and namesake formed the American Women's League before the publishing company collapsed in 1911).The Woman's League of Manhattan constitution stated that its purpose was to associate the women of Manhattan in intellectual, cultural, and civic activities and help improve the community around them, including promoting education. As part of the Woman's League, Lewis founded the People's University and the Art Institute in University City, both aimed at women. Additionally, he established a correspondence school that included several classes directed toward women; 50,000 women enrolled by 1910. Part of Lewis' motivation for creating educational programs for women involved his belief that providing women the right to vote without first educating them would prove dangerous. Though civic welfare and education served as its official purpose, one can't discount the influence of Lewis Publishing Company. Their donation included a requirement that local chapters secure 50 to 75 members and each member needed to solicit subscriptions worth at least $52.00 for some of the numerous publications listed by the Lewis Publishing Company. The publishers received 50% of the subscription sales as a commission from the magazine publishers. If local chapters successfully sold the required subscriptions, the publishing company provided the chapter with a clubhouse. (E.G. Lewis and his company built chapter houses in sixteen states 16 states.) As noted in the nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, "Local chapters would then be given a clubhouse provided that it could supply a lot upon which to build it. The building site was to be deeded to the League to be held in trust for the local chapter. Thereafter the chapter was to receive an annual percentage of its subscription sales to be used for their expenses." During construction of the Manhattan Woman's Clubhouse in 1911, government prosecution forced the Lewis Publishing Company to suspend its business activities. The government charged the company with illegally flooding people's mail with periodicals. (E.G. Lewis was not convicted on any of the indictments., but the legal battles broke his health and forced his company into bankruptcy by 1911.) At the time of the company's suspension, they owed was $1,000 on the Manhattan bungalow contract. As a result, chapter trustees arranged a mortgage for this amount and increased its membership; the increased dues helped pay for finishing the clubhouse and furnishing it. Since the American Woman's League collapsed along with the Lewis Publishing Company, the Manhattan group changed its name in 1913 to the Woman's Welfare Association and then in 1920 to the Woman's Club.

The Manhattan chapter of the American Women's Club formed in 1909 and constructed its clubhouse in 1911. Women's clubs grew popular during the Progressive Era, focused on not only providing women with greater educational, professional and political opportunities, but also serving the community. The American Women's Club, a national organization, was created by E.G. Lewis and his publishing company. Members were required to sell subscriptions to his company and, when they met their quota, would receive a bungalow house in return. The company folded before the Manhattan clubhouse was finished, forcing the local organization to obtain more funds to finish the project.

Woman's Club House

The Francis Byron (Barney) Kimble House, a Queen Anne Free Classic style residence, was constructed in 1911-1912 of locally quarried limestone. Indeed, the house from top to bottom is limestone, as are the other structures on the property. Barney Kimble and his wife Mary Ann purchased the home later in their lives as an ipso facto retirement home. Though Barney died in 1920, Mary Ann stayed in the home until 1940, and the family sold the house just after World War II ended. In the late 1850s, when Barney reached nine years old, the Kimble family moved to Riley County from Ohio (shortly after Kansas Territory opened for settlement in 1854). Barney's father, Samuel Kimble (1822-1890), a native of Chester County, Pennsylvania, came to Manhattan with his wife Mary Ann; they served as one of the Manhattan area's first settlers. During the 1860s, while working at Fort Riley as a carpenter and stonemason, Samuel constructed his family's home and farmstead. By the time he died in 1890, his farmstead had grown into a large stock farm that exceeded 2,200 acres. After his death, his widow, Mary Ann, built a sizable wood-frame house on the same block in which Barney and his wife Mary Ann erected the now-historic retirement home. Samuel and Mary Ann had numerous children, many of whom constructed several noteworthy buildings; the Kimble influence in Manhattan during the late nineteenth century is impossible to ignore. Barney Kimble built the home in 1911, a second residence as he also owned an extensive ranch. The "Free Classic" variant of the Queen Anne-style became common after 1890. Though the homes enjoyed many Queen Anne features, the homes also included attributes of the Colonial Revival style, such as the case with the Kimble House with its classical columns as porch supports. Barney and Mary Ann Kimble lived in this residence while in their 50s. Barney died in 1920, but Mary Ann held the property for two more decades until her death in 1940. Elsie Ann (Kimble) Wilson inherited the house in 1941 and remained its owner for five years. The story of the Kimble house after the 1940s is one of constant transition as the home functioned as a law office, funeral home, and health services center, to name a few. In 1946, the Kimble family sold the property to Edwin J. Frick, known for opening Manhattan's Sunset Zoo. Frick sold it to Bernard J. Conroy in 1950. Conroy converted the barn on the lot to a chapel and enlarged the stable and garage to accommodate his mortuary. The house and property operated as a funeral home until 1977, when Conroy sold it to John Sullivan of Sullivan and Associates. Jeff and LeAnn Mathis purchased the property in 2013 and created "Katie's Way," which provides behavioral health services for those ages 2-26.

The Kimble House is a two-story limestone structure that was built in 1911-12 for Francis Byron "Barney" Kimble and his wife, Mary Ann Kimble. The Kimble family proved highly influential in Manhattan. Barney's father, Samuel Kimble, moved to the Manhattan area in 1857 from Ohio to work as a carpenter and stonemason. Sam, Sr. built a limestone farmhouse for his family west of Manhattan. By the time he died in 1890, his farmstead had exceeded 2,200 acres. In 1894 Barney's brother, Judge Sam Kimble, Jr., built a limestone home he called "Kastle Kimble," and in that same year, Barney constructed a limestone home west of Manhattan known as "Kimble Cliff." The historic Kimble House enjoys a Queen Anne style with distinct Colonial influences; the Kimbles owned the property until the late 1940s.

Francis Byron (Barney) Kimble House

Edward Augustus (E.A.) and Ura Burgoyne Wharton built the historic home in 1897 on land sold to Ura by her uncle five years earlier. (Ura Wharton's name is the only one that appears on the deed.) The home's most striking feature is its first floor constructed of limestone, which came from a nearby quarry. Ura, a native of Manhattan, married E.A. after moving to the town from Pennsylvania in 1880. He operated a dry goods store and was active in local politics. After they died around the time of World War II, the home passed on to the Ura's sister, who bequeathed it to the Christian Scientist Church. After only two years, the house transitioned again to a private residence. Ura Wharton, born and raised in Manhattan, married E. A. Wharton in 1885. E.A. came to Kansas from Pennsylvania in 1880. Two years after the couple married, E.A. opened the New Dry Goods Store in Manhattan. He operated the store until he sold it to Chris Lantz in 1909. Additionally, in 1903, E.A. was elected as one of three trustees of Manhattan Institute and a representative on the Manhattan City Council. E. A. Wharton died in 1939, and then Ura died in 1941. Ura's sister, Lillian M. Greene, inherited the home with the condition that she will it to the Christian Scientist Church of Manhattan. After Lillian died in 1955, the Christian Scientist congregation moved into the house, although they only used it for two years (they constructed a church building that opened in 1956). Helen and Alex McManis purchased the home in 1956 and remained its owner when the National Register of Historic places added it to its listing in 1995; the home still functions as a private residence today.

The Wharton family built this home in 1897 using limestone from a nearby quarry for the structure's entire first floor. After moving to Manhattan from Pennsylvania in 1890, E.A. Wharton married a native of Manhattan. Ura Wharton had been given this land from her uncle, and the couple decided to build there house on the family plot. Shortly after the couple married in 1895, E.A. opened a successful dry goods store and he was was active in local politics. The home passed to Ura's sister, in 1941 and then was used by the Christian Science church for two years during the 1950s before transitioning back to a private residence, which remains its function today.

E.A. and Ura Wharton House

Mattie (Martha) McNair Elliot, born in County Cork, Ireland, emigrated to Kansas as a child and went on to serve as a founding member of the Manhattan Carnegie Library Board in 1903. She served on the library board until 1929, a year after moving into the historic home. The Mattie M. Elliot House (c. 1927-1928) is an archetypal English Tudor Revival home, a popular style rivaled only by the Colonial Revival during the 1920s. The house speaks to the type of home common among economically successful, middle-class residents during the 1920s. Willard S. Elliot, the founder of Manhattan's W. S. Elliot Clothing Store in Manhattan in 1897, left the estate to his wife, Mattie, after he died in 1918. A native of County Cork, Ireland, she moved to Wabaunsee County, Kansas, as a child. Mattie Elliot became one of the founding members of the Manhattan Carnegie Library Board in 1903 and remained an active member of the nine-member board through 1929. She moved into the house one year before leaving the Library board (construction on the house transpired between 1927 and 1928). Floyd O. Wolfenbarger, a prominent Manhattan architect, likely designed the house and did so as a young man still completing his Bachelor's of Architecture at Kansas State University (KSU). Shortly after its completion, the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce selected the Elliot house to appear in its promotional literature, which it did through the 1940s. After Wolfenbarger completed the home and his studies at Kansas State University, he moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and practiced as an architect for eight years before returning to Manhattan in 1935. He designed hospitals, jails, recreational facilities, businesses, and homes in Manhattan and the surrounding region. He served as a consultant on ecclesiastical art and architecture for the Catholic church and, in 1949, was elected as president of the Kansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.One year before Wolfenbarger took on the role as president of the illustrious organization, the Elliot home he designed while a student at KSU passed to Mrs. Elliot's great-niece and her husband. The couple subsequently sold the house that year (1948). The property changed hands several times during the 1950s until the St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church purchased it for a rectory. The church used it as a rectory until 1988 when they sold the house to a couple; the home returned to its original purpose as a private home.While the home enjoys direct ties to its original owners and architect, it stands today as an example of middle-class financial success during the 1920s. Styles like Tudor and Colonial Revival, with their brick and ornate features, speak to the ability of families like the Elliots to hire architects and spend money on both a home's function and decoration. Indeed, though not wildly wealthy, W.S. Elliot owned a successful clothing store, and Mattie, like many middle-class women of the Progressive Era, engaged in "community welfare" projects; she was a founding member of the Carnegie Library.

Finished in 1928, this historic home was built for Mattie M. Elliot, one of the founders of the Carnegie Library in Manhattan. Elliot served the library from 1903 to 1929, a period of growth for the city. Floyd O. Wolfenbarger, a prominent Manhattan architect who went on to become president of the Kansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, designed the home while completing his Bachelor's of Architecture degree at Kansas State University. The home utilizes a English Tudor Revival design, a style that grew popular during the late nineteenth century and rivaled the Colonial Revival and other ornate styles by the 1920s. The historic home served as a rectory for St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church for several decades in the late 20th century and once again serves as a single-family home.

Mattie M. Elliot House

Manhattan, Kansas, developed a library organization in 1856, even before becoming a state. Membership to what became the Manhattan Library Association was open, for a fee of $1.00, to "all persons of good moral character." The Manhattan Library Association submitted a grant to the Carnegie Corporation in 1903, hoping to build a new, expansive library. The Neo-Classical Manhattan Carnegie Library Building resulted, one of sixty-three Carnegie libraries constructed in Kansas during the first three decades of the twentieth century. The community received their $10,000.00 Carnegie Library grant in 1903 and finished construction on the library in 1904.  Industrialist (and exceptionally wealthy) Andrew Carnegie (1835 -1919) enjoyed a complicated relationship with laborers and the lower class. In 1882, Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick hired men who used violence against striking steelworkers during the Homestead Steel Strike. In response to workers seeking better pay and improved working conditions, Carnegie's hired men used violence that culminated in one of the worst labor conflicts in American history.Seven years later, in 1889, Carnegie wrote "The Gospel of Wealth." In the article, he explained spelled his views on philanthropy: "In bestowing charity the main consideration should be to help those who help themselves." His well-documented philanthropy amounted to $333 million (ninety percent of his fortune), most of which went to public buildings and community projects, which he deemed "the improvement of mankind." Much of his wealth went to building libraries. Indeed, more than $56 million of his wealth went to constructing more than 2,500 libraries. Though many of his laborers said, "What good is a book to a man who works 12 hours a day, six days a week?" Carnegie felt that raising wages would not help as workers would probably spend it on better food or drinks instead of what he thought they "needed." Ultimately, The Carnegie Corporation significantly impacted the development and expansion of public library systems worldwide. Between 1886 and 1921, Carnegie funds assisted in the construction of 1,681 city and 108 college libraries in the United States. Kansas ranks approximately eleventh in the number of Carnegie Libraries built. The Carnegie Corporation approved the grant, which led to the opening of the Manhattan Carnegie Library in 1904. The library opened with a collection of 1,000 items. Mary Cornelia Lee served as the library's first director and held the position until 1942. She oversaw the addition of a children's room in 1931 and the substantial expansion of its collection. By 1937, the library's growth showed to the town that the Carnegie Building was too small, but it took nearly three decades for Manhattan to construct a new library building. The city started planning for a modern building in 1964 and, finally, in 1969, the Manhattan Library moved from the historic Carnegie building to a new building, which also served as the headquarters for the newly established North Central Kansas Libraries System; the library opened with a collection size totaling 55,000 items. During the 1960s and 1970s, the historic building transitioned into a government office building used by the city. Today, it mainly functions as the County Attorney's office. Thus, the building has served the community for more than a century.

This historic library opened in 1904 thanks in part to a matching grant from Andrew Carnegie and community funds. The library opened with a collection of 1,000 items and with Mary Cornelia Lee as the library's first director. She served nearly forty years, while the library building was constructed nearly fifty years after Manhattan established its first library association during Kansas' territorial period. That era of Kansas history was famous for violent struggles, something industrialist Andrew Carnegie knew well; his steel company used a variety of methods to pacify their workforce. An 1892 strike at one of Carnegie's mills culminated in hired "detectives" killing several striking workers. Later in life, Carnegie embraced the role of philanthropist, spending ninety percent of his fortune (more than $330 million in 1915 dollars) on community projects, including thousands of libraries. More than sixty of those Carnegie-funded libraries were erected in Kansas, including the Manhattan Carnegie Library building in 1904.

Manhattan Carnegie Library Building

Built in 1917, the Community House in Manhattan, Kansas, played an integral role in Manhattan's association with U.S. military events during the twentieth century (especially World War I) and the community involvement through which it inspired. Purported to be the country's first permanent community building, the Community House's success inspired the Federal Government to encourage other cities to construct similar buildings. After World War II, the building largely served as a community and recreation center until 2019. A multimillion-dollar renovation project led to its conversion into a modern office and loft space, but the developers maintained its historic look. <h3>The Genesis of the Community House</h3>The Rotarians of Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma, along with the City of Manhattan, collaborated on building the Community Center. Although most buildings in Manhattan built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century consisted of limestone (a stone native to Kansas), the Community House is primarily brick. Although it opened in 1918, near the end of World War I, the collaborators had intended to create a place suitable for soldiers to sleep and be entertained, as well as keep their minds off the war. General Leonard Wood attended the grand opening in 1918. Wood, an acclaimed military officer, fought in the 1st Volunteer Cavalry (the Rough Riders) and, as a colonel, led it in its Cuban operations, including at San Juan Hill. He also served as governor of the Moro Province in the Philippines from 1903 to 1906 (and governor-general of the Philippines from 1921-1927), as a special ambassador to Argentina, and as the U.S. Army Chief of Staff. Additionally, he trained the 10th Division at Camp Funston during World War I. Wood also tried his hand at politics when he ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for president in 1920. <h3>From World War I through World War II</h3>During the First World War, the War Camp Community Service managed the Community House. Numerous soldiers trained at nearby Camp Funston and Fort Riley during World War I. The Community House provided the soldiers with cots for sleeping, offered them stationary for writing family and friends, provided magazines and a billiards room, and hosted events such as concerts and dances. For those already shipped overseas, the Community House functioned as a place where family members could go and receive information about their whereabouts. During the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s, the City of Manhattan managed the Community House, which functioned dually as an American Legion post and the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce headquarters. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Federal Government bought the Community House and used it to host USO and community events. The success of the Community House inspired the Federal government to budget more than $4 million for the construction of more community centers in cities throughout the U.S. <h3>Post WWII</h3>Despite the continued U.S. military involvement in overseas conflicts such as Korea and Vietnam, the Community House transitioned into a community and recreation center in the years after World War II. As well, some city employees maintained offices on the building's first floor. In recent years, it has been the home to the Manhattan Parks and Recreation Dept. and known as the Douglass Recreation Center. Until 2019, the building lived up to its Community House name, having served the Manhattan community for more than a century. <h3>2019 - </h3>A real estate developer purchased the historic building in 2019 and headed a project to refurbish and renew the building, turning it into a space suitable for modern office suites, a reception and conference area, a few one-bedroom lofts, and space available for community meetings and receptions. Although the building underwent significant renovations, the developers maintained its historic appearance.

The Manhattan Community House opened in 1918 and served the community for a century before transitioning into a modern office and loft building. Its principal purpose when it opened involved catering to troops and their families during World War I.  Troops training at nearby Camp Funston and Fort Riley stayed at the Community House and used it as a place of leisure, while families came there to check on the status and whereabouts of those who had already traveled overseas. During World War II, the USO used the Community House. After the war, the building transitioned into a community and recreation center, which remained its chief purpose until the modern renovation took place after 2019. 

Community House

Damon Runyon gained fame as a newspaper columnist, sportswriter, novelist, playwright, and screenwriter during the first half of the twentieth century. Runyon's father founded The Mercury, a newspaper that remains in operation today. Meanwhile, Runyan's grandfather, William, helped found and name the town. Still, the home enjoys fame for its attachment to Damon, whose short stories served as the basis for the musical Guys and Dolls. Runyan also wrote numerous screenplays, sixteen of which turned into major movie releases. Well after Runyon's death, from 1955—1956, the Damon Runyon Theatre aired on CBS-TV. Runyon's parents, Alfred Lee Runyan and his wife Libbie Damon Runyon had the home built in 1880, which served as Demon's birthplace. The Runyon family — first spelled "Renoyan," and then "Runyan" — arrived in Manhattan, Kansas, in 1855. William Renoyan came with his son, Alfred, along with an immigration party. They had planned to head to Junction City; however, after some negotiation with members of the recently formed Boston Town Association, including a change of name for the new city to Manhattan, the immigrant group decided to forgo their plans and stay. They constructed prefabricated buildings and platted out town lots, thus developing the foundation for what became today's downtown Manhattan, Kansas. William Renoyan had visions of eventually moving to California to join in the Gold Rush. Instead, Renoyan remained in Manhattan, the town he helped found. While in Manhattan, he simplified the family name to Runyan. Alfred lived with his father on their small farm, and then he took up the printing trade. In 1868, he went to work for the Manhattan Independent and later worked in the offices of the Manhattan Standard. On November 7, 1868, Alfred became one of the first volunteers for the 19th Kansas Regiment. He reported daily on the actions of the army's campaigns against Native Americans in Kansas and Oklahoma. Native Americans located west of the Missouri River were deemed by white Americans as a barrier to westward expansionism whereas Native Americans viewed the expansion as a continued pattern of seizing their lands. (A snowstorm kept the 19th Regiment from reaching western Oklahoma Territory in time to join General Custer in his infamous attack on peaceful Cheyennes, resulting in more than 100 deaths, including the friendly chief, Black Kettle and several women and children.) Roughly sixteen months later, The Kansas Historical Quarterly published Runyan's letters in full, serving today as a high-quality primary source of the 1868 campaigns.  Alfred returned to Kansas and his career in journalism in 1869. He met and married Libbie Damon in 1876 and, shortly thereafter, partnered with C.M. Patee in forming the Manhattan Enterprise, a paper that today goes by the name The Mercury. During his time as owner and editor of the Enterprise, in 1880, Alfred and Libbie purchased the land where the now-historic Damon Runyon home sits (and where Damon Runyan — later, Runyon — was born in 1880). The remaining years for Alfred and Libbie proved to be challenging. They moved several times after 1884, finally landing in Pueblo, Colorado, in 1891. During that span, the family experienced financial hardship, and Libbie's health failed. Alfred turned to alcohol. Libbie separated from Alfred and moved to Abilene, Kansas, with Damon and his sisters before she died in the early 1890s. After her death, Damon returned to Pueblo while his sisters remained in Abiline; he would not see them again for thirty years. Alfred Runyan was a city promoter who caught the fever of western expansion and passed it on to his son.Damon worked at newspapers, attended school periodically, and lived in boarding houses with his father, Alfred. When a teenage reporter misspelled his last name, spelling it "Runyon," he liked it and kept it. At fourteen, Damon moved alone to Denver to work as a cub reporter. When he turned eighteen, the same age his father was when he joined the 19th Kansas, Damon joined the Colorado Volunteers to fight in the Spanish American War and, also like his father, wrote a first-hand account of the Battle of Manila. However, unlike his father, Damon was not in the battle as it concluded three weeks before his arrival. Runyon also falsely claimed to be the youngest enlisted man in the U.S. Army (14 years old) by changing his birth year to 1884, thus cutting four years off his actual age. Runyon maintained this fabrication for the rest of his life. In addition to lying about his age, Runyon was a notorious gambler and a heavy smoker (which led to the throat cancer that killed him). In his early years, he was also a heavy drinker, much like his father. While drinking nearly ruined Alfred, Damon reportedly controlled his drinking after meeting his eventual wife. Moreover, Damon associated with the mob, even befriending a hitman who eventually died during a mob-to-mob shooting; the hitman served as the subject for some of Runyon's future stories.Shortly after returning from the war, Runyon took a job with the New York Sporting News and then began to compose short stories, most of which took inspiration from his father's life in the West, including the time Alfred spent in Manhattan and Pueblo. By the 1920s and 1930s, Runyon gamed fame for his work as a writer and playwright, although it wasn't until after he died of throat cancer in 1946 that most of his screenplays hit the top of the box office charts. In 1949, Paramount Pictures placed an engraved marble slab on the corner of the subject property to commemorate his life and celebrate the release of a film based on one of Runyon's short stories. The house that Alfrid and Libbie built was not remarkable when erected, but Manhattan celebrates the home because of its association with Damon Runyon. The lauded playwright reportedly returned to Manhattan twice to visit his family's house, but his time spent in the Kansas town pale in comparison to his father and grandfather. Indeed, although Damon's grandfather ostensibly founded the town, and Damon's father established the town's principal newspaper — one still in publication today, the home enjoys fame because of Damon's attachment to Broadway and Hollywood. Nonetheless, the historical home survives as a monument to several aspects of history: the Renoyan/Runyan/Runyon family, western expansionism, the strained relationship between Native Americans and encroaching American natives, the Spanish - American war, Manhattan's growth, and Damon Runyon's impact on the theatre and in Hollywood.

This historic Manhattan home was the birthplace of famed playwright, screenplay writer, author, and journalist, Damon Runyon in 1880. Runyon's short stories became the basis for the famed Broadway play, Guys and Dolls, along with sixteen Hollywood films that were adapted from his screenplays. Runyon's father not only built this home, but he also founded The Mercury newspaper which was published in Manhattan for more than a century. Damon's grandfather was among the town founders as he helped determine the layout of the original townsite during the Bleeding Kansas period before the Civil War. 

Damon Runyon House

The Phillipena J. Strasser House, constructed in 1874, is an exemplary Gable-Front-and-Wing Stone House property type and associated with the evolution of residential development, notably stone masonry construction, in Manhattan during the nineteenth century. The arrival of the Kansas Pacific Railroad into Manhattan in 1866 helped spur the population growth, as did the establishment of Kansas State Agricultural College in 1863. The original two-story gable-front house was built for German immigrant Phillipena J. Strasser, who came to Kansas from Illinois. She only stayed in the house for one year. The stories attached to the numerous residents enjoy their own unique history, but they also speak to the broader history of Manhattan and eastern Kansas. In 1867, Phillipena J. Strasser (circa 1837-1920), a German immigrant, came to Riley County, Kansas, from Illinois, where she had lived for about four years. Before moving to Illinois, Strasser lived in Missouri, where she married and had her first two children. Her second two children were born in Illinois. (Both her first husband's name and her immigration date are unknown.) In April 1875, shortly after the completion of the Phillipena J. Strasser House, Phillipena married Isom Tull (1834-1917), a Riley County farmer. Tull, an Indiana native, was a widower with seven children. Phillipena and Isom resided at his farm. (They later separated and Phillipena moved to Topeka, where she stayed the rest of her life.) So, Phillipena Strasser only lived in the historic home for one year. After her marriage, in 1875, she sold the historic house to C. Perry McDonald (1833-1908). Like Phillipena's husband, McDonald came to Kansas from Indiana, arriving in 1854 and claiming land as a free-soil settler. He stayed in the Strasser home until 1882, when he sold it to Hyram Keyes, a weaver, who also owned a neighboring lot. Keyes came to Kansas in the late 1850s or early 1860s from Ohio with his wife. He and his wife lived in the home with their seven children until 1886. In 1885, Keyes added a two-story intersecting wing to the east side of the house. Keyes sold the home and neighboring lot in 1886 to Pennsylvania native Jennie R. (Moffit) Marsh (1850-1921). She married Francis E. Marsh, an Ohio native and widower who settled in Kansas in 1871 and established himself as a Manhattan grocer. The Marsh family resided in the Strasser House until 1913 when Jennie was committed to the Topeka State Hospital, where she remained until her death, and Francis moved to Wabaunsee, Kansas, to live with his son Frank E. Marsh. After the Marsh family sold the historic house in 1913, the home changed hands several times until Dr. Henley H. Haymaker, a professor of plant pathology at Kansas State Agricultural College (later Kansas State University) purchased the Strasser House in 1936. Haymaker remained owned the home for forty-four years. During that time, he gained recognition and won awards for his academic work and research. The University built a dormitory in 1996 and named it Haymaker Hall after the acclaimed professor. Furthermore, KSU's Division of Biology awards annually the Haymaker Teaching Excellence Award and the Haymaker Graduate Student Research Award (funded by the H. Henley Haymaker Endowment in his honor). Dr. Haymaker sold the Phillipena J. Strasser House property in 1980. By 1988, Charles R. "Dick" Dickens, who once rented the downstairs unit from Haymaker, purchased the house (and bequeathed it to his sons after his passing in 1991). Dickens served as the first commissioner of the Manhattan City League Baseball program. His involvement in the program for more than forty years inspired the program to honor him with the "C. R. Dickens Memorial Press Box" at Manhattan's Anneberg Park. Today, the home survives as a reminder of Manhattan's early development, demonstrated by its stone masonry. The early story attached to the Strasser House is one of migrants traveling to Kansas from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania as people moved west during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Often widows and widowers with many children, they worked as farmers, weavers and grocers. As eastern Kansas became settled, its ownership became dominated by a successful Kansas State University professor and a man committed to his community, notably the local baseball program.

The establishment of Kansas State Agricultural College (later Kansas State University) in 1863 and arrival of the Kansas Pacific Railroad into Manhattan in 1866 helped spur a rise in migration into the area. The Strasser House represents the start of increased residential construction during the 1870s, hence its stone masonry construction. Most of the home's early occupants came to Manhattan from Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, and Ohio including Phillipena J. Strasser, a widow, who had the house built in 1874 before she remarried and moved one year later. 

Downton Manhattan Kansas Walking Tour

The Historic Wareham Hotel

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information