Page 6 - SCCD Visitors Guide

1867
1873
1882
1885
FUN FACT
1888 1909
1919
1928
1931
FUN FACT
FUN FACT
Sherman Couounty Historory
The Kidder Massacre occurred July 2, 1867 in northeast Sherman County. Eleven military men and one Lakota scout were killed by Lakota and Cheyenne warriors.
Kansas State Legislature named Sherman County after General Sherman in 1873.
Mr. and Mrs.
Joseph F. Collier were credited as the first actual
residents and erected the first building in the county in 1882. Their granddaughter Mrs. Artie (Melstrom) Franklin was the first person born in Sherman County on Feb. 23, 1883.
Gandy was the first town established in Sherman County by Dr. J.L. Gandy in June 1885.
The first building placed in Goodland was the Sherman Hotel owned and moved from Sherman County by E. Thorsen.
The Chicago Kansas and Nebraska Railroad
came through Goodland on July 3, 1888.
William Purvis and Charles Wilson filed for a patent in 1909 for America’s First Patented Helicopter.
Dr. Marion J. Renner was known as the “Flying Doctor” and would travel to his patients via plane rather than car. The Goodland Airport is named after Dr. Renner.
The weather bureau was established in 1919 by Frank J. Horton
Eight painted peacocks and roses in the Sherman Theatre were covered in 1928. They have recently been uncovered and restored to their 1928 glory.
In 1931, The United Telephone Building was built to service the more than 1,000 telephones being used in Goodland. It has been restored today by the Sherman County Historical
Society to house the Parker Holbrook Research Center.
Goodland’s Grand Opera House sat on the southwest corner of
10th and Main. The most notable actor to perform in Goodland was probably Milburn Stone who was famous for paying “Doc” on the television series Gunsmoke. Today the building houses the Goodland Churches Thrift Store.
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