"Good Old Days" in Niotaze

[W. Gray]

Just received my copy of the Prairie Star for May 11.

The lead story is the "Good Old Days" in Niotaze with a photograph of a nifty looking community storm shelter. Looks to be an old school.

As many times as I have driven through Niotaze I can only remember seeing a couple old closed buildings and a post office. I don't know that I have ever seen any human movement while driving through and I don't remember ever seeing the community building in question. A web site says 122 people live in Niotaze making it bigger population wise than Elk Falls, but Elk Falls looks bigger and more alive to me.

My Chautauqua County Historical Society published sources clear up something of a previous mystery for me.

I have seen Mantanzas and Jayhawk on old maps but never together and I could never could precisely locate their position.

Apparently Jayhawk became Mantanzas at some point.

Mantanzas was subsequently bypassed by the railroad and then someone founded Niota, just a short distance from Mantanzas, but Niota was in a better survival position being next to the railroad.

Subsequently the Mantanzas post office moved to Niota.

Niota became Newport in 1887 and then in 1890 Newport became Niotaze.

There was a refinery at Niotaze and the town had a bank as well as a hotel. The town had a uniformed band with Ralph Perkins as a band member. He does not seem to be the same Ralph Perkins of Howard fame.

Niotaze had two railroad depots because two railroads served the town.

Population seems to have hit 500 at one point.

Alfred Fairfax, a Republican, living south of Niotaze, was the first black man elected to the Kansas Legislature in 1888.

[Mom70x7]

Rosalie Wahl, first female Supreme Court Justice in Minnesota, is from Niotaze.

[W. Gray]

That she is.

She was supposed to have grown up along Birch Creek, which emptied into Little Caney River, about one and a half miles from "downtown" Niotaze.

[Janet Harrington]

To see any of Niotaze, you have to get "off the highway." My only experience was taking an ambulance there for a sweet elderly person and taking them back to Sedan City Hospital. Of course, that was many moons ago. LOL

[W. Gray]

Sheriff,
I noticed that looking on a Niotaze street map. There is a small but nice network of town streets south of the highway where that community storm shelter is located.

[Janet Harrington]

That is mostly where the town of Niotaze lays is south of U-166. I think it is great that they are doing what they can to have a way to protect the citizens in that area in case of a tornado.