The SITE OF THE OLD MAYFLOWER HOUSE, SE. corner 2nd and Main Sts., is occupied by the Union Depot. The hotel, built in 1857-
1858, was an important starting place for stagecoaches traveling into the West.
The SITE OF THE MASSASOIT HOUSE, 201 Main St., where distinguished visitors were entertained in the early days, is occupied by a wholesale drug company. Lincoln spent a night in the hotel after making a campaign speech. Fugitive slaves were hidden in the old hostelry during the days of conflict, and it was there that Horace Greeley ate his first dinner in Kansas.
In a tiny PARK, Main St. between 3rd and 4th Sts., adjoining the depot on the west, is a stone marker that commemorates the visit of the Lewis and Clark expedition, July 4, 1804.
The LOCOMOTIVE FINISHED MATERIAL PLANT, E. end of Park St., is the only plant of its kind in Kansas and one of the largest in the United States. Established as a foundry in 1871 by John Seaton, the plant has been engaged since 1906 in the manufacture of locomotive parts. Material is sold to nearly every railroad in the United States and to railroad companies in Mexico, Japan, and several European countries. The plant employs an average of 400 men.
An OLD BUILDING, NW. corner 4th and Commercial Sts., housed the first telegraph office. It was from this office that the first telegraphic message was sent from the West to the East in
1859. The building, a three-story structure of brick painted yellow, erected in 1858, is occupied by law and real estate offices.
PIONEER HALL , NE. corner N. 4th St. and Kansas Ave., a two-story brick building built in 1872, has served a variety of purposes. It housed the first congregation of the Christian Church of Atchison, organized in 1882, and served as a civic hall and headquarters for a volunteer fire department. The building, now used by a Negro club, has not been altered.
The BIRTHPLACE OF AMELIA EARHART PUTMAN , SW. corner Santa Fe St. and N. Terrace, a two-story brick and frame house of Victorian design, overlooks the Missouri River from the crest of a bluff. It was in this house, now occupied by another family, that the noted flyer spent most of her childhood with her grandparents. Former playmates recall the aviatrix as a studious child who, in moments of relaxation, liked to play Indian or go on "make-believe" trips in an old-fashioned carriage in a neighbor's barn.
The ATCHISON COUNTY COURTHOUSE, SW. corner N. 5th and Parallel Sts., completed in 1897, is a three-story limestone structure with a clock tower, designed in the Romanesque style by George P. Washburn of Ottawa, Kans.
A marker on the lawn commemorates the address made by Lincoln December 2, 1859, although the speech actually was delivered in a Methodist Church on Parallel Street between 5th and 6th Streets.
The W. P. WAGGENER HOME (private), 819 N. 4th St., is a good example of the pretentious architecture of the i88o's and 1890'$. Built in 1885 by the late Balie P. Waggener, father of W. P. Waggener, the three-story brick building has four porches and an arched main entrance. Typical of the architectural furbelows of the period are two copper griffins on the ridge of the roof.
A law library, on the third floor, has approximately 10,000 volumes including the statutes of every State and Territory.
ST. BENEDICT'S COLLEGE (campus open at all hours), NE. corner N. 2nd and Division Sts., is a Catholic institution for young men, with a spacious, well-kept campus skirting the Missouri River and providing a magnificent view of the river valley. Established in 1858 by the Order of St. Benedict, the college confers degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science and has an enrollment (1938) of 250 students. The present buildings, the first of which were completed in 1885, are designed in the Romanesque and Tudor Gothic styles.
The TUDOR GOTHIC MONASTERY (admittance only to office and parlors) is (1938) being erected on the campus. Designed by Brielmaier & Son of Milwaukee and modeled after the Benedictine monasteries of the Middle Ages, the Eshaped edifice of native stone with white trim will cost approximately a million dollars.
The ED HOWE HOME (private), 1117 N. 3rd St., where the journalist and author died October 3, 1937, is a simple two-story brick structure with white stone trim. "The Sage of Potato Hill" was the author of numerous magazine articles and several books, the best known of which is the Story of a Country Town.
SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' MEMORIAL HALL , 819 Commercial St., is a two-story brick and limestone building of classic design. It was erected in 1922 as a memorial to the Atchison County men who lost their lives in the World War. The AMERICAN LEGION MUSEUM (open on application to caretaker) is on the second floor. In addition to a number of Indian relics, the museum includes a captured German flag, brought from a fort near Coblenz, Germany, by Maj. Gen. Harry A. Smith, former resident of Atchison.
The ATCHISON AGROL PLANT, SW. corner S. 1 3th and Main Sts., manufactures a blend of alcohol and gasoline for use as motor fuel. Established in 1935 as a research unit of the Chemical Foundation of America, the plant began operating on a commercial basis December 2, 1937, and has a capacity of 10,000 gallons daily.
The OLD McINTEER HOUSE, NW. corner N. i3th St. and Kansas Ave., built in 1881, and designed in the manner of an Irish castle, with a profusion of gables and towers, has been converted into an apartment building.
The GLOBE PUBLISHING PLANT, 123 S. 5th St., a two-story building of red brick with a stone foundation, is the home of the Atchison Daily Globe, founded by Ed Howe in 1877. Walt Mason began writing his rhymes in prose form while working as a reporter for Howe, who objected to the publication of "poetry" in his newspaper.
MOUNT ST. SCHOLASTICA, 801 S. 8th St., a Catholic high school and college for young women, has a 42-acre campus. Founded as a grade school in 1863 by the Benedictine Sisters, the college draws students from remote sections of the United States and from France and Canada.
The large administration building of brick and stone, designed in the Tudor Gothic style by Brielmaier & Son of Milwaukee, was completed in 1924. A new chapel of Roman design, with a facade of stone, and the remainder in mingled shades of buff brick, was designed by the same architects. A lacework of stone at the main entrance is surmounted by a large rose window of carved stone and colored glass.
The school has a total enrollment of 275 and the college awards the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science.
MAUR HILL, 1400 S. loth St., is a Catholic preparatory school for boys. Established in 1920 by the Fathers of St. Benedict's College, Maur Hill is a successor of Midland College, an English Lutheran institution. Five modern buildings, four of which are Tudor Gothic in design, are on the spacious campus. A bronze statue near the campus entrance depicts St. Maur and St. Placid, teachers of youth, seated at the feet of St. Benedict, patron saint of the Benedictine Order.
JACKSON PARK, entrance 1600 S. 6th St., is a rugged i4O-acre tract with circuitous one-way drives that skirt precipitous bluffs. From the highest point in the park, Guerrier Hill, there is a good view of the Missouri Valley. Park facilities include a bandstand, small lakes, swings, and other amusements for children, and a small 200. A World War cannon and a large stone monument were placed in the park in memory of the Atchison men who served in the World War. The drives are lined with beds of iris of different varieties and colors, which bloom in May.
The KANSAS STATE ORPHANS' HOME, 0.5 m. NE. of city limits on Waggener Rd., consists of nine buildings of modern brick construction on an attractive 24O-acre tract of land. The home, which provides broad educational, domestic, and recreational facilities, was established in 1885 as a refuge for orphaned children of soldiers.