All Aboard

Fifty-eight years ago, Monday, March 21, 1960, the final conductor call for railroad passenger service in Nevada occurred. The railroads that serviced Nevada in our past history, are now diminutive shadows of that “Golden Age.”

This story came from old Daily Mail archives. These clippings give one a glimpse back into our collective past. There is a lot more than the railroad history.

A March 1960 front page article detailed a recent public hearing, to discuss the Urban Development plans for new highway projects. Over the next 4-5 years, the routes of both U.S. HIghway’s 54 and 71, were dramatically altered to their present business and bypass locations.

Railroads and highways were significant in our town’s history and development. Our geography gave us somewhat of a leg up for our overall development. The intersection of two U.S. Highways 54 and 71, plus a well-traveled State Route 43, positioned us as an early center for vehicle traffic and commerce.

Before these highways became modern traffic ways, our area was a center for railroad traffic. The old Katy line was a major rail route from the St. Louis area all the way to Texas and the Gulf of Mexico. The Missouri Pacific line was another north-south rail corridor line. Nevada also was the starting point for a spur line into Kansas.

I have written about the economic history of our past before but felt it was time to address it again. In last Friday’s Daily Mail, a new group of community leaders gathered to discuss economic development, and the trends and issues pertinent to our area. Cindy Thompson, Northern Vernon County commissioner, is spearheading this group.

This is the latest in an ongoing and historical effort by local citizens and business leaders to attempt to steer future economic development to our area. One overriding concept presented in this recent article was that what worked in the past, does not always mean that it will work in the present. The age-old belief by many is that we should return to the “Good Old Days.” History does not always support that premise.

In the good old days of our past, we were a railroad center. We had many employees in that industry. There were numerous mechanical shops and a roundhouse in the rail centers on the east side of town. Warehouses were filled with unloaded goods, awaiting horse-drawn wagons to deliver them to local businesses around the community.

We had a beautiful brick passenger depot just east of the White Grill. Both rail lines had regular passenger service that could connect you in any direction of the country.

In 1885, the State Mental Hospital No. 3 was awarded and built in Nevada. For the next 100 years, this hospital was by far the largest employer in our community. As late as the early 80s, there were still close to 1,400 full-time employees.

Those railroads and that hospital, as we all know, have faded into fractions of what they once were. Local community leaders have strived to deal with these losses and we are again in need of more ideas.

Col. C.C. Earp led that urban project movement in 1960. It was his lifelong dream to see Highway 71 become part of the Interstate System. The four-lane system and bypasses around every town eventually led to the fulfillment of his dream.

To combat the loss of jobs due to the decline of the State Hospital and the railroads in that same era, local business leaders like Chester Barrett, Joe Kraft and Fred Wildermuth spearheaded an economic development group.

Their emphasis was to attract light industry, that would create hundreds of jobs. 3M, Crane Plumbing and Fram are examples of what they were able to entice to our community. Without these jobs, Nevada would have been a much different town. As with anything, nothing remains constant. Only 3M remains from that industrial group.

To plan for our future development and economic well being, new directions, planning and enticement must be completed. I was gratified to see that the Ady Advantage (economic development consultancy from Madison, Wis.) addressed the future in some new viewpoints.

I encourage everyone to get involved in this process. There is room for any and all ideas, to help the future security of our local economy. This does not always mean just attracting new industry.

One area that I think we need to address is housing. We have a large inventory of old and dilapidated neighborhoods. There are also a lot of empty old business buildings.

Pittsburg, Kan., began a program to deal with a similar problem back in the mid-90s. Their city went to court and condemned entire blocks of these old run down houses and businesses. The owners were given fair market value for their properties (generally much more than they could have sold them for on the open market).

Local contractors and developers were sold these properties at a very low cost, on condition they tear down the old structures and build new. These new neighborhoods included single family homes, duplexes, and apartments. Many were designed to house senior citizens.

This could be one area that Nevada should emphasize. Seniors who want to downsize in other cities, could sell their homes and move into senior housing. These new developments would generate more tax dollars, plus we would also have new senior citizen residents spending in our local economy. Adding more seniors would also increase business in our local medical facilities and pharmacies.

Several years ago, Dean Stutesman (sadly we lost him recently) tore down old housing and built several duplexes and condos in the area just east of the high school. Drive by and look at what we could do again in countless run-down neighborhoods.

That’s my idea for improvement. I am sure there will be many more. Like the railroads of old, it is time for all of us to chime “ALL ABOARD!”