Junction City Sawed Stone

As you drive around Junction City take a moment to look at the buildings. You see that many of the old buildings are made of limestone. Not surprising since we have an abundance of it right here. 

In fact we had quite the industry because of the accessibility of the limestone in this area. The best building limestone was located about 12 to 15 feet underground. When it comes out of the ground it is extremely workable but will gradually harden with exposure to air and the elements.  
 

There are two types of limestone quarried in this area, yellow and white. Yellow was used for many of the early sidewalks in Junction City because when quarried it often came out in sheets. White was much more desirable for the buildings because it could be cut in larger blocks.

The Junction City Sawed Stone Company, started by Major O.J. Hopkins, was one of the first commercial businesses in Junction City. At its peak it employed 60 men and sold $1500 worth of stone per month. They operated out of the McFarland Quarry, one of the first in the area. 

You can see that our forefathers wholeheartedly supported the limestone industry as many of the city and county buildings were built using it. They must have been on to something because the buildings have certainly held up admirably.  Junction City limestone was so desirable that it was also used in building the east wing of the capital building in Topeka.

Driving around Junction City looking at all of these beautiful buildings made me wonder about the people who designed them.  

James C. Holland was one of the most well-known and prolific Kansas architects around the turn of the twenty century. He was born 1853 in Lima, Ohio. He studied architecture at Northern Ohio Normal School for two years before attending Cornell University in New York. After graduation he returned to Northern Ohio Normal School to teach.

In 1885 James and his wife Elizabeth traveled to Topeka, Kansas. From 1895 to 1897 he served as the state architect. Highlights of his Topeka career include all but one of the homes on Governor’s Row and the building of the central wing of the capital under his supervision. His work can be seen across Kansas in courthouses, jails, schools, churches, and commercial buildings.  

Junction City Opera House

Fortunately you don’t have to travel far to see Holland’s handiwork it is featured prominently around Junction City. In 1898 Holland collaborated with the construction firm of Ziegler and Dalton to design a beautiful Opera House where a pile of rubble once stood after fire destroyed the original.

A year later they teamed up again to design the Geary County Courthouse. The style is described as Richardsonian Romanesque. It was completed in May of 1900 at a cost of $35,000. The stone was quarried locally and was so soft that the masons were able to saw and tool it by hand.

Around the turn of the twenty century the Junction City School Board made the decision to build a high school separate from the elementary school because of the increasing number of older students. 

Proposed design for the Junction City High School

On July 29, 1903 the Junction City Daily Union featured Holland’s proposed design for the new Junction City High School. The drawing showed a magnificent building with multiple towers. The bids on this design ranged from $27,422 to $28,888. The school board decided that the cost was too high and requested a simplified design which is the building you see today that houses the Geary County Historical Society. The construction bid was awarded to Ziegler and Dalton for  $24, 820.

Holland worked in multiple styles throughout his lifetime including Richardsonian Romanesque, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival. He was a forward thinker by always incorporating local building materials into his work thereby keeping construction costs down and showcasing the best the area had to offer.