County of site: Sumner County
Location of city hall: 14 W. Central Ave., Caldwell
Marker Text:
CALDWELL
"THE BORDER QUEEN"
Founded 1871, incorporated 1879 by a town company of investors from Wichita and named for U. S. Sen. Alexander Caldwell. The original townsite was north of Ave. F, the Kansas state line prior to 1876. One of the original cowtowns in Kansas, violence and politics claimed 18 city marshals between 1879 and 1885 and led a Wichita editor to write, "As we go to press hell is again in session in Caldwell." Founded on the Chisholm Trail, which was 200 - 400 yards wide and ran just east of this park in a northerly direction, Caldwell acted as a railroad shipping point for Texas longhorn cattle. By 1886 the cattle shipping had moved west as farmers settled the area and planted their Russian hard winter wheat. In 1893 congress opened to settlement the Cherokee outlet, and thousands of land hungry pioneers staged here before making the last great land rush in America. Caldwell of the past was home to gunslingers, cowboys, prostitutes, Indians, saloon keepers, and criminals; but around this sign today is a proud, quiet, farming community made up of good citizens instilling its small-town values on its youth .... though, as Bill O'Neal wrote of Caldwell in 1980, "In just the right light it is not difficult to imagine the sounds of a frontier saloon, of cattle hooves, and gunfire."
Originally sold as empty lots in 1879 for $125, by 1887 a $45,000, 3 story building stood here. Made of Caldwell brick with St. Louis brick fronts and blue cut limestone accents, the building stood 75' tall and was the highest private building in Sumner County. The first floor contained 4 stores, the second had offices, and the masonic lodge was on the third. Known to recent generations as the J. C. Penney store, the building was home to a variety of professionals, businesses, and families during its 102 year existence, finally succumbing to time, disrepair, and the wrecker's ball in 1989.
Catty-corner to the NW was the "Leland", a legendary 1883 cattlemen's hotel. There was a tunnel running between here and the Leland, under Main Street, built as an exit from the hotel for gamblers when law enforcement took exception to their illegal activities. Such exception rarely occurred in cowtown Caldwell in the 1880's for it might have hurt business in the booming city." ~ The Caldwell Historical Society - Marker Sponsors: Border Queen Museum Board and Rose Ellen Wood - In memory of Dr. L. Curtise Wood Phd. 1911 - 1991, erected: 1993
Marker Text:
RED LIGHT SALOON
On the NE corner of Chisholm and Ave A stood the Red Light Saloon which helped give Caldwell its reputation as the most lawless cowtown. In April, 1880 George and Mag Wood literally disassembled their Wichita Saloon and brought to Caldwell what became its most murderous establishment. People killed here included marshals, cowboys, bystanders and even the owner when he tried to protect the honor of one of his "girls" who both lived and "worked" upstairs. Though liquor was illegal in Kansas by state law and illegal in the Indian Territory to the south by federal law, somehow Caldwell always had a good supply for the dusty cowboys. The drovers also looked forward to the Red Light and other saloons for their "ladies of the night" or, in Caldwell, the "Border Queens". ~ The Caldwell Historical Society
To read all the historic markers and locate all the sites: one can go to The Walking Tour