Trails and Treasures Home Page  Road Trips  Across America 2004 Searching for Fred Harvey

Newton, Kansas

Newton's turn at being the end of the Chisholm Trail was brief, 1871-72, since the rail line to Wichita was completed within a year.  Even so, twelve murders were documented by the end of 1872 and probably many more went undocumented.

There have been four Santa Fe Railway stations in Newton.  Fred Harvey set up one of his Harvey Houses in the second depot in 1883.  A new station with a Harvey House and Arcade Hotel opened in 1900.  The current and fourth station was built in 1929-30 for $350,000.  Shakespeare's home in Stratford-on-Avon served as the architect's inspiration for its design. The Harvey House closed in the 1950s after almost 75 years in Newton.  Amtrak still stops here, but the structure is more office building than rail station.

Numerous other local sites were depicted on postcards published by Fred Harvey, including: the Arcade Hotel, Auditorium, Bethel College, Bethel Hospital, Carnegie Library, Cooper School, First M. E. Church, Harvey County Courthouse, High School, McKinley School, Post Office, and Ragsdale Opera House.

In Centennial Park outside of Newton is the geocache Nothing but Blue Sky.