Marci Spaw, Wabaunsee County Historical Society and Museum
A new project uncovered something old.
That’s what happened in Alma, where the county historical museum staff were working on renovations and made an unexpected find – right underneath their feet. This museum is working to honor and preserve the history and culture of Wabaunsee County.
During the last two weeks, we’ve learned about remarkable women in business at Alma. Remarkable things are happening at the county historical museum in Alma, too.
Marci Spaw is executive director of the Wabaunsee County Historical Society and Museum. Spawgrew up on a farm near Overbrook, went to K-State for bachelors and masters degrees, and met and married Christopher. They now live out in Wabaunsee County’s rural Farmer township, population 119 people. Now, that’s rural.
Spaw joined the museum staff in 2020 and became the full-time executive director in 2022. The mission of the Wabaunsee County Historical Society and Museum is to record the history and culture of the people of the county over time, provide education, and collect, preserve and exhibit artifacts relating to the county.
Staying power. That’s important for any business, including those in small town Kansas.
Today we’ll visit a rural community with a business – and a business owner – that has truly demonstrated staying power. This remarkable lady is operating this business at age 97.
Last week we visited Alma to learn about a resurgence of downtown businesses there, many of those businesses led by younger women. This week, we’ll meet a woman who operates another downtown business in Alma, but – with all due respect – young she is not.
Gwen Hendricks is the long-time owner-operator of Hendricks Hardware, along with her family. In its 145 year existence, this store has had only three family owners.
Conrad Mueller built the building in 1878. He used the front half for a billiard hall and saloon and housed his family in the back.
That definition might apply to the community of Alma, where a group of small business owners who happen to be women are leading a revitalization of businesses in that community.
Morgan Holloman is the owner of Antique Emporium of Alma, one of the growing businesses that is part of the new downtown growth. Holloman is from Topeka and went to K-State where she met her future husband, Tyler. After her sister married a guy from Alma, Holloman started a lawn and landscape business there.
She cleared a lot in Alma and was preparing to build a new building while she and Tyler were dating.
“On one date, I told him, ‘I sure hope you want to live here, because I just poured that concrete pad over there,’” Holloman said.
They did indeed marry and moved to Alma, where Holloman had built a new metal building on that pad. Morgan and Tyler lived in an apartment in that building before buying a house in Alma.
From that building, Tyler looked down the street and could see the classic stone building storefronts that have earned Alma the title, City of Native Stone. One caught his eye.
“That’s the coolest stone building I’ve ever seen,” he said.
Eventually Morgan and Tyler bought that very building and the antique business within it, the Antique Emporium of Alma. Shortly after they purchased the building, Covid hit and everything shut down.
“We used that time to remodel the building,” Holloman said. The drop ceiling and old carpet were removed and more of the wood floors and native stone walls displayed. Now attractive display cases line the floor.
In addition, the Hollomans opened the basement and converted the second floor to seven apartments.
Antique Emporium of Alma has more than 4,000 square feet of vendor space. Offerings include a large coin collection, substantial library and a multitude of small and large collectibles and antiques. One part of the building is for Mill Creek Mercantile, which offers locally made products.
The business has attracted customers from California to the Carolinas. “We draw a surprising amount of visitors off (Interstate 70),” Holloman said.
The antique store is one of several women-owned businesses that have recently grown in downtown Alma:
Wrenn Pacheco runs a boutique beef shop known as Pacheco Beef.
Mel’s Coffee recently opened in another recently renovated downtown building.
Heather Beggs renovated a main street building and opened a yoga studio and Airbnb.
Karen Wright operates multiple main street businesses, such as a dance studio, liquor store and convenience store.
These are in addition to existing businesses operated by women, such as Jeanette Rohleder at the Alma Bakery and Sweet Shop, Gwen Hendricks at Hendricks Hardware, and Lori Daniel at the Signal-Enterprise newspaper.
Then there is the Volland Store at nearby Volland and the new renovation at the Wabaunsee County Historical Society and Museum. There seems to be a synergy of these businesses working together.
“We’ve found a way to refer people to each other’s businesses,” Holloman said. “It’s a great town.”
“Maybe Covid gave Alma the opportunity to show that people didn’t have to travel so far away to enjoy a rural lifestyle,” Holloman reflected. “We want people to come to Alma to experience what we have here: fresh air, beautiful green pastures and native stone.”
“There seems to be a resurgence in our downtown.”
That is great to find in a rural community such as Alma, population 802 people. Now, that’s rural.
Resurgence. It means an increase or revival, and that’s what Alma is experiencing today. We commend Morgan Holloman and the other women and business owners who are making a difference by helping downtown Alma experience a resurgence.
And there’s more. Not every downtown Alma business is operated by young women. In fact, one business is run by a woman who is 97 years old. We’ll learn about that next week.
Someone has to be the first. When the U.S. military enters an international conflict, some soldier has to be the first to lead his unit into combat. That soldier is like the tip of a dagger, bravely entering a life and death conflict. Today we’ll learn the
Mark Nutsch (center) and colleagues.
remarkable story of a young Kansas man who served his nation in this amazing way.
Mark Nutsch is the former commander of the first Green Beret unit which went in to Afghanistan after the bombing of 9-11. His harrowing and heroic true story would become a major motion picture.
Mark Nutsch grew up near Washington, Kansas. Today his family farms in Wabaunsee County near the rural community of Alma, population 783 people. Now, that’s rural. Mark came to K-State where he joined the college rodeo team.
Go west of Alma a few miles and one will find a gem – not a literal jewel, but a beautiful place. It is a historic farmstead with fabulous buildings which have been painstakingly restored and repurposed, and now are open to the public for lodging and events.
Verne and Marilyn Claussen are owners of a newly opened facility called Mill Creek Lodge at Volland Point. This is on a ranch which belonged to Verne’s parents. Verne went to K-State and then Houston College of Optometry, becoming an eye doctor. After a fellowship at Yale, he came back to Kansas and bought another place near Alma. He served as an optometrist in the region for 43 years before retiring.
Meanwhile, he was puzzling over what to do with his parents’ farm. This place has a rich history. J.R. Fix and his wife Rebecca homesteaded the place in 1865 after Fix had served in the Civil War. The couple had one son who died in infancy. Then they had a daughter – and then another daughter – and then another and another. All told, there were eight daughters born to the Fix family.
This meant they needed a spacious place to live. They also needed a large barn to house the workhorses needed for the farming, plus a place for the farmhands to live. The Fix family expanded the buildings through the years.
The place remains a working ranch, now known as the Claussen Ranch. But what about the buildings on the farmstead? By 2013, the barn was no longer suitable for everyday farm use, for example.
“I wanted to make it into something where people could come out and enjoy the rural lifestyle,” Verne said. He took on a wonderful restoration of the house and buildings so as to create a place for lodging, meetings, and special events. That was the beginning of Mill Creek Lodge at Volland Point. The grouping of buildings has been designated a historic district by the National Register of Historic Places.
Since J.R. Fix and his wife had all those daughters, each daughter needed a bedroom so the Fix family built a majestic three-story Italianate home. “The house was in real good shape,” Verne said.
In 2015, Verne restored the house with heating, air conditioning, and modern plumbing and electricity. He also brought in period chandeliers and antique furniture. Verne named each one of the guest rooms for the daughter who lived there. So, guests can stay in the Pearl bedroom or the Mabel bedroom, for example. There is no doubt about which room is which – those two daughters actually carved their names into the wood floor.
The nearby tenant house for the farmhands was restored and expanded also. Then came the barn, which received a total makeover. The exterior look was largely preserved, but windows, heat and air conditioning, water and bathrooms were installed.
“The barn had been built in two phases,” Verne said. “The first part was to hold the horses, hay and wagons, and the second part was a corn crib to the west.” Verne remembers putting hay in this barn as a kid. Now the barn has been converted into a thoroughly modern but rustic-looking meeting area with multiple restrooms. The hayloft area can hold up to 250 people and the horse stall area can hold another 100. The north side of the old corn crib is now a receiving kitchen for caterers, and the south side is a bunkhouse. A spring-fed, hand-dug well is inside a cave nearby.
Mill Creek Lodge at Volland Point is now host to weddings, meetings, family reunions, and hunting in season. Up to 29 people can stay there overnight. The lodge is located 7 ½ miles west of the rural community of Alma, population 785 people. Now, that’s rural. More information can be found at www.millcreeklodgevollandpoint.com.
Go west of Alma a few miles and one will find a gem – not a literal jewel, but a beautiful place. We salute Verne and Marilyn Claussen for making a difference by restoring and repurposing these historic buildings in rural Kansas. I think it is a treasure.
The rodeo is coming to town! But this isn’t a competition of riding bulls or roping calves. This competition takes the form of rhyming words. For the first time ever, the National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo is coming to Kansas.
Geff Dawson is the new organizer of this event, which he is bringing to Kansas for the first time. Geff grew up at Abilene, where he was always around horses and rodeos. After studying at K-State, he and his wife Dawn bought a place in rural Wabaunsee County north of Alma, population 785 people. Now, that’s rural. Geff worked at the Aye Ranch for a time and now manages the Illinois Creek Ranch.
Geff Dawson, cowboy poet.
Like me, Geff is a cowboy poet. Like me, it was not something he planned to do.
“I’d come home from work at the ranch and tell my wife about something funny that happened that day,” Geff said. “She’d say, `You ought to write that down.’”
He wasn’t very quick to take the time to write those things down, but one day when he did sit down to record the day’s events, he tried to write in rhyme. He found it was a fun way to tell a story. Geff became a cowboy poet.
Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University writes Kansas Profile. The weekly posts highlight individuals or companies in rural Kansas who are making a difference to their community and state.
The Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development is a public / private partnership between Kansas State University and the Huck Boyd Foundation. The mission of the institute is to help rural people help themselves. Learn more at www.huckboydinstitute.org.
