Kansas State University

search

Kansas Profile

Tag: Kingman County

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Zenda – Part 2 – Mike Molitor, Lumber Yard Steakhouse

“Let’s go to the lumber yard.” At our house, that usually means we need supplies for carpentry repairs or a do-it-yourself project. Today we’ll learn about a lumber yard where one can find a whole different set of supplies. Instead of wood, we find wine. Instead of hardware, we find hamburgers. Instead of stacks of lumber, we find steak dinners. This business is owned by a pioneering cattleman from rural Kansas.

The Lumber Yard Steakhouse is in Zenda, Kansas.

Last week we learned about the community of Zenda. One of the prominent businesses in Zenda is the Lumber Yard Steakhouse, now owned by local rancher Mike Molitor.  Special thanks to Kansas writer Steve Suther and the Angus Journal whose 2014 article provides background about the Molitors.

Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Zenda – Part 2 – Mike Molitor, Lumber Yard Steakhouse”

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Zenda – Part 1 – 130th Anniversary Celebration

If a centennial is 100 years and a sesquicentennial is 150 years, what is 130 years?  Whatever that number of years might be called, in 2017 it is the basis of a celebration of the founding of a historic community in rural Kansas.

Zenda, Kansas will celebrate its 130th anniversary on Sept. 2.

A team of volunteers has come together to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the founding of Zenda, Kansas. Zenda was founded along a railroad line in Kingman County on Sept. 6, 1887.

The town was originally named New Rochester. However, the post office found that there were already 28 places named Rochester in the U.S. so the name needed to be changed to avoid confusion. The wife of a railroad employee had just read an 1884 novel called The Prisoner of Zenda, and she suggested Zenda because it was a pretty-sounding name. Another version of the story is that Zenda is the shortened form of an ancient religious term meaning “Good Prevails over Evil.” In any event, the town’s name was officially changed to Zenda in 1899.

Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Zenda – Part 1 – 130th Anniversary Celebration”