Herein please find 67 articles on the subject of Wichita history, written by Michael Carmody and first published in the pages of Wichita's F5 weekly newspaper between March 7, 2013 and March 26, 2015. There were several others published, but copies of those texts are missing from the archive.


1. Arches Over Douglas
The Victory Arch celebrated the end of World War I

2. On an Island in the Sun

Ackerman Island was Wichita's entertainment destination

3. The Wichita Forum: Century I
Dowtown had a civic center before the big blue roof

4. The Occidental Hotel: A More Truly Epic Center
Wichita's oldest surviving commercial building is still going strong

5. Walter Innes' Dry Goods Dynasty
Innes brought Wichita its first big-city department store experience

6. Proudfoot & Bird: Wizards of Brick, Block & Stone
Architects left a lasting impression on our city

7. Little (and Big) Houses on the Prairie
Notable domiciles of young Wichita

8. Wichita: Birthplace of Fast Food's Holy Trinity (Part 1)
White Castle, Pizza Hut and Taco Tico all started right here

9. Wichita: Birthplace of Fast Food's Holy Trinity (Part 2)
More on Wichita's contributions to fast food history

10. Clang! Clang! Clang! Went the Trolley
Streetcars on the streets of Wichita

11. Air Capitalization
How our cowtown became the Air Capital of the World

12. Mentholatum Man
The resilient A.A. Hyde gave Wichita much more than aromatic balm

13. Interurban Legends
A short history of the all-electric Ark Valley Interurban railway

14. Wichita from Above
Bird's-eye views of the Peerless Princess

15. We Built this City Building on Rock from Cambridge
Limestone and intrigue were the original City Hall's building blocks

16. 100 Years Ago in Wichita (Part 1)
Glimpses at life in 1913

17. 100 Years Ago in Wichita (Part 2)
Second part of this series

18. 50 Years Ago in Wichita (Part 1)
Looking back at 1963

19. 50 Years Ago in Wichita (Part 2)
1963 continued

20. Wichita: The Luxury Car Capital
A short history of the Wichita-built Jones Six automobile

21. "Epic" is Relative
Wichita's ten tallest buildings

22. Summertime in Wichita History, 1873-2003 (Part 1)
Summer stories from years gone by

23. Summertime in Wichita History, 1873-2003 (Part 3)
More summertime reminiscing (part two is missing)

24. How High's the Water, Mama?
Wichita's worst floods and the Big Ditch

25. Bringing Home the Bacon
The evolution of the grocery store in Wichita

26. Down by the Old Mill Stream
How Hydraulic Street got its name

27. Drink! Drink! Drink!
Prohibition did little to stop Wichita from imbibing

28. Lost Buildings of 19th Century Wichita
Long lost structures remembered

29. Go Ask Allis
A short history of Wichita's most elegant hotel

30. Moving Pictures
The evolution of the movie theater in Wichita

31. Fire!
Firefighting through the years

32. Barbecue Campbell: Cattleman to Castle Man
A notorious rancher and the castle he built on River Boulevard

33. The Car is King: Wichita and the Automobile
Car culture and the shape of the sprawl

34. W.C. Coleman: Prometheus of the West
The lantern magnate brought more than just light to America

35. The Icemen Cometh
Ice harvesting was a major undertaking before refrigeration

36. U.S. Route 81: The Meridian Highway
The grand plan to link Canada and Mexico via Wichita

37. Century II: Wichita's Centennial Hall
The backstory on our beautiful civic center

38. Ahoy Hoy? Telephony on the Plains
A short history of the telephone in Wichita

39. New Zoo Revue
Wichita's public animal exhibits over the years

40. Bicycle! Bicycle!
Wichita has a long history with two-wheelers

41. Old School: Public Education in 19th Century Wichita
Early schools faced many hurdles

42. Down on Main Street (1872-1900)
The city's first major business district wasn't on Douglas Avenue

43. 100 Years Ago in Wichita (Part 2)
Flashbacks to 1914 (part one is missing)

44. Flowery Prose
In appreciation to the fancy writing styles of past eras

45. Early African-Americans in Wichita
Early Black Wichitans made big contributions

46. Wichita's Rubber Room
Wichita's long-dead tire factory now serves as a U-Haul outlet

47. Wild, Wild West Wichita: Rowdy Joe vs. Red Beard
The most famous gunfight in Wichita history occurred in Delano

48. Modern Urban Living, 1920s Style (Part 1)
Notes from the apartment boom of the 1920s

49. Modern Urban Living, 1920s Style (Part 2)
More on the pre-Depression apartment boom

50. The Other School on the Hill
Reverend Cloud and the Roe Indian Institute

51. Hate off the Presses: The Jayhawk Nazi & the Defender
One of America's most notorious white supremacists called Wichita home

52. Sisters of Mercy: The Early Days of St. Francis Hospital
Evolution of one of Kansas' longest-lived medical centers

53. The Journalist Farmer
"Farmer Doolittle" turned a caricature into a job in journalism

54. Wichita: Broomcorn Capital of the World
The raw material for making brooms once drove a huge industry

55. Canoe You: Boathouses of the Little Arkansas
Recreation on the little river

56. Odd Fellows, Masons, Etc.
A short history of some of Wichita's notable fraternal organizations

57. This Week in Wichita History (Part 1)
Interesting bits from the sprawl of history

58. This Week in Wichita History (Part 2)
Continued from previous article

59. This Week in Wichita History (Part 3)
Concluding three-part article

60. Play Ball!
Wichita has enjoyed a long love affair with baseball

61. Where the Streets Have Historically Relevant Names (Part 1)
Wichita street names and their inspirations

62. Where the Streets Have Historically Relevant Names (Part 2)
Wichita street names and their inspirations

63. Where the Streets Have Historically Relevant Names (Part 3)
Wichita street names and their inspirations

64. Where the Streets Have Historically Relevant Names (Part 4)
Wichita street names and their inspirations

65. The Historic Dunbar Theatre & the McAdams Renaissance
Wichita's old Black business district makes a comeback

66. Radio! Radio!
A brief history of broadcasting in Wichita

67. Murdock: Boomer and Buster

The huge impact of Col. Marsh Murdock on the identity of Wichita