1948 was a banner year for Lakin

Two buffalo were prepared for a free old-fashioned barbecue, and around 1,500 people watched an airshow which included wing walking by Joe Carroll of Lakin. Along with other spectacular feats, planes from nearby airports were open for the inspection of the crowd and rides were offered to those who wanted them. Other activities included a historical pageant on the courthouse lawn, model plane contest, baseball game, 4-H Day/Fair on the 25th, and a children’s parade which drew approximately 200 young participants. The Old Settlers Association hosted Old Settlers’ Day on the 26th and invited old timers from all of Southwest Kansas to participate. A fiddler’s contest, musical numbers, style show and picnic dinner were all part of the day’s festivities. Grandma Sarah Taggart was awarded a prize for being the oldest Old Settler present, and Virginia Pierce Hicks was honored for having resided in the county longer than any other member present.

The Lakin Independent went all out as well, publishing multiple special inserts in its August 27th edition. At more than 40 pages, the newspaper holds the distinction of being the largest paper ever published in the county. The inserts contained articles about county history along with photographs and advertisements from the businesses of the day. The publication took the cooperation of not only the newspaper staff but also Lakin merchants and volunteer contributors. Shirley White (Henderson) had been hired in May as the Independent’s local and society editor, and she had the enormous task of assembling material, writing features and historical articles. She also took, developed and printed pictures for the special edition.

Lakin’s Diamond Jubilee was sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce which was organized in the spring of 1948, and various clubs and individuals cooperated to pull off the 75th birthday party. The Independent declared the successful celebration as the top news of 1948, but that wasn’t the only big news by far. Lakin was in the midst of a growing surge fueled by the construction of Colorado Interstate west of Lakin, gas and oil well drilling, and irrigation. Over 24 new homes had gone up or were in the process of being built at the end of 1947, a trend that continued in 1948. Several of the business buildings in downtown Lakin were also built during this period.

The Lakin Theatre building on the east side of South Main was completed in 1947 by Fred Munson. He finished the building next door at 108 S. Main in early 1948, leasing it to Howard Brehm who operated Brehm’s Department Store there. The last business to operate at this site was Jim Powers’ barber shop.

Further down the street in the second block of North Main, the Beymer Building was the largest single business construction project at the time and included three business structures – one housed the post office and another a bowling alley called Bowlalyne. These two buildings now house Shnae Budd’s hair salon and Pat & Sonny’s Tossed and Found. The third building in the Beymer complex now houses the Budget Shop but was originally home to Davison’s Junior Department Store. Across the street, Dr. Sabo’s new clinic was opened in January of 1948. Dentist J.K. Atwood also occupied an office in Sabo’s clinic. The clinic building was incorporated into the Kearny County Bank several years later.

The west side of South Main was also transformed. Bernard Coerber opened the Inn Grocery in a new building at 117 S. Main in late 1947. Three new buildings went up to the north of this one in 1948. Just next door, Ralph Hutton leased his new building to Kansas-Nebraska Gas Company as an office. These two buildings combined now house Ramos Heat & AC.

The building at 113 S. Main was also built by Fred Munson. This became home to Bruner’s Flowers and Max Jewelry which had temporarily been housed across the street with Brehm’s. A staircase runs between this building and the one built by Ernest Sidebottom next door north which housed M.C. Glaspy’s Lakin Electric. The two store fronts were later combined by Walter and Carolyn Cone to house Cone’s Department Store. Diego’s Restaurant was the last business located here.

In August 1948, a 13-unit modern motel on Highway 50 known as Plaza Courts was officially opened. The motel was owned by J.L. Burden and was built by his son-in-law, Guy Harsha, who operated the motel with his wife, Beulah. Other buildings under construction in summer 1948 included Mary Thornbrough’s abstract office at 117 N. Main which now houses the Medill CPA agency, a 25×100 foot warehouse by Hart and Company now part of Main Street Supply, the Co-op’s new office on the corner of Buffalo and Railroad which is currently used for Museum storage, and the Evergreen alfalfa mill on the west edge of Lakin by the railroad tracks. All that remains of this structure is a concrete slab.

By October of ‘48, Lawrence “Beans” Urie was at work on one of the finest recreational buildings in southwest Kansas. The Rainbow King at 702 N. Campbell not only had a skating rink but also a stage for performers and boxing matches. Lakin Recreation now occupies this building.

Several grocery stores and two laundry mats were in service to meet the needs of the growing community and construction workers. At least four cafes were operating in town at any given time throughout 1948, and Southwestern Bell Telephone installed a new 300-line Western Electric switchboard, increasing the Lakin telephone exchange by 100 lines.

After learning that several hundred dollars could be saved annually by having their own engineer to directly supervise all the projects in the city’s jurisdiction, the City of Lakin hired Matt D. Sylvan as city engineer in the spring of 1948. A new swimming pool was opened in the city park, and a curb and guttering project was completed. The City initiated trash pick-up service for residents and businesses in the fall. Homer Watkins went to work in December as the first director of the newly formed Soil Conservation Service. Kearny County’s Civil Air Patrol was also organized that month for the help and protection of the county in case of emergency, and Arlin Sommers was named the commanding officer.

According to valuation figures, Kearny County was wealthier than ever before. Citizens were making more money and paying more taxes. The population of Lakin had reached its largest up to that point at 1,134, and there was a 10% increase over the previous year’s enrollment when high school opened in the fall of 1948. The average daily attendance doubled that of the previous two years at the grade school which had 300 pupils by October.

As 1948 drew to a close, there seemed to be no end to Lakin’s future building projects as voters had approved the construction of the Veteran’s Memorial Building, a new grade school, a vocational/agriculture building at Lakin Rural High School, and a county hospital. In December 1949, the Hutchinson News-Herald reported that Lakin’s size had doubled in a four-year span.