Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-05-04
LOCATING TOWN SITES.
A Queer Kind Of Business That
Flourishes in. the Far West.
How Frontier villages and Cities Are Laid
Out-A Profitable Calling Providing the
Locator Enjoys the Cooperation
Of the Railroad Folks.

Town Lot Brady, who has earned his
name by his long career as adealer In town
lots, is not looking as prosperous as he
useo to, and it is evident that times are not
as they were with him. Relating his ex-
periences, he said: s'The TOWNSHIP bust
ness amt what 1t was Before the rail-
roads came into this country had no diff
Guilty in calling the turn on town every
time. knew just where they would be
built, or, at any rate, just where they
ought to be built. Ihave made the location
OF towns study for more than thirty
years. When I go into new country
just look the ground over, and, taking
every thing into consideration, soon come
to the conclusion where the town ought to
be. Ninety-nine times in a hundred,
if nothing out Of the ordinary hap
pens to prevent, the town will grow
just where it ought to. I've seen that
tried, and l know. When 1 have
located the town site and made ar
rangements with few interested
parties to take hold Of the matter my duty
is done. I have always made it point to
take few lots, generally on the corners,
and have left the rest to the other fellows.
have been called in more than hundred
times by men who were about to locate
town and who wanted the judgment Of an
expert on the place to be chosen. In such
cases always demand about four Of the
best lots in town, and get them, too.
"YOu can set it down as a fact that towns
in a new country will be about so far apart.
The lay of the land has something to do
with the matter, but not so much as many
people suppose. know some Of the best
towns in the West that are on about the
at< &hat ha TOD
You've got to take a great many other
things into view. Now, if there is no rail-
road, you must get map and find out about
how the roads are running, how far it is
70 the nearest one, and what direction the
first road to be built in the natural order
of things will come from. When you've
got that settled, take trip around the
country and find out if it will support
population and what kind of population.
After that see the owners of the land ly-
ing around and try and fix up a scheme
with them. If they take kindly to the no.
ton of laying out town, you will not have
any more trouble. 1t is easy enough to get
people interested in new town after you
have found place for it on the map. Be-
fore the days of railroads out here l made
money, but l can't do it now.
II had my pile invested in the town of
Arbordale, down here, and it was about the
finest layout for a city that l ever saw
but when the railroad came through the
managers put their tracks right through
the town, and announced that they would
have station four miles west of it. You
see, they had bought a farm down there,
and they were gong to have town Of their
own. When l heard of that l called on the
gentlemen and demonstrated. / told them
that Arbor0ale was the metropolis OF
that section, and that any attempt to
ignore it would bring ruin TO its citizens,
particularly me, but they only laughed, and
wanted to know about how much we would
pay to have the station located there. |
was rather brash then-in fact, / hadn't
had so much experience as have had since
and | told them we wouldn't give them
blamed cent; we'd see their old road
thrown into bankruptcy first l threatened
them with the loss of all the business of
Arbordale, and asked them if they knew
what a risk they were running in ignoring
the best town in that section. But they
only laughed, and said that they were
sorry that they could not make some
arrangement with me. 1t was rule of
modern railroading to put the stations
about so far apart, and as Arbordale was
not in the right place for railroad town,
it would have to move up out of the wet.
'Well, sir, do you believe it. that road
hadn't heen running two weeks before
Arbordale began to move. Every thing
was on wheels. The hotel went first, and
then the saloons and concert halls skipped
Pretty soon the school-house went, and
then the private houses, to be followed last
of all by the church. The last time l was
down there not building remained that
could be moved, and the only thing that
was left to indicate the existence Of the
place was a lot Of holes in the ground. My
corner lots were all there, you bet, but as
they are not worth more than five dollars
an acre, thought l would not bother with
them. Now, that trick has been played on
me several times. That isn't the only town
that has moved right away from me under
the influence Of the railrvaders. They are
probably the dandy town-site men. | used
to think that l was some in that line, but
not now. And the worst of 1t is that or
dinarily you can't reason with them at all
They know that they have got the call on
you, and they work the thing for all 1t is
worth. They want the whole hog, as !
found later on.
Il never knew but one town that got the
better of those fellows That was at Pill
grim, down here in the Platte valley.
When the TOWNSHIP chaps came through
they visited the Pilgrims, and said: What
lovely town you havea It's great pity
that you can't have depot here 1T is,
is itl' spoke up the mayor. We'll, just let
me tell you that if this here road
don't put a depot here not a darned
train goes past it. Now, do you hear
that! We'uns here own this whole coun-
ty, by Christopher, and the railroad that
gets train through here, without picking
it out Of the ditch every two mile, will be
the smartest road that you ever heard tell
of. Come on now, with your road. We're
ready for you from three in the morning
until eleven at night Well, now, you
ought to have seen them fellows wilt.
They stood around for awhile, talking the
matter over, and they finally went away
without saying any thing. When the road
came through, it went TO Pilgrim, and they
put depot there, but I'll bet that it don't
stay there long. You see, that is a rather
wild county, and it don't pay now to run
against public opinion. But when it gets
settled, and they get TO holding court
down there with little more regularity
and ceremony, you'll see Pilgrim wiped of
the face of the map.
1--WE got an idea that they build rail-
roads out here for the sake of the money
that is made in town sites, rather than for
the purpose of building up q big trans
portaticn business. All these ducks on the
inside make dead loads Of money out Of
the town-buliding scheme, which they
work, aud the stockholders whistle for
their money for years TO come. I'm lit