The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-05-25
OPEN new LAND.
Chubb Addition to City Thrown
ON Market.
Auction Sale OF Lots to Begin
on June 8.
n OLD HOMESTEAD.
Chubb Family Has Owned the
Property 35 Years.
When Owner First Arrived
There Was No City.

is a portion of 16o-acre tract OF land
situated near the new Santa Fe shops
and owned by the Chubb family Only
a small portion Of the quarter section
of land has been plated, there being
but 1s2 lots and these will be sold at
I auction, sales commencing Saturday,
( June sth and continuing each succeed
4 ing Saturday until all Of them are dis
posed Of
| The tract is two blocks south and
two blocks east of the new shops and
as pretty a piece of land as there is in
that section of the city At the pres
ent time it is in a meadow of timothy
and tame grass and is in the best pos
sibIe shape for transformation into
town lots with beautiful lawns already
provided
They are level and there is an almost
perfect natural drainage there belng
fall of nearly three feet from me Mess
to the east There IS an abundance OF
soft water in this section Of the city
from fifteen TO twenty feet under the
surface. The streets are so feet IN
width while the alleys are Just one
third the width Of the streets
According to the plans of Mr. Chuhn
a purchaser does not have to make
full payment on the purchase price or
the lots Ten dollars down IS all tnat
| IS required and the remainder may be
paid in monthly installnents at the
rate of $3.50. and when the payments
are completed a warranty deed Will be
made for the purchase. the deferred
payments drawing interest at the rate
of per cent per aunEn without taxes
or assessments of any kind
This tract has been in the Chubb
family for the past 80 years, ana &C
cordIng TO the plans of sale it is prob
able that several choice home sites will
be obtained at considerably less than
their real value. The sale will COM
mence every Saturday afternoon at
O'Clock and continue until all or the
plated land is disposed Of
The abstract Of title shows that this
! qua rter section of land was decided to
Robert H Mathews ia 1855 by the
governments and there were numerous
transfers before it fell into the hands
of the Chubb family The tract is
bounded on the north by Third street.
on the south by Fifth street, on the
east BY Teftt street andaon the west by
Mr.. Chubbr is ore gastne first settlers
on the t0wusite Of Topeka. having ar
rived on the present site of the city in
Nav 1857 though he squatted on a
tract of land near the present site Of
EfInrer afterwards proving up and lfv-
ing on ii for a number of years. While
holding down his farm near kilmer,
Mr. Chubb contracted in Topeka,
though as nav be imagined. there was
not A great amount Of building going
on in the city He built one of the
first three houses in North Topeka and
it stood directly back of where the
Union Pacific freight office now stands
surrounded by brush which grew along
the Kaw river bottom 1t was torn
down years ago to make way for the
encroachment of the portion OF the
city known as North Topeka
when I first arrived in this city.
said Mr. Chubb. there was no city
here and dense Tickets of willows lin
ed the banks Of the river and the
4 ah q = vriTd
possible for it to be- on this side OF
the river the upIands were covered
with stacks of hay which had been cut
and stacked by the few settlers here
then and the soldiers
AT one time I owned one of the
most pretentious residences in the city,
though it was well in the country.
afterwards sold it TO A P Sherman
and it now stands on Tenth avenue,
inst east of Kansas avenue. though
it has been extensively reTnodeled since
then
Sixth and Kansas avenue now is. built
OF logs in the ground end ways and in
side of this a company of soldiers was
chartered. When built my mouse
near where Tenth avenue now is, the
haIf-fIIed trenches which were the
outside fortifcatfons were to be plain
" seen
ssOf course I had no idea that this
location would ever be selected for the
secured more land nearer the townsite-
L went farther down the river for the
land seemed to me to be better adapted
to farming and that was my idea in
coming to the state
Il have been told that workmeu en-
gagged in excavatfng for the water
mains found a number Of human skulls
near the corner of Tenth and Kansas
avenues several years ago and have no
doubt but what they belonged to the
soldiers or settlers Qu4rtered on the
townsite during the troublesome days
of the rebellion
After an absence Of several years
from Topeka I returned in 1870 and
farrned on the tract of land a part of
which I am going to place on the mar
ket leaving the state again a few
wears later and returning about four
years ago to increase my holdings in
this county by the purchase of a 90
acre tract Of land in Highland park
where I now reside
MANY of the old timers I find that
know. but during my long absence
from the city new generation of the
sons and daughters Of my old acquafn-
tauces have grown up and they are
new faces to me, only their names be-
ing familiar to me-