I was researching yesterday on newspapers.com when I found an article in the Kansas National Democrat on Jan 27, 1859, 161 years ago to the day. It details the efforts of the Kansas Territorial Legislature from Thursday, January 20th. In a single day the number of major issues considered was astounding; many of which would dramatically affect the future of the Territory and later State of Kansas.
During the previous decade one of the fasted growing industries in the United States has been craft beer. Many of the new brands have purchased rights to old names and recipes from breweries across the United States that were forced out of business when the Volstead Act and the 18th Amendment to the Constitution came into effect in January 1920. The temperance movement had won but the unforeseen consequences of prohibition included the rise of organized crime, underground movements such as speakeasies, moonshine and bootlegging, all of which led to rapid changes in cultural norms.
2019 was a great year for me. It seemed fast and furious with sixteen preservation projects including cemeteries, downtown districts, schools, apartments, banks and business houses. I get excited when I see the history of a place come alive and it helps me to imagine what life was like on this street, in this building or even this cemetery in an era often vastly different from my own.