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The Community page forum is a place where we can share thoughts, observations, experiences and memories.
Send your content and ideas by email to Marilyn Tompkins Bellert (mbellert@niu.edu) and Diane Rusch Zinn (ddzinn@aol.com
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Beautifully written, as usual ! I knew you were working on the house, I didn’t know how much labor and love went into it. You should be very proud.
Barb, I am truly impressed… both with your story and with your work. I lived at 312 South Clifton, across from the old Wichita Country Clubhouse by the College Hill Park swimmming pool. That place was made into a beautiful home after the WCC moved. Do you know if it is protected?
Thank you Skip, our rehab work was a labor of love.
I’m attaching a description of the house at 303 Circle Drive. Is it the one that you are thinking of? the house is addressed to Circle Drive but also faces Clifton. It is owned by Susie Amstutz Miner, who was a few years behind us at East. She is retired from a long career at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum and a dedicated historic preservationist. Her husband (now deceased) was Craig Miner, a well-known professor of History at WSU and author of several books on the history of Kansas and Wichita. So yes, that house is well cared for.
The attached photo is from a booklet that my colleague and I wrote when I worked for the City Historic Preservation Office. It describes many Wichita buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Barb, thank you for putting my mind at ease. I can see the lady who owned the house when we lived across the street, and her black driver who also lived there. And especially her special Mercury with a power back window. Amazing the odd things that we remember now, but it’s good that we do remember at all!
This report of the work done on “The Little House” is a significant reminder of the value of civic responsibility. As a former Brownie and Girl Scout, I appreciate finding this history and sincerely respect the people involved in the exhausting and time consuming restoration work.