Potter is pleasantly situated on a slight rise or knoll in the beautiful valley of Stranger creek, and near the southeast corner of Mt. Pleasant township. From the first it has been the principal station on the Santa Fe railroad, between Atchison and Leavenworth, being situated about midway between the two cities. It is an attractive little town, with well graded streets and good cement sidewalks, and a number of attractive residences. While it is one of the younger towns of the county, it has made strides that make it compare favorably with some of its older sisters, in volume of business at least, if not in population.
Potter, as the home of the white man, dates back further than any community in the county. Elsewhere in this history will be found an account of Paschal Pensoneau, the old French trader, who established himself on Stranger creek, near the present townsite, during the early forties.
The building of Potter is the third and the most successful attempt to establish a town in that vicinity. The first attempt was at Mount Pleasant. This was one of the first towns started in Kansas, and here was located the first postoffice in Atchison county. It prospered for a time and was a candidate for the county seat. It gradually declined, and since the establishment of Potter, has been little more than a memory. In the early days, some say before Mt. Pleasant was started, a town was laid out near the big Mercer spring, just northeast of the present site of Potter, and called Martinsburg. It was extensively boomed, but outside of a small store and a few huts, it never advanced beyond the paper stage.
Early in 1886 the Leavenworth, Northern & Southern railway, now a branch of the Santa Fe, and known as the “Pollywog,” was built and a station located where Potter now stands. A town was platted and called Bennett Springs, after James Gordon Bennett, the well known eastern journalist. The mineral springs on the Masterson farm near the townsite were attracting considerable attention at the time, and it was thought that a popular resort could be built up there. The medicinal properties of the water were discovered by Dr. Rice, a local physician, and subsequently analyzed by experts, who confirmed Dr. Rice’s conclusions, and a number of people claimed to have used the waters in liver, kidney and other complaints with good results. Henry C. Squires, afterwards a Potter banker, conceived the idea of establishing a health resort here, and named it in honor of James Gordon Bennett, who, it was thought, would use his influence towards getting eastern capital interested in the project. The expected financial backing was not forthcoming, however, and the proposed development of the springs was never made.
In the meantime the railroad people had christened the town Potter, in honor of Hon. Joseph Potter, owner of the quarter section on which the town was laid out, and, while the name of the town still appears on the tax rolls as Bennett Springs, the original name having never been legally changed, the town is now generally known as Potter. Joseph Potter was the original settler, having preëmpted the land on which the town stands, in 1854, and the first sales of lots in Potter were deeded to their purchaser thirty-two years later direct from the Government preëmption owner. The taking up of the land, filing, etc., cost Mr. Potter about $220 for 160 acres, and when it was divided up into town lots it brought him $200 an acre. Mr. Potter entered part of this land with a land warrant given him for services in the Mexican war.
Street Scene, Potter, Kansas
The first lots in the town were sold to the late James Stalons, for many years a justice of the peace, preacher of the Gospel and prominent citizen of the county. The first house on the townsite was built by Thomas J. Potter in 1882, four years before the town was laid out. The house is still standing. The first business house in the town was erected by Charles Klein, who operated a store there until his death. A year or two after Potter was started the postoffice was removed from Mt. Pleasant to the place, and James B. Weir was the first postmaster. The first hotel was operated by Mrs. Elvira Pierce. Dr. Barnes had the first drug store, and was also the first physician; Frank Blodgett, the first hardware store, and B. F. Shaw & Company, the first furniture store. The first barber was Thomas Seever; the first blacksmith, Lou Chilson; the first butcher, John Yost; the first carpenter, P. H. Fleer; the first painters, George Brown and Grant Cass; the first stone masons, S. B. Morrow and Frank Maxwell; the first shoemaker, Patrick Murphy; the first stock buyer, Henry Show; the first school teacher, Albert Limbaugh; the first railroad agent, C. L. Cherrie; the first lumber dealer, David Hudson; the first harness maker, Harry Rickets; the first rural mail carrier, Frank White. Frank Mayfield operated the first livery stable; the first elevator was built by James Hawley; the first church building was that of the Methodists. The first Methodist preacher was Rev. John W. Faubian, and the first Christian preacher, Rev. T. W. Cottingham. The first telephone exchange was operated by Charles and George Sprong. The first lodge was Echo Lodge, No. 103, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The first bank was the Potter State Bank. Potter has had three newspapers, the first, the Potter Press, was established by E. E. Campbell, in 1898. In 1900 Mr. and Mrs. Eppie Barber started the Potter Leaf. Three years later Charles B. Remsburg bought the Leaf’s circulation and launched the Potter Kansan, which is now owned and published by his father, J. E. Remsburg.
Potter is one of the most flourishing towns of its size in Kansas. Though its population is less than 200, it boasts of two banks, the aggregate resources of which amount to nearly a quarter million dollars. There probably is not another town of its size in the State that has two banks. The town has two good elevators which during the years 1912, 1913 and 1914 handled on an average of 140,000 bushels of grain a year. These elevators are operated by Fred Ode & Sons and James Robinson. The railroad station at Potter does a business that amounts to something like $40,000 annually. The shipping of live stock is an important industry here. The principal buyers are Tinsley, Potter, and Timple Bros. Much fruit is grown around Potter, and as high as $20,000 has been paid out for apples during one shipping season.
Potter has a rural high school, the first of its kind established in the State, and an $8,000 school building.