Sherlock / Holcomb
Founded along the Atchison, Topeka & Santa
Fe Railroad line by railroad officials in 1872, it was named in
honor of Thos. Sherlock, Sr. who was a director of the A T &
SF railroad company. Settlers didn't arrive until seven years
later when people came from the east to purchase government land.
By May 1879, Sherlock had a store, a lumber yard, a restaurant,
and in July, a saloon was opened for business. The town flourished
for several months, but when Garden City made an offer for the
citizens to move to their town, free of charge, many citizens
took up that offer.
But Sherlock began building back up and on
December 6, 1883, a post office was established; it was discontinued
on March 27, 1890 with mail coming from Dodge City.
In 1910, the post office was re-established
with a name change to Holcomb, in honor of D. C. Holcomb, who
had been active in developing that area.
The ethnicity of its settlers is unknown.
Sources
Blanchard, Leola Howard. Conquest
of Southwest Kansas: A History and Thrilling Stories of Frontier
Life in the State of Kansas. Wichita, KS: Wichita Eagle Press,
1931.
|
