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Making McCook a town -- the services
In 1882 the Railroad, through its Real Estate Division, The Lincoln Land Co., had succeeded in establishing a town on the north side of the Republican River. This town was due to become an important Division Point for the Railroad, and in turn an important commercial center for the area. This town originally consisted of 480 acres, but soon extended in every direction, and developed into four quite distinct parts -- West McCook, South McCook, East McCook, and Main Town.
Water: Very soon the Company realized that while good water wells could be had, at a reasonable depth, on the lots they were selling near the river, there were places on the hill where wells were not possible, regardless of depth. So, if they were to protect their investment, they would have to have a means to provide water to all of the lots they were selling. In the fall of 1882 the Land Company made preparations for a system of Waterworks for McCook.
In 1883 the McCook Waterworks was begun, which gradually enlarged over the years. At the heart of this system, an engine was ordered from the Smith Vails Co., of Dayton, Ohio. It had a 10 inch cylinder, with an 18 inch stroke, which pumped 54,000 gallons of water per hour, at a pressure of 30-60 pounds. This pressure could be raised to 90-120 pounds in case of fire. The engine was installed in South McCook, and pumped water from three wells. That water was pumped to a wooden reservoir tank in City (Norris) Park. In 1894 this wooden tank was replaced with a tall (100 foot) steel water storage tank. This stand-pipe stood at the north side of Norris Park for almost 100 years.
One of McCook's earliest settlers was Tom Bales, who came to the area in 1879. Early on Tom went to work for the new city of McCook, sometimes as a regular employee, sometimes as a contract worker for the city. Though he walked with a severe limp, the result of a gunshot wound at the Battle of Shiloh, that did not stop him from working as a ditch digger for the city. He was "strong as an ox" and took part in laying most of McCook's early water lines. As his two older boys, Earl and Clarence matured they joined their father in helping to make McCook's water system a reality.
Initially, the Lincoln Land Co made a flat rate to water users, to encourage water use, but in 1906 the water plant was transferred to the McCook Waterworks Company and they established a metered rate for its customers. In 1908 voters approved an $85,000 bond issue, 370 for, 255 against, for the construction of a new municipal plant. In 1911 the McCook Waterworks Company submitted a proposal to the City Council to sell their municipal plant to the City for $65,000. The Council readily accepted this offer and the deed was soon delivered to the City.
Electricity: In 1888 a power plant was constructed in the 200 block of East 1st St. in McCook, at a cost of $17,000, offering electricity to houses and businesses. The generating power of this plant was tiny and at 10 p.m. the lights would blink. This was the signal that folks needed to switch to kerosene lamps for light as the electric lights would be turned off. 20 years later, the McCook Municipal Light Plant replaced their old plant with a spanking new, $35,000, generating plant on the banks of the Republican River.
Gas: McCook was slower getting into the gas business. In 1907 the City Council granted Chas. Bush and Patrick Heaton the right to construct and operate Citizens Gas Co., a gas works plant to sell artificial gas (which, they said, was superior in quality to ordinary commercial coal gas, which was used in Denver and Omaha). In 1909 the streets in the residential districts were lighted with gas. Citizens Gas Co. supplied the community with gas until 1930, when natural gas supplies, through Cambridge and Oberlin, were deemed sufficient to take care of McCook's needs. The natural gas lines into McCook were operated by Pipe Line and Gas Co., the forerunner of Kansas Nebraska Natural Gas Co.
Telephone: The first telephones in McCook were installed in 1897 -- a private line of J.E. Kelley, for use between his office and home. Mr. Kelley rented the phones and service from the Nebraska Telephone Co. In 1899 a telephone line was built between McCook and Oxford. Cora French was the first operator and Bill Brown was the lineman. After the McCook telephone exchange was built Mr. Hall became manager and Naomi Wooten was added to the staff. Once the telephone system was in place its use expanded rapidly.
The Post Office: The first Post Office was secured by S.H. Colvin, with L.V. Kennedy as Postmaster -- at the original town-site of Fairview, south of the Republican River. Once McCook came into being the Post Office was moved to a location at Main (Norris Ave.) and Dennison (B. St.). Thomas Scott was Postmaster.
Mr. Scott had been a captain in the Civil War. He was a very loyal (and stubborn) Republican. When news of (Democrat) Grover Cleveland's election to the presidency in 1884 reached Mr. Scott, he promptly resigned his Postmaster position, stating that his last day would be March 4th, 1885, the day that Grover Cleveland would be sworn into office. On March 4th no replacement had been named for Postmaster Scott, but he did not report for duty that day. Postal authorities instructed Scott's bondsman to appoint a temporary Postmaster -- Chas. Boyle. Thomas Scott vowed never to enter the post office as long as a Democrat was in the White House, so he signed his release from an office in another building, and as far as we know, he never again entered the post office.
In 1885, under Postmaster, A.F. Sharp, the McCook Post Office was moved to a location on the West side of Main St., between Dennison (B. St.) and Dodge (C St.). -- a third class office, approved to handle money orders. It was here that 300 mail call boxes and 331 lock boxes were installed, at a cost of $800. The total receipts from July-December 1885 were $1,838.66.
In 1909 city deliver of mail was begun. PO personnel consisted of Postmaster, Assist. Postmaster, three clerks, three city carriers, four rural routes, and two Star Routes. McCook was also the terminal for one railway mail clerk. That year 10,000 money orders were issued and postal receipts and money orders totaled more than $1,000.