WOODS

NAME: Woods
COUNTY: Stevens
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 2
CLIMATE: Hot Summers, Cold Winters, Dry
BEST TIME TO VISIT: April - September, Can become real hot in Summer
COMMENTS: Woods, is located 13 miles East of Hugoton, on Hwy. 51, in Stevens County, Kansas. About the only special thing to see or do is enjoy one of the flattest parts of our great nation, and despite its' name there are not may trees in this part of the country unless they are planted.
REMAINS: The old store (see photo), a couple of houses (occupied), and the Cargil Grain Elevator, are all that is left.

I don't know much about the towns history in particular, except it was named in honor of a banker in Liberal, Kansas, by the name of C. E. Woods. It was the last town along the failed Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad, that ran from Woods to Liberal, Kansas. With Woods as with other small towns in this part of the country, its' development had a great deal to do with the storage and transportation of grain, as well as serving some of the other needs of farmers nearby. Submitted by: Tony Whisenant

You have this listed on your website already and it mentions that you don’t know much about the town.  I can give you a little more information about the store that is in the photo you have, it belonged to my Great Great Grandparents William Henry and Martha Caroline Cohenour.  The store actually consists of the two room house that was on their farm which they sold in 1915 and then they moved the house to the present location which land was owned by a relative Clyde Cohenour.  William Henry built a room onto the back and the front room was the store, the middle was where they stored things and the back was where they lived.  William Henry was sick and eventually died and he wanted to have a way for Martha Caroline to make a living and that is why they had the store. My Grandmother Myrtle Perkins lived with them worked in the store when she was 14 years old which was in 1919. I do not know when or if the store was sold as my Grandmother passed on some years ago.

Marilyn Tomalavage

 


Woods
Courtesy Tony Whisenant

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