2014-05-12

Two photos of Tipton KS need details

I found two photographs from Tipton, Kansas that beg for more information. Perhaps readers can help?

Main St. looking north Tipton Kan.


First is an undated photograph that shows Tipton's Main Street, looking north. When was it taken? (I presume it dates from 1910 or so.) What are the businesses shown? Is the building at the right a residence? Whose? Do any of the buildings still exist, perhaps with a modified storefront?

The 1917 atlas of Mitchell County has an advertisement for the building, then identified as the Fischer Hotel with a photo from the northwest. Unfortunately, that photo shows no other buildings. In the same atlas is a photo of the Home State Bank, perhaps the most distant storefront on the east side of the street.

Millie Fink writes on 2014.06.02:
"The photo you are asking about with the notation 'Main St. Looking No. Tipton Kan.' is known by my family as the Boden Hotel. My great-grandfather Franz (Frank) Boden and the "French woman," his third wife Ernestine M. Arson Boucher Boden Kleeman, ran the hotel. They were married from about 1905 until his death in 1933, and my mother remembers them running the hotel in about 1930 or so. I do not have any idea about the actual date of the picture."

Village hunters and their rabbit pelts

Next is a group photo of men, boys, and a few women surrounding a pile of rabbit (or perhaps coyote) pelts. One man holds his right hand high. Several hold rifles, and one man holds an infant. Identities? Does the photo celebrate a one-time hunt or a yearly event?

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