Peabody Historical Society
In 1991, Peabody Main Street Association commissioned a survey compiled by Sheryll White and Terry Ward of the firm W2. The survey was based on research about downtown Peabody provided by Marilyn Jones and Muriel Wolfersperger.
The report contains a history of each building in Peabody’s downtown district. A grant from the National Park Service and Kansas State Historical Society funded the project.
The report was completed and published in June 1992, then transferred to floppy discs. The local historical group was assured the discs, placed in the archives of the KSHS, would always be available for printing copies of the limited edition.
It was always a dream of the local historical society to enlarge on the research to make it more readable to the public and include additional pictures.
When KSHS was contacted several years ago about retrieving the information, the reply was “We destroyed the floppy discs since the technology is outdated.” Only about six copies of the research were printed by W2, no longer in business.
Bob and Susan Marshall had a copy of the original study reproduced by a firm in Wichita. They have donated copies to be made available for research. One copy will be at the Carnegie Library for research on site and another copy will be available through the Peabody Historical Society.
These references give invaluable information about each building that existed in the downtown in 1991 when the study was completed. The buildings are described by architectural style, builders, owners, and businesses located within. There is a brief history of the community and several maps from old newspapers and photos of the buildings.
For more information or to arrange to use a copy of the survey, contact Marilyn Jones at (620) 983-2815.