112 



CITIES, AMERICAN. (FREEPORT, KANSAS CITY.) 



dition a commercial college, 2 convent, 1 Luther- 

 an, and several private schools. The church 

 property in 1890 was valued at $110,000, and 

 there were 15 churches 2 Catholic, 5 Methodist 

 Episcopal (1 African), 3 Baptist, 1 Christian, 2 

 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal, and 1 Lutheran. The 

 Young Men's Christian Association is also flour- 

 ishing. The United States district court held 

 here has criminal jurisdiction over Indian Terri- 

 tory. The city has a chamber of commerce. It 

 lies in a fine agricultural and mineral region, and 

 mining for coal is carried on at a distance of from 

 10 to 50 miles. The wholesale and jobbing trade 

 is large, extending into Indian Territory. In 

 1889 there were 28 manufacturing establish- 

 ments, with a capital of $267,000, and employing 

 300 persons. They include a large cotton com- 

 press, cotton-seed-oil mills, 3 furniture factories, 

 3 planing mills. 2 foundries and machine shops, 

 1 large roller flour mill, 1 harness and saddle, 1 

 boot and shoe, 1 broom, 1 wood-package, 1 ice, 1 

 candy, and 3 cigar factories, 1 canning establish- 

 ment, and 2 large paving-brick plants. The last 

 industry is increasing, the quality of shale clay 

 found near the city being rare in the country. 

 Brick made from it stood a test at the School of 

 Mines, Columbia College, New York city, of 170 

 tons, or more than 5,500 pounds to the cubic inch, 

 very nearly as much as the hardest granite can 

 endure. The average rainfall for the past ten 

 years was 43-83 inches. 



Freeport, a city of Illinois, county seat of 

 Stephenson County, on Pecatonica river, in the 

 northern part of the State, 110 miles northwest 

 of Chicago and 28 from Rockford. In 1880 the 

 population was 8,516, and in 1890 10,189. It is 

 an important railroad center, being on four di- 

 visions of the Illinois Central Railroad, of three 

 of which it is the headquarters, on the Chicago, 

 Milwaukee and St. Paul, and the Chicago and 

 Northwestern systems, all having extensive 

 yards, shops, and roundhouses here, while the 

 Chicago, St. Paul and Kansas City passes 

 through South Freeport, which is becoming an 

 important shipping point. Forty trains arrive 

 and depart daily, and a union depot has been 

 completed recently at a cost of $20,000. The 

 Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul has also a 

 handsome brick depot. The city has an altitude 

 of 457 feet above sea level. The streets are well 

 paved, and lighted by gas and electricity ; street- 

 car service extends over a large part of the 

 place; and water from 18 artesian wells is 

 piped for domestic purposes and for fire protec- 

 tion. The assessed valuation of property in 

 1888-'89 was $1.679,680, on a basis of $5,878^880, 

 and the public-school property was valued at 

 $87,226. Five public schools had an enrollment 

 of 1,611, and the expenditure for school pur- 

 poses was $30,084. The high school had an en- 

 rollment of 142, and more than 500 pupils at- 

 tended private schools and the business college. 

 St. Joseph's Church (German Catholic), one of 

 the finest buildings, has a parochial school and 

 a hospital, the latter erected in 1889, and valued 

 at $30,000. There are also another Catholic, 3 

 Presbyterian. 1 Episcopal, 1 Reformed, 3 Evan- 

 gelical, 1 English Lutheran, 1 German Evangel- 

 ical Lutheran, 3 Evangelical, and 4 Methodist 

 churches. Of the 17 church buildings, 6 are 

 owned by Germans. Three daily and 5 weekly 



newspapers, two of the latter in German, are 

 published ; and there are 4 banks (2 national), 

 with aggregate capital of $250,000. An opera 

 house and a courthouse represent the public 

 buildings, and there are more than 60 manufac- 

 turing establishments, employing about 1,500 

 persons, with a yearly pay roll of $750,000 and 

 an annual product of $3,000,000. One of the 

 leading interests of the city is the manufacture 

 of bicycles, of which there are 3 factories, 1 cap- 

 italized at $100,000, employing 115 men, and 

 with annual capacity of 5,000 wheels. There 

 are also a large foundry and machine shops, 

 covering 7 acres and employing 350 men, turn- 

 ing out, among other articles, windmills. Other 

 industries include a heater company, with cap- 

 ital of $100,000, a factory of coffee mills, 4 ex- 

 tensive breweries, 3 flouring mills, a cooperage, 

 hardware and hardware-novelty factories, vine- 

 gar works, and a canning factory, large buggy 

 works, 2 tanneries, a factory of piano stools, 1 of 

 gloves and mittens, 1 of churns, 1 cracker, 1 

 corn-cob-pipe, and 1 latch company, a creamery, 

 carriage factories, brickyards, limekilns, marble 

 and granite works, and 2 planing mills. 



Kansas City, the largest city of Kansas, 

 county seat of Wyandotte County, on the right 

 bank of the Missouri at the mouth of Kansas 

 river, adjacent to Kansas City, Mo., 458 miles 

 from Chicago, 277 from St. Louis, and 213 from 

 Omaha. In 1880 the population was 3,200. In 

 1886 the towns of Wyandotte (the original 

 county seat), Armourdale, and Armstrong were 

 consolidated with it, giving a population of 21,- 

 229. In 1887 there were 25,066 inhabitants ; in 

 1888, 33,110; in 1889, 36,279; and in 1890, 38,- 

 316. It has an elevation of 750 feet above sea 

 level. In 1891 the assessed valuation of prop- 

 erty was $9,338,000, the bonded debt was $1,236,- 

 041, and the net debt $568,700.45. In the four 

 years 1887-'91, $2,246,992.75 were expended on 

 the thoroughfares of the city, which on Dec. 31, 

 1891, had 50 miles of graded and 25 miles of 

 paved and curbed streets, 20 miles of curbing, 

 and 58 miles of sidewalk ; 17'22 miles of sewers 

 had been laid at a cost of $251,793, and bridge 

 work amounting to $153,138. The expenditures 

 for general improvements in 1891 reached $375,- 

 633.79 ; 446 building permits were issued during 

 the year, at a cost of $724.850. The transfers 

 of real estate for the year ending June 30, 1891, 

 aggregated $5,229,575. The capacity of the 

 water works (which represent a capital of $900,- 

 000) is 2,500,000 gallons daily; there are 10 

 miles of mains and 44 fire hydrants. Four 

 companies, 4 hose-carts, and 1 hook-and-ladder 

 crew constitute the fire department, the annual 

 expense of which is $18,000. In addition to gas, 

 there were 2 public and 5 private electric plants 

 supplying 508 arc and 5,205 incandescent lamps. 

 During 1891 8 miles of double-track street rail- 

 way were constructed, making a total mileage of 

 26^ miles. Of this. 11 miles are elevated road, 

 connecting with Kansas City, Mo., steam motor 

 and electric ; the rest, with the exception of 3 

 cable and 2 miles steam motor, being electric. 

 The value of school property is $291,224, with 

 21 schoolhouses, and 112 teachers are employed. 

 The enrollment for the ward schools in 1891 "was 

 6,536, and of the high school 179. In addition 

 there were 5 parochial schools, with 845 pupils, 



