Old Hometown

Local writer Sarah St. John pulls from the Journal-World archives to compile reports of what it was like to be in Lawrence decades ago.

25 years ago: Construction to close 19th Street for several months

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for July 12, 1990:Work was getting under way on a $750,000 project to improve traffic flow on 19th Street. City officials said 19th from Naismith to Iowa would be closed to through traffic during the project, and utility companies working in conjunction ...

25 years ago: County roads to get summer facelift

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for July 11, 1990:Summer had arrived with hot weather and the inevitable road projects. "This is a critical time of year for us," said Frank Hempen this week, adding that seven miles of county roads were to be repaved this summer and that his office was ...

25 years ago: Country stations balk at singer’s vegetarian stance

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for July 10, 1990:Radio stations in "cattle country" were irked at singer k. d. lang's "Meat Stinks" campaign, and some were pulling her music from their airwaves. At least 14 stations had joined the boycott. Lyle Gray, president of the Kansas Livestock ...

100 years ago: Golden Belt auto route very muddy through Lawrence

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for July 10, 1915:"Many automobile travelers and owners of cars here are complaining of the poor method of doing the grading on the Golden Belt route from here to Eudora. There is also a bad mudhole on the California road a few miles out. One man complains ...