Excerpted stories in Crawford County newspaper archives

100 years ago

February 5, 1926

The establishment and augmentation of a mining district from which the highest grade obtainable of zinc ore, lead tree, is captured from the earth thirteen miles south and east of Pittsburg in the Waco field, cannot help but react favorably on the future of Pittsburg, local men conversant with the Waco development believe. An example is cited in the case of the Barnsdall mine, which last month purchased approximately $10,000 worth of equipment from Pittsburg concerns. At present the field is in a production of about 1,500 tons of ore a week.

Mrs. Angie Ryan, 119 East Sixth Street, conquered a youthful thief who entered her home shortly after 9 o'clock this morning, only to prove unequal to the strength required to hold him a prisoner until help arrived, and the intruder escaped just a few paces ahead of the police. The telephone rang at the police station and Mrs. Ryan in an excited voice asked the officers to "hurry right down" to her address. "A thief's in the house," she said between gasps for breath.

Prospects for the repaving of North Broadway from the Missouri Pacific tracks north to the city limits, this summer are extremely favorable, Bert Mead. commissioners of streets, said today. Bruce Cameron, general manager of the Joplin & Pittsburg Railway Company, has promised that by May 1 the interurban company will have completed the laying of a new track the length of the Broadway repaving project, eliminating the present two sets of rails and substituting a single track, Mr. Mead said.

50 years ago

February 5, 1976

The new $1.4 million Nurse Education facility under construction on the east campus of Kansas State College of Pittsburg will be the McPherson Building, George F. Budd, KSCP president, said Wednesday. The name honors the McPherson family of Chetopa whose nearly half-million-dollar estate provided matching funds for federal and state grants to obtain the building. The family of James McPherson, who in his day was a Chetopa blacksmith, included four brothers and sisters who graduated from KSCP between 1916 and 1942. Their bequest permitted KSCP to obtain up to $983,915 in federal funds and $216,085 in state funds.

Building permits for two new commercial buildings, to be constructed at a cost of approximately $142,581, were issued by the city inspection department for the month of January. The two permits were issued to H & H Agency, Inc. and Seidler & Associates. The H & H building is being constructed at 2623 N. Broadway and the Seidler building is located at 408 N. Walnut. Five additions, alterations and conversions permits were issued last month. The combined projects will cost approximately $29,332. The inspection department issued four building permits for garages, carports, patios and storage buildings. The cost of the four projects is about $4,274.

Prolonged inflation may have caused subtle shifts in consumer and seller psychology, an informal survey of Pittsburg residents indicated this week. A recent Census Bureau study, revealing that increased incomes in 1974 provided little more actual buying power for American families, merely confirmed what many Pittsburg residents already suspected. "Everybody realizes the dollar gets chewed up by inflation," one local grocer said. "And everybody hates it. We try to adjust ourselves not to point it out. People don't like to be reminded of it."

25 years ago

February 5, 2001

Seventy-five years later, the Harlem Globetrotters still have it. And as part of the team's 75th Anniversary tour, the Globetrotters performed their patented and somehow never-too-old tricks in front of a nearly sold-out crowd Sunday afternoon at Pittsburg High School. "We have the same recipe, just different ingredients," said Globetrotter forward Elmer "Stringbean" Martin, who played for the University of Arkansas' 1994 national championship team. "We do the same things Meadowlark Lemon and those guys did, we just have new guys doing it." But somehow, it's still funny.

A sell-out is once again anticipated for the Mount Carmel Foundation's 17th Annual Gala, according to Krista Postai, foundation secretary. She said that the event, planned for Feb. 24 at the Pittsburg Memorial Auditorium, is a combination of fun and fundraiser. "The interest has never been greater," Postai said. "We began getting calls about the gala in early December, and the excitement seems to be building." "This has become one of the top social events of the year, no question about it," added Robert Poole, Mt. Carmel Medical Center director of community relations.

After Pittsburg State knocked off 11th-ranked Northwest Missouri Saturday night and pulled into a three-way tie for second place in the MIAA, it was obvious the Gorillas weren't going to celebrate for long. Why? Because Pittsburg State head coach Gene Iba said so. The Central Missouri Mules are coming town today for a 7:45 p.m. game at John Lance Arena, and, it's a rematch that Pitt State has eye-balled since early last month. Basically, the Gorillas have wanted a redo on that last meeting with Central, which beat Pitt State 86-74 on Jan. 8 in Warrensburg.