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Clik here to view.Around 1907, Bonner Springs, Kansas, seemed poised to be the next great health resort, rivaling the likes of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Or so some thought. City promoters were busy organizing the Bonner Springs Hotel and Bath House Co. and they hired a young photographer, Urbin Rudell, to help promote the idea. While Rudell sought to showcase the town’s abundance of natural remedies: pure air, healing mineral waters, romantic surroundings, and a wealth of foliage, he also captured the city’s humble beginnings and industrial development. When a fire ravaged Bonner Springs in 1908 and the proposed bath house was never built, the dreams of a health resort eventually disappeared, but Rudell’s photos did not. The Rudell photograph collection is now available on Kansas Memory.
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Clik here to view.Urbin Rudell (1878-1966) was born in Lanape, Leavenworth County, Kansas, in 1878 and later moved to Wyandotte County where he attended school. He started taking photographs when he was about 15 years old and was largely self-taught. He moved to Bonner Springs in 1907 and carried mail between the post office and Union Pacific depot for more than twenty years.
Urbin’s daughters, Mildred Bundy and Ella Mae Mitchell, preserved more than 100 of their father’s glass plate negatives. They donated the collection to the Kansas Historical Society in 2007. While Rudell’s photographic career spanned more than fifty years, the Rudell collection only includes photos taken between 1907-1912.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
The Urbin Rudell photo collection is available on Kansas Memory. For more information on Wyandotte County choose the category Places - Counties - Wyandotte.