A look back in time – June 1970

50 Years Ago

Community

June 24, 2020 - 8:21 AM

Register file photo

Mr. and Mrs. Glen Menegay have sold their restaurant to Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Wheeler of Olathe. Menegay’s downtown cafe has been operated by the Menegays for the past 23 years. They sold Menegay’s North, which they established sometime after their downtown operation became a success, to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Purden. Mrs. Wheeler is the sister of Paul Purden. The Wheelers, a young couple, have had no prior experience in restaurant operation. Mrs. Menegay will stay in the cafe to assist them for at least a month.

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Graduates of Neosho Falls High School will meet in Riverside Park for a reunion Saturday. They also will say farewell to their alma mater. The high school closed shop in May with its final graduating class. The community now becomes part of a larger unified school district serving parts of Allen and Woodson counties. At its closing, Neosho Falls High School was one of the oldest in the state, dating back to its founding in 1900.

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A tornado, seen just before it hit by at least one Iolan, skipped through the east part of the city shortly after 7 o’clock last night and left between 150 and 175 houses damaged. City officials estimated damage may run as high as $1 million. The tornado apparently touched ground in the area of the Garfield playground, swept from the south edge of Iola with the highest concentration of damage in the northeast part of town. Damage was bounded on the west by Oak Street and the east just past Kentucky. The heaviest damage along Second and Third streets. Large areas were left without electric power for hours. Windows were broken in Allen County Hospital and trees uprooted on hospital grounds. Between 20 to 25 vehicles were damaged by falling trees and branches. The Jim Baze home at 417 N. Second was severely damaged. The roof was ripped off and the front wall torn down. The John Masquelier home in Sterling Heights was also badly damaged. 

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Preliminary U.S. Census figures show the City of Iola lost 457 residents between 1960 and 1970 and now has an official population of 6,428. 

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