Dutch Inn Then and Now

707 Central Avenue

My great-great grandmother, Ida (Gause) Beeson, bought the home at 705 Central Avenue in November of 1921. The Gwinner family lived at the southwest corner of Central and Vine Streets and an empty lot sat between them. That lot sometimes hosted events like the interdenominational tent revival in June of 1932, but it was mostly a space for the neighborhood children to play.

In December of 1953, Ted Kerkhoff obtained a permit to move a 10-by-12-foot Valentine Diner from Ford to 707 Central.

Bob’s Drive-In held a grand opening on January 13, 1954.

The diner was quite small so Kerkhoff built an addition on the north side of the building that Spring. Curb service was also added and customers were able to phone in their pickup orders.

Margaret and Dee Dehart briefly assumed management of Bob’s in August of 1954.

Dorinda “Pat” Schumacher then took possession that November and renamed the cafe Dutch Inn.

Dutch Inn is shown here with the north addition. The original metal section appears to have been rusting.

In March of 1957, a couple teenage boys broke a window and stole less than ten dollars in change plus a chocolate cake. Due to his involvement in a string of burglaries, one of the boys received a sentence of up to ten years at the reformatory in Hutchinson.

Schumacher sold the property to Fred and Helen (Lochmann) Ruby around 1959. The Rubys then had the Dutch Inn listed for sale by November of that year. Bernard Trail was the next buyer and he changed the name to Hill Top in 1960. He sold the eatery to Cecil “Pete” and Claramae (Pickle) Larcom, who reopened it as Hilltop Cafe in January of 1961.

The Larcoms were forced to close the restaurant due to illness that November but it operated during at least part of 1962. By 1964, the building had been moved once again. Unfortunately, the Kansas Historical Society has been unable to determine where exactly it went.

First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Dodge City was built across from the post office in 1965 and the lots between what is now the Landmark National Bank building and Vine Street have been used as a parking lot ever since.

This is how the site of the Dutch Inn looks today:

Even though Central Avenue was once part of Highway 50, it seems so odd to plunk down a diner between two houses. I would love to know where it was taken and whether it still exists.

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