Burson House Then and Now

117 W Trail Street – Dodge City, Kansas

Euphemisms are funny things. In 1884, the southeast corner of what was then First Avenue and Locust Street was home to an establishment which was referred to as a “female boarding” house on fire insurance maps. That was a polite term for houses of prostitution.

Despite Dodge City’s ordinances and efforts of citizens like Dr. Samuel Galland to suppress the trade, this structure had been enlarged by 1887 and still served the same purpose until around 1890. At that time, the house became just a house.

Real estate agent Jehu “Jay” Burson decided to relocate from Ford after he was elected Probate Judge. He and his wife, Anna, moved to Dodge in November of 1892. They purchased the property at First and Locust and moved into the house in August of 1895.

A new barn was constructed behind the house along Maple Street in March of 1902. In October of 1903, newspapers reported the Burson family began construction of a new ten-room house on the property but I believe they simply added on to the existing home.

The Burson house is shown just across First Avenue east of the Great Western Hotel.

The Bursons’ five children, Clarence, Jay Jr., Grace, Mabel, and Maud, gave them a run for their money. And morphine, apparently. Jay Sr. suffered from Bright’s Disease and morphine was regularly prescribed in those days to treat the symptoms. I can’t be certain that’s how things went sideways but the kids likely had access.

Alcohol was also an issue. Clarence married Elzona “Ella” Williams in March of 1903. Ella reportedly suffered all manner of abuse and finally filed for divorce in June of 1908. The official reason she used was “drunkenness” but it was later reported that the more “vicious” reasons were dropped in exchange for Clarence’s agreement not to protest the divorce. Clarence was told by his father to leave town but he refused. Jay Sr. then implored Ella to leave Dodge, fearing she would be further harmed.

Clarence shot Ella in the leg with a shotgun as she was walking along Front Street on June 24, 1908. He fled to his parents’ home and when law enforcement arrived, Anna begged them not to break into his room because she feared they would all be killed. He, of course, ran again but was arrested the next morning. Ella recovered from her wounds and Clarence was convicted of assault with attempt to kill and sent to prison. His defense was that his “excessive use of stimulants” made him “mentally unbalanced.”

Jay Jr. was also a mess. In June of 1904, he was convicted of two counts of impersonating an officer and was sentenced to four months in the Ford County Jail plus two years of probation. He tried to fight Marshal Logan in August of 1913 and then went to Denver when it didn’t work out. Logan’s apparent transgression had been arresting one of the Burson daughters.

Jay Sr. died of Bright’s Disease in February of 1914 at the age of 64. Clarence, who only spent a couple years in prison, was arrested after a fist fight that August. Jay Jr. was arrested multiple times for public intoxication and disturbing the peace. Then he stole a suitcase from the Santa Fe depot and was sentenced to a brief stint at Lansing. Once he arrived, it was reported he was “taking the dope cure.”

Meanwhile, Anna turned the home into a boarding house. Daughter Grace had left Dodge but Mabel and Maud helped with the business when they weren’t trafficking narcotics.

The four children who remained in Dodge were arrested more times than I can possibly recount here and things began to really spiral by the early 1920s. Anna kept trying and was issued a permit in May of 1922 for a $4,000 addition to the house. Mabel was arrested for drunkenness later that year. Jay Jr. was caught smuggling drugs to Clarence at the Ford County Jail in September of 1922. Clarence had stolen from his mother so she turned him in.

Grace had mailed a cube of morphine from Chicago, which was intercepted by authorities in Dodge so the kids started using the post office in Cimarron. Law enforcement, not being stupid, was watching and there was a police chase in September of 1923. Jay Jr. and a friend were stopped at gunpoint near 11th Avenue and West Chestnut Street on their way back from Cimarron and a one-ounce cube of morphine was found in the back seat.

Anna Burson finally put the property on the market in 1924 but it had gained quite a reputation and took a while to sell. Rosie (Anderson) Royse finally bought it in February of 1926. Her husband, Benjamin, built the garage which became the west portion of Military Plaza.

Their son, Chester, married Wahneta Burgess the same year. Wahneta’s mother, Reba, took over the boarding house in April of 1928 and renamed it Cozy Rooms. The east side of the house is shown here.

This was the same Reba Burgess who was accused of murdering her husband, Burke, on a farm south of Cimarron in November of 1900. Burke got caught in a “compromising position” with a neighbor’s daughter and Reba shot him in the face with a .38. The jury acquitted her after deliberating for only 30 minutes.

The rooming house changed hands and was still occupied as late as 1950. It was demolished in the early 1950s and W. J. Stremel and Merritt Owens displayed used cars on that corner beginning around 1954.

A service station was constructed on the property sometime between 1955 and 1957 and was owned by Leo and Lucy Steele for a few years.

The station sat vacant off and on for several years beginning around 1962 and has been used by a number of automotive businesses. El Mexicano Auto has been at this location since around 2005.

This is how the former site of the Burson house looks today:

I saw a photo of some cute mid-century gas pumps and thought I’d write a little story about them. As is often the case, Dodge City’s insane history had other plans.

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