70 N Second Avenue
Dodge City has a surprising number of empty lots along busy streets. I have vague recollections of some long-demolished buildings and many others were torn down years before I came along. The stretch of Second Avenue across from Wright Park is one of those weird spots where I can’t trust my childhood memories.
Tourist camps were a lot like motels but they often had individual cabins along with a filling station and grocery store. They sprung up all over the place as automobiles became more affordable and reliable. Dodge City had a whole slew of them situated along each highway.
The City of Dodge City planned to buy the Ham Bell lot for a tourist camp but the proposition was defeated in a special election held in July of 1923. Instead, the camp was built by George C Maxwell in 1925 at what was then 94 Second Avenue. There was public opposition to the City competing with local businesses but ultimately, a tourist camp was also constructed in Wright Park.
The Maxwell Camp was very tidy and had everything a traveler could need. The grocery store, operated by William E Maxwell, was located just north of the filling station, which would be out of frame to the left.
The 1926 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map was the first to include the camp area. You can see the filling station, Maxwell’s home, a bath house, and two cottage buildings with a total of 11 rooms.
In 1930, the grocery store at the Maxwell Camp was operated by R. L. Kennedy. By June of 1931, the Maxwell Service Station was managed by Jack McCabe.
The 1932 Sanborn shows a pretty dramatic expansion.
George Maxwell died in 1942 and around that time the filling station became Swede’s Service Station #1 at 96 Second Avenue. Maxwell Camp was sold to C. R. Hill in September of 1945.
The block had been renumbered and the street address for the real estate office was 76 N Second Avenue. Hill renamed the camp Parkview Cabins. The Parkview Grocery and Market was at 80 N Second Avenue.
By 1953, the name had become Parkview Motel. In addition to the real estate company, there was also a western store.
C. R. Hill was quite a character.
The front of the former filling station was enclosed and the motel buildings were modernized.
I believe this was C. R. Hill, Jr.
Things went along okay until the mid-1960s, when the motel buildings were offered for sale.
An auction was held in September of 1964.
Soon after, the Chevrolet-Oldsmobile dealership directly to the south prepared to expand its lot into the old motel space.
By 1967, the dealership was Dave Gambill Chevy-Olds. The next building to the north was Stegman Liquor Store at 80 Second Avenue. It’s difficult to keep track of which street numbers were assigned to each particular building because they changed quite a bit. Gooch’s Shoe Shop was at 76 Second Avenue in 1970 and the dealership became a used car lot.
The First State Bank was formed on September 22, 1971 and I believe the name was changed to Bank of the Southwest in May of 1972. I remember when they built a drive-through branch at 70 N Second Avenue around 1979. They called it the “Handy Bank” and I thought that sounded ridiculous. Still do!
By 1980, the car lot was vacant and Bank of the Southwest was the only business operating on the old tourist camp site. Things turned around, though, and Big A Auto Parts opened in the old dealership building. The expanded car lot area south of the bank became Affordable Auto and it seems like it’s been one used car lot or another ever since.
Bank of the Southwest merged with Sunflower Bank on April 7, 1997 but my foggy memory says the Handy Bank closed prior to the merger. That building was used as a used car dealership for many years and is currently MX Off-Road.
Here’s the site of the Maxwell Tourist Camp today:
If you look at the satellite view, it’s still possible to make out the pavement from the old car lot expansion.
Although Dodge has lost all of its traditional tourist camps, motorists can still experience an old-fashioned American road trip along numerous two-lane highways. Several have been preserved and are fully operational, especially along Route 66.
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