To celebrate Fairfax's 125th anniversary the eleventh grade history class of Ryan Osburn has talked to people around Fairfax to bring memories of the good old days in Fairfax.

Fairfax - Remember When By: Michael Graves

I asked my dad, Phil, what he remembered about what Fairfax used to be like. He said that there were a lot of stores that are closed now. He said there was a restaurant, bar and dance club across from where Billy Bob's is now that was known as Skelly Town. Then he remember Newell Green had an electric motor shop around the northeast corner of Fairfax where Melvin Rogers now lives.

The Kerr family had a grocery store where Larry Flanagan has his fireworks warehouse. John Egland had a motor repair and machine shop by the building Dan Fries now owns and uses for his truck. There used to be a gas station where the Mane Thing is. This building was also where the Atchison County Ambulance office used to be located. There was a locker plant by the lodge building catty corner to T & M Market. This building was just recently torn down.

Jack Pearce had a chicken hatchery located across from the Market. He also owned and operated a feed store and a fertilizer dealership. Directly across the street from the building now owned by Jim Pearce was a clothing store known as Thiesfeld's Clothing. They also carried a lot of fabric and sewing items. Mode Rogers, Melvin's dad, had a tavern and a hotel where Poodle Pierce parks his semi down by the corner. There was a Zeke Daily's Sinclair gas station where the convenience store is located now.

One of my dad's favorite memories is a pool hall that was on the north side of Main Street where the Fairfax Forum is located today. There was a machine shop run by Buford and Hershel Stoner who chewed tobacco all day, every day, across from city hall.

The property, now known as the Fairfax Preschool, has been home to more than one business. It used to be Roger's Pharmacy and before that it was home to a hardware store. There was a theater on the south side of Main Street by the Daybreak Cafe. Jim Schooler had a furniture and carpet store east of the bank. This is where my parents purchased their new flooring for the house we live in now when they bought it in 1981. Jim Schooler laid the kitchen floor himself. The Walnut Shop used to be where Comfort Air is now on the hill east of town. Tom Miller had a car and tractor garage where he worked on them and before that, John Egland had his shop there. There used to be a feed store run by Thiesfeld's before it was R & L Feed.

At the baseball field, there were rodeo grounds on the hill and when they took the rodeo grounds down, my dad and grandpa bought some of the bleachers and used them for walls in our of our old sheds on our farm. The old locker plant was located where Oxy-Med is now and was ran by Mr. Williford. The International tractor dealership was located where Fertilizer Service is now. There was a leather shop where city hall is and it was run by Wayman Parks. Mr. Parks then sold that to a veterinarian who was there for a short period of time.

One of the last stories my dad told me about things he can remember was the time my grandma's cat broke its leg and she took it in to Fairfax to that veterinarian office to get it fixed and he charged her $50 to get the cat's leg fixed. Then the cat ended up dying so he only charged her $25 after all.