At one of the workshops held at Isabel for the Barber County History,
  Ralph Bailey was present, and we spent the afternoon reminisching about
  Isabel as we knew it when Ralph and Ethel came to Isabel in 1925. He
  was the new Standard Oil Co. tank wagon agent at the time, and we went
  back to that period, trying hard to remember the businesses and business
  people of that era. Later, Fern Heublein took our notes to Clyde Boots,
  and he came up with names and dates that go clear back to 1900. In the
  Register of Deeds office at the Barber County Courthouse there is a
  document as follows:
     Dated 21st of September, 1887
        I, Alden Spear, do hereby certify that I am president of the Isabel
     Town Company, the owners of the land covered by this plat of the town
     of Isabel, County of Barber, state of Kansas, that the plat is filed
     for the purpose of sub-dividing a portion of said land into blocks and
     lots for sale; that the dimensions of the lots and blocks and widths
     of streets and alleys are as indicated on this plat.
        Dated at Topeka Kansas, this 21st Day of September, A.D. 1887.
        Alden Speare, Pres.
        Isabel Town Company.
     The plat shows the streets running north and south from the stockyards
  on the east side of town to be Bigger, Main, Burr, Gillett, and Charles.
  The streets, or avenues, running east and west were Ethel, Denman, and 
  Nickerson.
     Starting with the railroad tracks, and progressing north on the east
  side of Main St., the businesses were as follows:
     1. A cream station run by Mrs. Alta Welk, later by Charley Murray.
     2. The Bennett Bros. store was operated by M.S. Bennett prior to his
  retirement; then it became the Bennett Bros. and Figge. The store was
  established about or soon after 1900. The building ws built by the father
  of Vic Sleeper. Prior to Mr. Bennett's retirement, he had in his employment,
  W.H. Bibler, who lived where Irl Hamm now lives; Jap Dye, first husband of
  Minnie Hackason. Jap died during the 1918 "flu epidemic." Jennie Armitstead,
  who later married Chas. Blackwelder, and Delia McGuire were among the female
  clerks of the early day. Clyde notes "as a small boy I was among those who
  tried their patience by buying candy a penny's worth at a time." This would
  have been prior to 1910. Later, Amber Hunt (Titus) clerked for several years.
  Roy Parkey and John Shafer worked for Mr. Figge until he sold out to Roy.
     3. Seventy years ago the space between Bennett's and the IOOF building
  was vacant except for a small frame building occupied for some time as a
  barber shop. John Runkle built the brick building and had a hardware store
  there in the early years. He eventually sold out to a Mr. Hulburt from Meade,
  Kansas, in 1917, Mr. Hulburt sold to the newly formed Isabel Coop. Equity
  Exchange. I believe the first manager of the Farmers Hdwe. was Ernest Ellis,
  followed by Monte Hoyt, Chas. Hamm, Irl Hamm, and others.
     4. The Odd Fellows Building was probably built before 1900, for it was
  there as far back as Clyde remembers. Stewart and Larabee had a hardware
  store in the downstairs until Larabee built the cement block building with
  the "Opera House" upstairs. Chas. Stewart lived in the dwelling north of the
  City Water Pump 31, and J.L. Larabee lived where the Farmer's Coop. repair
  shop is now located. Following the hardware store, the IOOF building was
  occupied most of the time after 1914 by Pete Cronin and C.F. Hogue, who did
  well work and plumbing. Also, in the early 20's part of the downstairs was
  occupied as a barbershop by Fred Thrasher and Arlie Painter.
     5. Then came Bell's Market. They came to town about 1908. This was Otis
  Bell, father of Bob, Ray, Merle Hartman and Jessie Swinson. For quite a
  while they sold only fresh meat and ice, but later stocked a line of groceries
  and had a cream station. Ray and his dad and Merle ran the store for a long
  time, but later, Bob and his wife, Blanche, moved back and took over the
  management.
     6. The Lester White Real Estate Office was one of the oldest buildings in
  town. Her Mr. White bought and sold real estate and later dabbled in oil
  leases. (His family history is in this book). 
     7. Across the street north of the Lester White building was a red livery
  barn. Who built, Clyde does not know, but it was there over 70 years ago and
  had a windmill and tank in what is now part of the street. Earl Meairs owned
  it for a number of years prior to the time it was torn down to make way for
  the Golden Rul Oil Station.
     8. To the north in the same block was the big white livery barn of H.I.
  "Harry" Tilden. Before the advent of automobiles, he would take people to
  other towns, usually traveling men or "drummers"; he also rented teams and
  buggies. clyde remebers his father, Ed, renting a team and surrey and taking
  his family for a Sunday afternoon picnic. This was about 1904. By 1915 the
  livery business was finished, and Mr. Tilden put an excellent floor in the
  haymow where dances and basketball games were held.
     North of the Tilden barn, where the Williams station stood later, was a
  blacksmith shop operated by a man named Ott.
     9. Going now across to the west side of the street, and in the block north,
  was the Christian Church which later became the Church of Christ. For many
  years it was the American Legion building; this, of course, was after World
  War I. later two or three different denominations used it.
     10. The hotel was built in 1904 by a man named Epp. He had most of the
  lumber shipped here from southern Missouri. The hotel was much used by 
  traveling salesman an various dramatic troups that performed here on more
  or less regular basis. Around the time of World War I, it was owned by Mr. 
  and Mrs. Callen, they were the parents of Mrs. Ora (Fern) Phipps and had a
  son named Lloyd. During one summer, probably 1929 or 30, the ten show, Art
  Names Players (which I know lots of you old-timers will remember) were
  playing in Isabel for a week. Their tent was set up just east of Main Street
  and behind the livery stable. On about Wednesday evening we had a bad storm
  with wind and rain; it blew down their tent. Since they missed a few 
  performances, they stayed over another week. This was when Milburn Stone,
  later to become the popular Doc. Adams on TV's Gunsmoke series, was playing
  the romantic lead with the Players. Mrs. Names (Maureen) was the leading lady,
  and how we all loved their shows! Well, anyway, at least part of the time
  they stayed at the hotel.
     11. Across the street, south from the hotel, was a feed mill and a black-
  smith shop. The shop was usually used by the owner to work on his steam
  engine and threshing machine; and the mill would custom grind for the farmers.
  The grinding burrs were of sandstone and about eight inches thick and three
  feet across. The earliest operator was W.P. Silver, who also did wheat
  threshing in the summer. At one time they lived in the house where Ralph
  Bailey now lives. They had a daughter, Edith, who married Lou Crooks; and
  they had a son, Dale, who died while a child. There is a memorial window for
  him in the Methodist Church.
     12. South of the mill was T.P. (Tom) Knight's blacksmith shop. This was a
  favorite loafing place for both boys and men. Tom was always busy sharpening
  plow shares and shoeing horses. After Tom sold the shop to Mart Roessler, he
  operated the feed mill for some time. Mart was left-handed, and Tom said it
  was quite a problem for a right-handed man to teach a left-handed person the
  blacksmithing business. In later years, Mart and Lilly, his wife, owned and 
  operated the hotel.
     13. Next south was Harry Tilden's house, where he lived until he passed
  away about 1928. Harry built a small building south of his house and operated
  a meat market for awhile. Later, he rented it to Claude Murray, who was in
  the oil leasing business. He and his wife lived where Clyde and Orpha Boots
  now live.
     14. Next south was a brick building where the Welk Bros., William and Otto,
  had a store for several years. A younger brother, Ernest, worked for Larabee
  Hardware for many years. A Coop grocery was located here for a while. The
  building was used at a later time for a skating rink. The building was also
  used for the high school basketball games. After the new school burned in
  1920. There was not a lot of room for spectators, but it was full to running
  over every game.
     The building was vacant for several years, then was opened up by the Isabel
  Locker plant and operated in the 1940's and until after the war.
     15. Then the Larabee building. This housed a hardware, mortuary, furniture
  store, automobile agency and garage. This prestigious establishment was owned
  and operated by Jud Larabee. They sold Dodge cars and John Deer implements;
  upstairs was the Larabee Opera House. Here the traveling show troupes performed,
  and home talent as well. Later, there were movies. I remember the Odd Fellow 
  oyster soup suppers held there, surely, because of the room it offered. The
  supper was for the Odd Fellows and their families, and of course was always
  in the cold winter time. It was an event looked forward to with much antici-
  pation.
     16. Across the street, south, was a frame building which was the post-
  office, when Jacob Strohl was postmaster, with living quarters in the back.
  Later it was used as a grocery store, a filling station operated by Ray
  Richardson, then occupied several years as a restaurant, and finally used by
  Jack Blue as an applicance store.
     17. In early days there was a small frame building where the Isabel Market
  is now located. According to Clyde's earliest recollection, it contained the
  postoffice and a general store and was operated by a man named Briggs, who
  died in 1905. Afterwards, it contained a "Saloon," and as a small boy Clyde
  remembers they served "liquor by the drink" in the back rooms. The next
  occupant was a Mr. Holmes who put out a weekly paper, the "Isabel Herald".
  For a number of years the building was owned by a succession of newspaper
  publishers until it was torn down and the present brick building constructed
  by J.R. Wheatley. The last newspaper published in Isabel was in the late '30's
  and early '40's by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wright. She was a daughter of the W.G.
  Peterie's.
     18. The next building was the drug store. Clyde does not remember who built
  the building, but it was there before 1905. The docitor was a white haired,
  white whiskered man, whom Clyde remembers because he put "xourt plaster" on
  a bad cut Clyde received when he was about 4 years old. Dr. Arthur Nossaman
  was ther eby 1905, and he was followed by Dr. C.D. Updegraff. Later Roy
  Richardson bought the store and sold it to Lloyd Callen, who sold to Stanley
  and Jessie Swinson, who operated it until they closed it out.
     19. The store building south of the drug store was built, prior to 1905
  and was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Gibson, who sold out to D.A. Williams and
  Co., who ran it for many years. There were four in the Williams family Miss
  Huldah and Miss Lily were spinster ladies, and I do mean ladies in every
  sense of the word. We always thought Miss Huldah was the driving force in
  this business. The brothers were Sam and Andy. Andy later married Ollie
  Thomas, and they had two daughters. The store was typical of those days with
  the cracker barrel, the cheese wheel, etc. You could buy almost anything you
  needed in that store; overalls, boots, dress material, hats, jewelry, Kerosene,
  peanut butter, and I don't know what all. Mrs. Lizzie Blackwell Armitstead
  was a clerk there for many years.
     20. The next building was also an old building built probably prior to 
  1900. The north part was a cafe run by Charlie Dye, for many years. Later,
  in 1925, or thereabouts, the cafe was run by Bill Dye and his wife, May. They
  had two sons, Kenneth and Curtis, who were very popular with the younger set.
  But, going back to an earlier time, the south part was a barber shop operated
  by Arlie Painter. This was in the days when many of the customers had their 
  individual mugs with their names on the mugs in gold lettering. About 1920,
  the building was occupied as a cream station by Mrs. Lizzie Peterson. In the
  early 1920's the postoffice was moved to this building, and while the Murray's
  (Charles and Florence) were postmasters, they lived in the north side of the
  building.
     21. The next building south was a two-story frame. In 1898-99 it was owned
  by W.R. Forsyth (Uncle Billy), who operated a general store in the lower part.
  The upper floor was rented to the IOOF Lodge for $15.00 a year. After Mr.
  Forsyth moved to Medicine Lodge, the building was occupied by various stores
  and restaurants; and when J.R. Wheatley set up his telephone exchange, it 
  was in the upper story. The first telephone exchange was in the house where
  R.C. Bailey lives. Edith Crooks (nee Silver) was the operator. There were
  only about a half dozen lines, and she would plug in the desired circuit and
  ring the party by hand crank. The two-story building caught fire in the 
  summer of 1914 and burned down, destroying the bank building at the same time.
  Both building were replaced by the present brick structures.
     22. The Isabel State Bank was originally located in a small frame building
  on the northwest corner of the intersection of Main St. and Ethel Avenue. It
  was organized in 1905 by Ed Boots, D.A. Nossman and other citizens. J.M.
  Ratcliff ws president and D.A. Nossaman was cashier. Ed Boots was the largest
  stockholder; and when he bought out the Ratcliff interest, he was elected
  president, the position he was holding when he passed away in 1953. About
  1908 the John Runkle Hardware, which was adjoing the bank, caught fire and
  both buildings were destroyed. Runkle rebuilt with the concrete block building
  which was occupied by Larabee & Sons Hardware for so many years. The bank
  moved a block south and built a frame building just south of the old Forsyth
  building. Both of these buildings were destroyed by fire in 1914 and replaced
  by the present brick buildings. In 1971 the stockholders sold their interests
  to a group headed by Chet Fullerton of Medicine Lodge.
     23. The lumber yard was across the alley west of the bank and was known as
  the Isabel Lumber Co. Prior to 1905 it was managed by D.A. Nossaman. About
  1907 or 08 it was taken over by the T.M. Deal Lumber Co. John Corbin was the
  manager for a number of years until A.C. Houston Lmbr. Co. bought them out.
  John Corbin ws the father of Mary, Eunice, Levi or Bud, Maudie, Lena, the
  mother of Albert Heublein, and Wes. The Corbins firsst lived where Jim
  Armstrong now lives, the John built the house now owned by the Moody family
  and lived there several years before selling it to Grandpa Lynch. After that,
  he built the house on the northeast corner of the block wehre Roya and Thelma
  lived for many years.
     24. The Farmer's Grain and Livestock Co., as I believe it was named, bought
  the Ed Boots grain elevator; and after a few years, it was reorganized or 
  taken over by the present Cooperative. The elevator just east of Main Street
  was built by W.E. and A.R. Clark of Coats, Kansas. A.R., or Al, died in 1909
  and the elevator was probably sold to the Red Star Milling Co. at that time.
  Otto Welk was the only manager that Clyde remembers after Red Star took over.
  Further east was the Larabee elevator built by the Larabee Milling Co. A man
  named Olson managed it for a while, then Jacob Strohl until his death in 1912,
  followed by his son, Frank Strohl.
     The first school in Isabel was known as "Bethel School" and was located a
  little over a block west of the present school building and was in an open 
  field at that time. A picture of the students, taken in 1902. shows children
  of Huitt, Dye, Mills, Coss, McGuire, Raleigh, Sellers families, and Ethel 
  Blanceh Bailey Peterie, who was my mother. The teacher was Cecil Osborn, sister
  of Dr. Osborn, a dentist in Medicine Lodge. This picture is reproduced in the
  1970 Isabel High School annual, which was the last graduating class of Isabel
  High. In the 1880's Bethel School was located in a "dug-out" on the north half
  of Sec. 25. twp. 29, R. 12 in Pratt County.
     About 1905 a two room frame school building was built at the present
  location, and about 1912, a second story was added. This building was used
  until 1920, when the first brick building was erected. This was the first year
  of consolidation, and three busses picked up children for a distance of about
  seven or eight miles around Isabel. On December 2nd the new school building
  burned, and the grade school went back into the old building, while the high
  school was housed in the Methodist Church.
     At sometime other rooms had been added to the frame building because I
  started school in 1920 when the new building burned, and when we had to move
  over to the old building while the new one was being built, there were four
  rooms downstairs and four upstairs.
     The Santa Fe Railroad ran through Isabel, and we had a passengar train
  daily. It came out form Wichita to Englewood in the morning and back in the
  afternoon. I remember we had a daily freight too. The passenger train ran
  until sometime in the 1960's. During the war, WWII, I rode this train quite
  often, we called it the Doodle-Bug; lots of times every seat was taken and
  people sat in the aisle on their suitcases. Mr. Jay Sage was the depot agent
  at that time and from about 1918; his son, Lester, was in my class through 
  school.
  
  Source: The Chosen Land, Barber County, Kansas, pg. 58
  Submitted by Claudine Raleigh, with Ralph Bailey, Clyde Boots.