In what was once the Clay Center Township, now the east edge of Clay Center, sits the former “voting house.” It was owned by the City for decades and served two purposes: one, it housed their Township Road Patrolman, and two, served as a polling place for township residents.
The land, in the 1200 block of East Crawford, first came into County possession in 1895. It covers two tracts from the Grand View Addition, which was established in 1889. The addition followed 13th Street with a block on either side of Crawford Street, either side of Clarke St, and the south side of Dexter Street. During this time, all paperwork was outfitted with a hand-drawn seal.
March 7, 1895, Clarence and Etta Hemphill sold the land to the Township of Clay Center for $30. ($1,157.06 today.)
In 1932, a sliver of the land was granted to the State of Kansas for Highway 24. In 1960, the land was sold to private residents, and the home was used as a rental.
The Township Board met on December 7, 1959 and determined they no longer had a need for the house or lots and voted to sell. It went for public auction on January 23, 1960 “to the best and highest bigger for cash in hand.”
Eldon and Gayle Mall owned the home until 1979. It was sold again in 1985, when Wallace and Mary Quattlebaum purchased it for Wallace’s mother. They sold the home in 2006.
In 1900 the township built a 646-square-foot, one-bedroom house, which was used to house their Road Patrolman.
Clarence Spellman and his wife, Lydia, lived in the “voting house” in the late 40s and early 50s. Previously the family lived on the family farm off 18th Road, which had belonged to the family since 1905. They left the house for their eldest son, Earl, and his new wife, Irma when they married in 1949.
Top: Clay Center Township road grader. Middle: Text and a hand-drawn seal from deed paperwork for “the voting house” on West Crawford St. Below: the house.
