by Betty Jane Wilson, society president
The Valley Falls Historical Society Museum windows reflect images and dates of past history of Valley Falls and more recent national history.
The seasonal window features a mural painted by local artist Susan Phillips, of the Kansas Central Railroad Bridge, circa approximately 1865, with the Piazzek Mill in the background. Piazzek Mill photos are included in the scene.
With the approach of Grasshopper Falls Day, reminders of our town's trio of names and dates are illustrated.
A brief review of the town's nomenclature columns: Originally named Grasshopper Falls, with history of the town's beginning in 1854, located near the Falls on the Grasshopper River. The voracious grasshopper invasions of 1855, 1860, and 1861, ruining crops and threatening livelihoods so incensed the residents that they were fed up with the Grasshopper name. They asked the legislature to change the name of the river, township, and town to Sautrelle. October 1863, the names were changed to Sautrelle (French for grasshopper). The change was taunted by a sundry of reactions from citizens, editors, and outsiders who substituted "Sow Tail" for Sautrelle. The populace did not relish the nickname so the legislature restored the old name, "Grasshopper Falls" in 1864.
The Kansas New Era, Feb. 12, 1874, reported:
"The subject of changing the name of our town, Grasshopper Falls, is again being agitated"
The Kansas Quarterly reported:
"By irony of fate, the grasshoppers came again in 1874, so meetings of residents with the legislature in 1875 resulted in passing a bill changing the name of the town to Valley Falls, Delaware River, and Delaware Township — Delaware for the Indians, former inhabitants.
The veterans' window features memories of a shocked nation and world. The vicious attack on U.S. cities — the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
The Valley Falls Historical Society Museum will be open at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 7.
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