As the publisher of Topeka Lifestyle, I feel a responsibility - I might even call it a duty - to the city itself, to share its stories, past and present, in an effort to preserve its rich history. I grew up in Topeka, and there’s just something about your hometown that finds a way into your heart and fastens itself there. We share a history, like old friends. Founded on December 5, 1854, Topeka has a history much longer than my own. I realize, as I’ve been researching the town and reading about the Indians, the first settlers, the changes she has seen, that I am just passing through. One day, my chapter too will end, and new people and events will fill the pages of her story. And because I love her, I want people to know her and remember her and love her as I do.
In the 167 years since her birth, Topeka has had a couple of nicknames. One that I remember from my younger days was T-Town, but I never really liked it. Then more recently Top City has become popular. But there is another nickname, much older, that I think fits her best - The Golden City. Most people don’t know it, but the words “Golden City” can still be found on almost all city vehicles, buildings, and even stationery. It has been on the old city seal since the 1970s. When I was growing up in Topeka, I knew that the words Golden City were on the old seal, but I didn’t know why and didn’t really care. But as I got older, I started to take an interest in a lot of the historical things involving Topeka. Where did this nickname come from? I wanted to know.
So I researched during the COVID months and talked to many people much wiser than myself. I was told about a book written in 1890. It was called Topeka Pen and Camera Sketches. From what I can find, this is the earliest reference to someone nicknaming Topeka “The Golden City”.
Its cover read:
Topeka Pen and Camera Sketches
By Miss Mary E. Jackson
GEO. W. CRANE & Co., PRINTERS AND BINDERS. 1890.
The author, Miss Mary E. Jackson, says in her introduction, “The idea of preparing this volume for the public was suggested by the many tourists and visitors to our city, met in the Rapid Transit cars as I daily went to Oakland and Potwin Place in the capacity of a music teacher.” And later, “I have endeavored, in placing this book before the public, to give to strangers some knowledge of our ‘Golden City’, and to present something of interest to our own citizens as well.”
I love this quote. While Topeka Lifestyle Magazine celebrates the good and positive in Topeka, I’ve come across many people, some from Topeka and others not, and time and again I hear with amazement,” I didn’t know that was in Topeka”. So, when I read this introduction, I immediately felt a kinship and sameness of purpose with Miss Jackson. We provide knowledge of our city and items of interest to strangers and our own citizens.
In the chapter titled “The Golden City - A Vision”, I really love how eloquently she describes what her vision of the Golden City is through the eyes of the native Pottawatomie Indians returning from a hunt at dusk, still seated on their ponies and gazing over the new city from high atop a ridge…“But what was there before their eyes as they gazed over the city of the white man? That city had disappeared; there was in its place a sparkling gem, dazzling their eyes with its brightness. At the outskirts could be distinguished a few dwellings, but they too were transformed into spears of radiant light. Those radiant lights flickered, wavered, grew higher, and seemingly outshone the rays of the sun. They were a pale blue, vanishing into dark red. The ray of beautiful pearls gleamed for a moment, then leaped in its stead the rainbow arch. Shafts of light reaching the sky arose, then rested upon the earth. A snowy whiteness, a shade of crimson, losing itself in the brightest lines of amber, intermingled with roseate hues…” and “They had beheld the reflection of the autumn sun upon the windows and other shining objects, until the whole city was in one blaze of dazzling brightness.”
Miss Jackson describes the vantage point from which they viewed the city…“They had followed the course of the river down until they reached the high ridge west of Topeka, where the asylum now stands…”.
She referred to the asylum which became the Topeka State Hospital and was demolished around 2000. It was originally located at 3rd & Randolph. I wanted to see Topeka from that high ridge, so we went to this spot and my photographer, Thomas Hall, took the large picture you see in this article. He used a drone and we touched it up a bit to really make it pop. Obviously, modern-day Topeka looks completely different than the Topeka of the 1850s, but I like to think it’s just as beautiful.
So, I got to thinking about what this nickname that Miss Jackson gave to Topeka in 1890 means to me. Golden City sounds beautiful, idyllic, rich...it inspires visions of grandeur. It’s a perfect fit with Topeka Lifestyle Magazine because our mission is to celebrate the good and positive in Topeka, and those are exactly the things that make our city golden.
I ask people all the time, if you had to move to a new city and you had two choices, and the only thing you knew was that one was nicknamed “T-town” and the other “Golden City”, which one would you choose? Miss Jackson is long gone. I learned that she passed at an early age, 27 years, of a type of kidney disease. But before she left this world, she shared her vision, and that’s exactly what I’m trying to do with this magazine. Words are a bridge that spans time and links our hearts and minds to souls from the past. And when we inevitably become those souls, our words and stories will send a message to those waiting in the future. Thank you, Miss Mary E. Jackson, for taking the time to write your words about our beautiful city.
My hope is that the photos and stories we tell will inspire all Topekans to be proud of where they live. The next time you’re away from home and someone asks you where you’re from, you hold your head high and say, “I’m from the Golden City!”