Snapshot of History
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
General store of L. E. Yaryan in Knowlton about 1910.
I came across a program dated September 27, 1970 entitled “Knowlton Lives Again.” This program was provided by the Ringgold County Historical Society for a tour of Knowlton and Goshen sponsored by the RCHS. Contained therein is a historical account of Knowlton’s early days which I will share along with my historical collection of Knowlton.
The Chicago, Kansas City, & St. Paul Railroad laid tracks through northern Ringgold County in late 1887. They built coal chutes about one mile north of present-day Diagonal and the town of Knowlton sprang up there. Knowlton was named after a civil engineer working on the railroad line.
According to William Sherrill’s obituary, he built the first hotel and livery barn in Knowlton. I assume this was in 1888 as regular train service wasn’t begun until August of that year. According to James F. McGinty’s obituary, he built the first house and operated the first lumber yard. Fred Furcht had the first store in the new town.
By 1890, the town had a Methodist and a Baptist Church. Knowlton was incorporated on December 30, 1890. Diagonal, one mile to the south, wouldn’t be any competition until December 1895 when their Chicago Great Western (formerly the Chicago, Kansas City, & St. Paul) depot opened. Diagonal already had the Humeston & Shenandoah Railroad, but it was a branch line and the CGW was a main line. Without going into it, there is a great deal of difference between the two.
The CGW is responsible for the towns of Shannon City, Knowlton, Diagonal, Benton, Maloy, and Blockton. And Knowlton had a good run for 15-20 years. The first newspaper was in 1892. The high school was built in 1894, the first brick business building in 1895, and the two-story brick bank in 1896.
The wheels came off in the years 1906-1909. The Ideal Farm Implement Co. ceased to operate in the winter of 1908-09 (I think there was a fire). The coal chute burned in 1907 and Knowlton’s last newspaper was printed that year. In February of 1908, trains number 1 and 6 ceased stopping at Knowlton. Ringgold County’s favorite ghost town forfeited its incorporated status in 1926.
This week’s picture shows Leander Elmer Yaryan’s general store on the north side of Main Street (now Ringgold County J-23). Across the street east was the two-story bank. Yaryan’s store lasted longer than the town. I have now seen two references that the general store lasted into the early 1930s.
Much of Knowlton was slowly absorbed by Diagonal over the years. Dr. E. J. Watson, for example, came to Knowlton in 1906 and moved to Diagonal in 1918. He would continue in practice in Diagonal until the mid-1950s.
