HUMBOLDT — Allie Utley and Hank Thomas were enjoying a cup of coffee at Humboldt’s Mercantile last weekend when four youngsters entered the coffee shop. They were toting bats, gloves and other baseball essentials. The…

To understand their love of baseball, look no further than their grandfathers. Allie Utley’s grandfather, the late Dick Davis, would watch Kansas City Royals games with his granddaughter when she was still a toddler. He’d…

HUMBOLDT — Though Humboldt school district leaders tried to temper expectations, the opening of a 102-year-old time capsule Monday evening revealed the ravages of time more than treasure. Newspaper archives from 1922 indicated the contents…

You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who disagrees with the notion that Humboldt’s own Walter Johnson was one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. But a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday dedicating a new billboard that…

A large, festive crowd gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday for a new billboard dedicated to the memory of Humboldt native Water Johnson, baseball’s “Big Train.” (Little known fact: Long before Johnson earned his iconic…

HUMBOLDT — Humboldt Historical Society will stage its annual Appreciation Day Saturday at the HHS complex, Second and Neosho streets. The event is from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will feature museum tours, entertainment…

Long before baseball legend Walter Johnson was ever known as the Big Train, he had a moniker more geared to his southeast Kansas roots: The Humboldt Thunderbolt. The Humboldt native grew up to become one…

Long before Walter “Big Train” Johnson became arguably the greatest pitcher in Major League Baseball history, he was just your average kid on a farm north of Humboldt. Though the family’s white clapboard house is…