The
Morris Touch
Real Estate Developer
left a lasting mark on several beautiful Wichita neighborhoods.
(Beccy Tanner/The Wichita Eagle)
When Walter
Morris arrived in Wichita, he left his footprints in the snow.
When Morris died more than 60 years later, he had left a lasting
imprint on the city's landscape.
When Morris
stepped off a Santa Fe train from Ohio in the winter of 1888,
he had no idea where downtown Wichita was. The snow was knee-deep.
And, rather
than spend money he didn't have, Morris looked around and
decided to walk to the hustle and bustle of downtown by following
wagon tracks. ''I didn't have any money to pay 'hack fare,'
he later told The Wichita Eagle on March 11, 1951, in observation
of his 91st birthday. "But I had two good feet. There
wasn't a paved block in town then, let alone a paved street.
All of the street awnings along Douglas Avenue were made out
of boards. People would come to town in those days and sit
outside on the street, chew tobacco, talk and have a good
time."
Two days
after his arrival in Wichita, the 28-year-old Morris opened
a real estate office in an upstairs room on East Douglas.
The first real estate deal he made was a 2 1/2-acre tract
near Hillside and Douglas.
''There
weren't many houses out here then," he told The Eagle
in 1951.
Morris
planned and developed four of Wichita's additions: 80 acres
of Roosevelt Field, 18 acres of Sleepy Hollow, 45 acres of
Crown Heights and 75 acres of Lincoln Heights.
At the
time of his death in July 1951, The Eagle reported:
''Creating
lovely homes for Wichita people was Walter Morris' dream come
true. Throughout his 63 years as a real estate dealer here,
he envisioned and brought to reality some of the most scenic
residential developments in this city.
Walter Morris 1860-1951
''A poet
at heart, widely traveled and widely read, Walter
Morris contributed much in the way of living beauty broad avenues,
tree-shaded streets, grass-covered lawns and rustic footbridges
to live long after him him. He created a poetry with living
things."
One of the things he created was a trophy
to honor the best of his profession. In 1926, Morris and his
firm, Walter Morris and Son, originated the Walter Morris trophy
cup. The trophy is still presented each year to an outstanding
broker in Wichita.
Morris also was owner of one of the city's
more architecturally significant homes Campbell Castle, also
known as Crumm Castle. Walter Morris and his wife, Ada, had
four children Clara, Harriett, William and Luella. Ada died
shortly after Luella's birth.
''Walk south on Ash, Madison, Spruce or Grove,
and you will walk under a canopy of stately elms planted by
Morris," The Eagle reported at his death.
''Hundreds of people now living in the area
and enjoying the cool comfort of the tall trees kept neatly
trimmed by the city do not know their comfort was made possible
by a man of vision who walked before them. . . .
''Go into other additions to the city and
you will see the print of Walter Morris' passing this way Crest
Hill, Diamond Hill, Mt. Carmel Gardens, Sunnyside Gardens,
Sunny Slope Gardens, and many others, all residential developments
contributed to posterity by Morris' work as a city realtor,
a city builder."
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