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Gerat H. Hollenberg, a native
of Germany, came to the United States in the late 1840s. He
spent the next several years searching for gold in South
America and Australia, and in the great California Gold Rush
of 1849. No one knows whether Hollenberg accumulated much gold
in his travels but, according to one legend, he lost it all
when he was shipwrecked off the coast of Florida. Many of his
friends drowned but Hollenberg survived. He is said to have
walked all the way to Chicago after this.
In 1854, Hollenberg settled in
Kansas Territory near the crossing for the Oregon-California
Trail on the Black Vermillion River in Marshall County. In his
small log cabin he kept a stock of goods to be sold to
travelers on the trail.
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In 1858, Hollenberg moved to the present
site of Hollenberg Station in Washington County where he
could capture the growing trade from the St. Joseph
branch of the Oregon-California Trail as well as from
the older southern branch.
He began with a one-room log cabin but
soon expanded his operation to a long, narrow five-room
building where he sold supplies, meals, and lodging.
Over the years he added barns and sheds. In addition to
his other activities, he began to sell draft animals and
repair wagons. His wife, Sophia Brockmeyer Hollenberg,
cared for and fed the travelers who stopped at the
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In 1860, Hollenberg's road ranch became a stop
on the short-lived Pony Express. The ranch offered food and
shelter for both riders and horses. Although the Pony Express
generated great excitement at the beginning, the enterprise
soon folded and Hollenberg lost hundreds of dollars when the
operation went bankrupt. With the end of the Pony Express and
reduction of trail traffic on the trail after the Civil War,
Hollenberg turned to farming. He grazed cattle and raised
grain, like most of his neighbors. Less and less frequently
did travelers pause at the station for a meal or an overnight
rest.
Hollenberg Station State Historic Site is on
K-243 near Hanover, Kansas. It is open Wednesday through
Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 1:00 to
5:00 p.m. For additional information contact site curator
Duane Durst at 785-337-2635.
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