Institution

Explore Latino historic and cultural sites of Garden City

Early on the Club formed a local softball team. It was also the place where Mexican Fiesta dancing practices took place under the tutelage of Mrs. Angela Avila. Most important, however, was the Club's charge to end racial discrimination against Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the huge swimming pool located in the Mexican barrio. Ironically, the Club was located one block southeast from the swimming pool. To change this obnoxious practice Club members met with the City Commission protesting a long-held practice of denying Mexicans use of the swimming pool since the pool was opened during the gilded age. The Club pressed city fathers who blamed the public and not themselves. In the end, Club efforts and their status as veterans proved successful and the following summer the pool was quietly opened up to Mexican Americans. As a civil minded organization, the Club also created a women's affiliate in 1949. Its stated purpose was to help lady members become better mothers and wives. They also stated that one goal was to create better understanding of the Mexican American population in Garden City. The ladies named their Club as the Latin Youth Alerta. Later, the main Club became a place where the sons and daughters of the Club's founders or the second generation of Mexican Americans held their dances, parties, and other social events. Club members also practiced what they preached and allowed any group to rent the premises for local functions. The Club also coexisted with the local G.I. Forum for many years.

The Latin Club or Latin Youth Club (now a small Protestant Church) was created in 1946 by Garden City Mexican American World War II veterans.  The Club was located at 208 5th Street south of Santa Fe Street, one of the barrios in Garden City. The stated purpose of the Club was to advance and improve social and civic conditions. 

Latin Youth Club

Las Palmas, currently El Patron Las Palmas, El Patron, was and is still located on 606 Fulton Street. The local tavern was the brain child of Lupe Guillen, (1906-1985). It was constructed in 1942 and operated by Mr. Guillen until 1972. Besides being gathering place for drink with buddies, shoot a game of billiards, and engage in other male oriented pass times, the tavern did provide for other activities. In 1954, Las Palmas was used as a meeting place by local Garden City World War II veterans to discuss the possibility of forming a local chapter of a G.I. Forum The Forum, which was founded in Texas, was not limited to Mexican Americans and welcomed all veterans who were honorably discharged. The purpose of Forum was to promote education and good citizenship of its members. Mr. Guillen also added an adjacent building where dances and other similar celebrations were held. Both buildings still stand. At present the structure is known as El Patron, and is owned by Mr. Jaime Medina. Mr. Medina refurbished the tavern side of the building. He also acknowledges the Mexican American historical ties to the Mexican Revolution by placing Mexican Revolution reproduction photographs along the upper ceiling of the wall. He said that one revolutionary in one photo is the ancestor of a local Garden Citian. The adjoining part of the building is now a popular Mexican restaurant.

Mexican immigrants created community and forged roots by opening businesses in Garden City. These establishments often served as meeting places to talk about larger community issues and served as safe spaces where one could express culture and language. Las Palmas, currently El Patron, was one such establishment

Las Palmas Cantina

The Sugar Factory, which hired many Mexican workers, was opened on November 17, 1906. According to the Garden City Herald, the structure cost $1million to complete and was built on west Fulton Street near the railroad tracks. Mexicans who arrived in Garden City circa 1906 to work at the factory were initially single men who were put to work helping in the actual construction of the building; thereafter, they were hired to hoe the sugar beets for local sugar beet farmers who signed contracts with the factory. During this initial period, the area was plagued with constant labor shortages. In response, the Garden City Company, who owned the factory, along with the railroads, began building houses in the rural areas of Finney County. The purpose of these efforts was to encourage Mexican men to bring their families to Kansas. These houses, which were built in 1905, were located near the beet fields so that workers, often entire families, could be easily transported to work on the nearby fields. The single Mexican men, however, continued to live near the factory in tents. There in "tent city". they tended to gamble and sometimes engage in fights with each other or other workers. The single men who lived near the factory, however, sponsored one of the earliest Mexican Fiestas in Kansas. This Fiesta occurred in September of 1910. These men, who sometimes were identified in local newspapers, started the festivities at a local Mexican restaurant on west Fulton Street where many Mexicans and Mexican Americans still live. Later, first generation Mexican Americans (those who fought in World War II) worked in the factory itself and after the war returned to their old jobs. One disincentive to factory jobs involved a requirement that Mexican applicants have the approval of a local Mexican labor contractor. Also, most labor-intensive work, was seasonal, forcing many Mexican workers to seek work for the railroads or traveling to Nebraska and other states to find agricultural-related work. This cycle of work also began to break down after World War II when many Mexican Americans, due to their contribution in the war effort, found new job opportunities. As a result, local Mexican Americans left the beet fields and, to some extent, railroad labor for good. By the late 1960s Tejanos, migrant Mexican American workers from Texas, replaced local Mexican American beet workers.

Mexicans began migrating beyond the border to states like Kansas during the first decade of the twentieth century. In western Kansas a thriving sugar beet industry recruited workers from south of the border. Many of these families settled in Garden City and created a thriving community that exists to this day.

Old Garden City Company Sugar Factory

<blockquote>The Soccer Complex is named for Irene and D.C. Garcia, who lived in the community of Garden City. They were both community leaders and D.C. Garcia became the first Hispanic mayor.</blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote><blockquote>Irene Garcia was born on October 19, 1920 in Dodge City, Kansas just 45 miles east of Garden City. Mrs. Garcia was an active community member who dedicated her time and efforts to helping many people, especially in the Hispanic community. She worked with migrants and helped them toward gaining U.S. citizenship. She was also a devoted Catholic and active church member, and was a member of the American G.I. Forum. Her community efforts did not stop there she was also an important figure in the education of others, she worked in early childhood development at the local Head Start and was a part of the Garden City School Board. </blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote><blockquote>D.C. Garcia was born in Holcomb, KS just west of Garden City. Mr. Garcia was a veteran who felt passionate about his fellow veterans and felt they should be recognized and respected in the community. He voiced his opinion on an issue in a newspaper editorial regarding Veterans Day stating that veterans are only allowed one day for recognition and that businesses in the community should be urged to celebrate and recognize the day in observance. He was a strong voice along with his wife regarding the education of young Hispanics and he spoke in front of the school board on the issue of bilingual education. Mr. Garcia is highly regarded and known for being the first Mexican-American Mayor of Garden City, he broke down barriers and made way for much of the Hispanic community in Garden City. </blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote><blockquote>The couple married on September 22, 1943 and their family grew. They raised 10 children and today have a large extended family full of grandchildren and great grandchildren. The Garcia's were pillars of the Hispanic community in Garden City and were exceptional examples to their colleagues and to each other. Just ask around town about the Garcia’s and there’s a guarantee that the short introduction included here is just a small portion to summarize the legacy that they left for Garden City.</blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote>

Garcia Sports Complex in Garden City has been an integrated part of life in southwest Kansas for many Hispanic sports enthusiasts and alike since its dedication and opening on Friday, April 9, 2004.  Garcia Soccer Complex was dedicated to D.C. and Irene Garcia, a celebrated couple who lived their lives with purpose in their community.  



Photo of Dionisio Campos Garcia
Kansas Historical Society

Garcia Soccer Complex

Camina Conmigo: Latino Sites of Garden City

This section offers a sample of some of the walking tours, heritage trails, virtual tours and individual landmarks related to Latinx history- a term that intends to be inclusive of the experience of diverse groups of people who trace their origins to Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America. 

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Camina Conmigo: Latino Sites of Garden City

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