First City Photo and Frames

06/04/2026

Long before automobiles filled the streets, this tree-lined Scott Avenue at Fort Leavenworth echoed with the sounds of horse-drawn carriages and the daily routines of soldiers and their families.

Restored and colorized with AI.

06/04/2026

In addition to my work at First City Photo & Frames, I also help lead tours at the historic Kansas State Penitentiary. While most people hope for sunshine, photographers often know better. When the skies turn gray and threatening, the light becomes soft, even, and incredibly dramatic—perfect for photography. I captured this image while waiting for a tour one afternoon, when the clouds rolled in and the lighting was simply too good to ignore. Sometimes the weather creates opportunities that a bright blue sky never could.

05/12/2026

Congratulations to the 2026 Horizon Scholars of Leavenworth High School!

Today we recognize 29 outstanding students, along with the teachers and mentors who helped guide, encourage, and inspire them along the way. Their hard work, dedication, and commitment to excellence represent the very best of the Class of 2026.

Behind every successful student is someone who believed in them, challenged them, and helped them grow. Congratulations to each Horizon Scholar and to the educators who made a lasting difference in their journey. The future looks bright for these young leaders!

04/28/2026

The National Hotel stood proudly on the northeast corner of Fourth and Cherokee from 1885 until it was destroyed by fire in November 1963. Over the years, it welcomed many notable figures—but perhaps none more colorful than Carrie Nation, the famed prohibitionist known for her crusade against saloons.

During one of her early 20th-century visits, she set her sights on the bar at the National Hotel, intending to add it to her list of establishments “smashed” in her campaign against alcohol. But this time, things didn’t go as planned.

Inside was the owner, Fernando Mella, a local figure remembered for his easy charm—his warm smile, quick wit, and likable nature. Mella met Carrie Nation not with resistance, but with calm resolve. He reportedly got down on his knees beside her in front of the bar and began to pray.

A crowd gathered outside, pressing against the windows to watch the moment unfold.

Whether it was the sincerity of the gesture or simply the unexpected turn of events, Carrie Nation left the hotel without breaking a single piece of glass—an outcome almost unheard of during her campaigns.

As the tension lifted and the crowd dispersed, Mel stood, turned to the room, and with a grin declared that the drinks were on him.

At 307 Cherokee today sits Carrie's, a whiskey Bar, a modern nod to one of the most colorful visitors ever to walk these streets - Carrie Nation.

04/18/2026

There’s a lot of debate these days about AI and digital tools like Photoshop—and rightfully so. They’re not meant for everything, and they should never replace the original artifact or the truth behind it.

But when used carefully and responsibly, they can do something pretty incredible…

They can help us see what was once nearly lost.

This image started as a worn newspaper clipping—flat, faded, and full of ink patterns that obscured the original detail. With the right approach, we’re able to remove those distractions and bring the image back closer to what it once was.

Not altered. Not reinvented.
Revealed.

In this case, the transformation feels nothing short of miraculous—taking something barely readable and restoring it into something worthy of display again.

It’s a reminder that sometimes, modern tools don’t replace history…
they help us reconnect with it.

“In His Kansas Prison Studio, an Inmate Artist Paints Murals Few Will Ever See”

Behind the walls of the Kansas State Penitentiary, where most stories are defined by confinement, one man found a different kind of freedom—with a brush in his hand.

Ernie Aspinwall, serving two life sentences, became known not for his crimes, but for his remarkable talent as an artist. Within the prison, he transformed blank walls into vivid scenes—windows to a world far beyond the bars. Many of his murals were seen only by inmates and staff, hidden away from the public eye.

One story, however, reached beyond those walls.

After reading about the destruction of Leavenworth County's last covered bridge—struck by lightning and lost to fire in August of 1958—Aspinwall set out to preserve it the only way he could. Through his imagination, he created a striking 4-by-6 foot painting of the bridge as it once stood.

That painting would later hang in a building in Topeka, quietly admired by those who passed through. But when the building was eventually torn down, the painting disappeared—its whereabouts unknown, its fate a mystery.

Yet Aspinwall’s story did not vanish with it.

Today, visitors to the Historic Kansas State Penitentiary can stand in the very spaces where he once worked and see the surviving pieces of his artistry—powerful reminders that even in the most unlikely places, creativity endures.

To hear more about Ernie Aspinwall and to see these remarkable works for yourself, join us Behind the Walls.

Book your tour at:
lansingkansashistory.com

This was recreated from a newspaper clipping restored through Photoshop and AI.

04/14/2026

In 1877, Adolph Bloch sat before the camera of A.C. Nichols, his image captured on glass—just weeks before marrying Caroline Steindler in Leavenworth.
An immigrant from Bohemia, Bloch’s journey took him from New York to New Mexico, where he ran a dry goods business, and eventually back to Leavenworth—where he met Caroline.
The newlyweds soon headed west again, settling in Minneapolis, Kansas, where Bloch opened “The Bee Hive,” later known simply as A. Bloch—“Destroyer of High Prices.”
From these beginnings, his descendants would go on to help shape one of America’s most recognized names in accounting—H&R Block.

04/08/2026

I love a good sunrise, no matter where it’s at.

04/07/2026

If Charles Darwin gave the world the theory of evolution, William Dickey Gunning gave it a voice.

Born in 1828, Gunning became a gifted lecturer who brought Darwin’s ideas to life across the American West—blending science, storytelling, and illustration in theaters and lecture halls.

In 1872, he appeared in Leavenworth at Stockton Hall, where he introduced audiences to the then-controversial theory of evolution. During that visit, his portrait was captured by local photographer A.C. Nichols.

Gunning later published Life History of Our Planet in 1881, illustrated by his wife, Mary—bringing the story of Earth’s beginnings to a wider audience.

From small-town Ohio to the stages of the West, Gunning helped turn a scientific theory into something people could truly see and understand.

Negative part of First City Photo's Everhard Collection. Source: https://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-historical-quarterly-theatre-in-kansas-1858-1868-1/13135