Birth of the Harvey Interurban

It was early in the turn of this century when Rita Flickinger got a grant to investigate the possibility of a transportation system for Harvey County.

Rita hired me to do the investigating and, after I set up the public transportation system for Harvey County, Trevor Forman was employed to take over its operations.

It was while training Trevor I took him to Van Arsdale to see the bridge that was shown in the photograph in Tuesday’s paper. It was Trevor who named the new Harvey County Public transportation operation “Harvey Interurban.”

One of the early routes, now abandoned, was named the Van Arsdale route. Interestingly Van Arsdale still can be found on many maps, electronic and otherwise, although the town no longer exists.

The Harvey Interurban continues to run under the capable leadership of Jeanie Flaming; providing general public transportation for medical, shopping and recreational trips for all the residents of Harvey County.

— Tom Sawin,

Hesston