City/Town: • Cuba |
Location Class: • Residential |
Built: • 1903 | Abandoned: • 1970s |
Status: • Abandoned • Endangered |
Photojournalist: • Mike Spivey |
Presently, when you ride along the backroads of Republic County and you see the Shimek House you can only help but wonder how it looked in its prime with children running around the front yard playing, probably a few horses and cattle roaming the acreage. These massive and vacant stone houses are not uncommon in this area of the state, in fact it reminds me of another home not too far away, the Doctor W.B. Jones Home.

Joseph J. Shimek and his wife Barbara Shulda Shimek were both born in the Czech Republic and immigrated to the great state of Kansas. Also traveling with them were Joseph’s parents Frank and Anna as well as Barbara’s parents. Upon arriving in the US they had four daughters Helen, Amelia, Lillian, (Albina) Mary, and two sons Alfred B. and Theodore Shimek.
Over the years Joseph Shimek seemed to be a man of many hats. I was able to find him through newspapers, annual reports and census records as being an ice plant worker, a bank teller, into the milling business, dealer in general merchandise, City Clerk of Cuba, a tuba player, a newspaper publisher of the Cuba Daylight, business manager of The Union Pilot, and probably many more things.
Joseph was a man of many talents so when he decided in the early 1900s that he would build a large home on a big plot of land, it’s safe to assume he had the funds for it. Newspapers told of J.J. Shimek erecting a brand new stone house on his farm north of Cuba in 1901.
The Shimeck House is a large native limestone house that is two stories tall and has twelve rooms for the large family and maybe a worker or two. The Shimek’s entrusted their home to a Czech stonemason named Joseph (Joe) J. Baxa and a Czech carpenter with the last name Hulka. Charles Campbell was hired to finish work on the house.
The house was a backdrop for daughter Amelia’s beautiful wedding to Clarence Sissell in 1908. All their friends and family gathered at the farm and showered the couple with gifts.
Throughout the years they often rented the Shimek House and surrounding land to numerous different families. In 1910, Frank Stepanek and his family moved onto the farm and left in 1911 to move to the John Brown Farm. Newspapers told of John Davidson moving out to the farm in 1914 as well.
But in 1915 Joseph Shimek and his family decided to move to Narka, Kansas and make the city their new home. He sold off his stock and planned to focus all his attention on his store in Narka. This, thought to be a permanent move, ended up being temporary with the family moving back to the property in 1927. It is assumed that the property was rented out for the years in between.
After Joe’s passing in late 1930, his wife was often jumping around and the property was again rented out in 1935 to the C.F. Bostelman family. But it was officially sold to Edward W. Shulda and his wife in 1937. It was then somewhat known as the Shulda Farm.
The Shulda’s sold the property to Ed and Barbara Popelka in 1969. The Popelkas never lived in the house, but they rented it to Ralph and Helen West in the 1970s for about a year or two. Upon their moving in the home had already been vacant for some time and was in a state of needing attention. Helen, in an effort to spruce it up, painted and installed wallpaper to the home. “The house was so cold in the winter,” she said of her reason for moving out of the house. “We needed to find another place where we wouldn’t freeze to death.”
Many commenters recounted memories of the house,” Thats where my grandma would get fresh cream, eggs, and chickens. No running water inside just a pitcher pump in the kitchen. Boyd Whitlock and his wife and son lived there.”
The Wests were the last to live in the home before it became vacant and now time and mother nature have taken over as residents, leaving their lasting mark on the limestone home, best known as the Shimek House.
Gallery Below of Shimek House
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122592240/amelia-belle-sissell
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122592304/barbara_shimek
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122592273/joseph-j-shimek
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Land_of_the_Post_Rock/kwR6AAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=j+j+shimek&pg=PA110&printsec=frontcover
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/15100:2494?tid=&pid=&queryId=f3d18c5f-48ae-453a-a70c-e17305225f92&_phsrc=hNk54&_phstart=successSource
https://www.newspapers.com/image/427062287/?terms=j.j.%20shimek&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/427062202/?terms=j.j.%20shimek&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/427061673/?terms=j.j.%20shimek&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/369043551/?terms=j.j.%20shimek&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/427068226/?terms=j.j.%20shimek&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/369975798/?terms=%22j.j.%20shimek%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/369748874/?terms=j.j.%20shimek&match=1
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/113237333/joseph_j_baxa
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/16456970:1002?tid=&pid=&queryId=5daa4583-432e-47d0-b421-2b6d0ac03eb1&_phsrc=hNk58&_phstart=successSource
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/28291284:6482?tid=&pid=&queryId=5daa4583-432e-47d0-b421-2b6d0ac03eb1&_phsrc=hNk58&_phstart=successSource
https://www.newspapers.com/image/374633443/?terms=%22shimek%20house%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/369748874/?terms=j.j.%20shimek&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/25344923/?terms=shimek%20farm&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/25346142/?terms=j.j.%20shimek&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/369394297/?terms=shimek%20farm&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/369442444/?terms=j.j.%20shimek&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/11420086/?terms=j.j.%20shimek&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/10889573/?terms=barbara%20shimek&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/11262521/?terms=j.j.%20shimek&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/12639347/?terms=%22shimek%20farm%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/12067775/?terms=shulda%20farm&match=1
Shimek House Shimek House Shimek House Shimek House Shimek House
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I don’t think I’m actually related but very cool to share the name.
I go by this house every time I go to the national cemetery by Narka. I have always wondered about this place. Thank You for posting the information.
Beautiful!