422 Norris Ave. - This home of the McCook Gazette from 1926 to 1966 will forever be known as “The Gazette Building.” On this site, publisher Harry Strunk built The Gazette, in what was then the smallest community in America to have a daily newspaper. Strunk wrote, “Service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy in this world,” which became the paper’s masthead and emblazoned the credo on the front of the building.  

Strunk and The Gazette continued to pay rent forward and formed the Republican Valley Conservation Association, which was the advocate for flood control and irrigation after the 1935 Republican River flood.  

Through Strunk’s effort and persistence, RVCA successfully created river dams in Eastern Colorado, Northwest Kansas, and Southwest Nebraska, making the Republican River the most developed stream in America. 

The Gazette moved to its new location a block away in 1966 but continues to publish today with new businesses occupying the original Gazette location.