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History and Development

Construction Work in Full Swing at Sugar Valley Lakes
October 1974

Under the bright colored maple leaves in the hilly terrain south of Mound City, Kansas, construction equipment moves at a rapid pace across the 1200 acre land development, Sugar Valley Lakes. Five lakes and a golf course will dot the area that has already developed into one of the largest private land developments in the state. A contract of nearly $400,000 was awarded to Caylor Brothers Construction Company of Ottawa, Kansas, for the construction of several small lakes and the large 85 acre body of water. Already, a 2 acre lake has been completed, and work has started on 7, 9, and 3 acre lakes, with expected completion dates on the small bodies of water set in December.

The first land for the development was purchased in 1965 by two Kansas City men wanting a place to hunt. Dr. Charles Workman and Homer Bittiker are responsible for starting and making the development into one of the largest businesses in this area, with a payroll at $6,000 a week and still climbing.

Mr. Bittiker and Dr. Workman are owners of Sugar Valley Development Company, Inc., which is the managing partner in the Sugar Valley Lakes partnership. The overall partnership includes 8 investors, one being engineer Bill Jonas, Jonas Engineering, of Pleasanton, Kansas. Mr. Bittiker is the president of the Sugar Valley Development Company, Inc., and acts as overall manager of the project. Last year, Sugar Valley Lakes purchased the Nations' interest in Hidden Valley Lakes, 300 acres 4 miles west of Mapleton, Kansas. Other owners in Hidden Valley are Victor Clark and Ronald Weir, both of Mound City.

Curt Heide, project sales manager, is in charge of 11 salesmen in selling individual lots at Sugar Valley and Hidden Valley. The sales office is a remodeled farm home south of Mound City on Highway 7. The lot sales is by direct mail, with an average of 15,000 pieces of mail being distributed in major cities every week. The mailing areas are within a 150 mile radius of the property. Buyers have to tour the property in person so the disclosure act of HUD can be met. With less than two years of selling the wooded property, more than 1100 lots have been sold, crossing the multi-million dollar mark.

The development is divided into an area for mobile homes and vacation homes. All of the development is platted into lots and registered with the Federal Housing and Urban Development Authority in Washington. The 1100 lot owners have formed a Homes Association that is responsible for maintaining the building and sanitation standards of the development. There are 32 miles of roads planned for the development, with 12 miles already constructed. Along with the lakes, a 9 hole golf course is being prepared, with seeding planned for next fall and open to lot owners in 1976.

Source: Mound City Republic, October 24, 1974, microfilm,
located at the Linn County Historical Society, Pleasanton, Kansas.
Date researched: March 15, 2002.