Leaving El Dorado we followed old Highway 54 across Kansas. The trip was not very fast because there are a lot of agricultural businesses along the road and the road winds through a number of small picturesque communities; however, the drive was actually quite pleasant and a nice change from the Interstate Freeways that we typically travel on during a vacation.
In Eureka we drove down Main Street to look at the old historic buildings and learned that Greenwood County is the "Grand Princess of the Prairie, Center of Everything." Well, now I can say that I've been to the "Center of Everything."
The Greenwood Preservation Society is restoring old buildings in the County and the Eureka Hotel is now open for special occasions. The "Big House" (now a sports bar and grill) is just down the street and one block off of Main Street is the old historic Christian Church that was established in 1862 and later combined with another church to become what is now know as the Christian and Congregational Church. And yes, they still ring the church bells on Sunday morning.
A little farther down the road we came to Yates Center, "The Hay Capital of the World." I'm not quite sure how Yates Center became the "Hay Capital of the World," as I remember mowing some really large hay fields in South Dakota when I was growing up on the farm. Anyway, Yates Center has a beautiful town square with a central courthouse surrounded by brick streets and quaint shops.
Downtown Iola has some unique architecture and the town is also the boyhood home of General Funston. In the 1800s Funston explored the Arctic and then returned 1500 miles down the Yukon by canoe. He ventured to Latin America and served with Cuban Insurgents before fighting in the Spanish-American War. In 1901 he captured the commander of the Filipino Army, for which he received a Congressional Medal of Honor, and at 35 years of age he was promoted to Brigadier General in the regular army. In 1914 he was made a Major General and commanded Vera Cruz as the military Governor. In 1917 he died at the age of 51.
The town of Fort Scott is located near the eastern border of Kansas and is the location of historic Fort Scott and the first U.S. National Cemetery. Fort Scott was established in 1842 and is the only Mexican War era fort in the National Park System. Although the Fort was abandoned in 1873, the buildings and site were purchased by local residents for other uses. The National Park Service purchased the site and buildings in 1978 and restored the Fort to it original design.
At the turn of the century, the site was used to produce bricks and had a production rate of 100,000 bricks per week. Consequently, there are still 14 miles of paved streets in Fort Scott that were laid with bricks made at the site. Some of the bricks were also used in construction of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and some Fort Scott bricks were used in construction of the Panama Canal.
The town of Fort Scott is also know for holding three Guinness World Records. One record is for laying the fastest mile of pennies in the World (2 hours, 23 minutes, and 1 second), the second was set by a local resident that ate the most McDonald Quarter Pounder Cheeseburgers in 3 minutes, and the last was for the longest continual line of coins being laid (the line stretched 40.32 miles).
The local Visitor's Center offers 50-minute narrated trolley tours of the area for a small fee, which includes a drive-by of numerous restored Victorian homes and mansions, the U.S. National Cemetery, some of the 20 historic Fort Scott buildings, the parade grounds, and five acres of restored tallgrass prairie. The trolley driver has an amazing knowledge of historical dates and events, which makes the trip even more enjoyable. Fort Scott was definitely worth a stop.
No comments:
Post a Comment