July 22 - 24, 2021:
I travel route 50 west crossing into Kansas and heading for Ottawa, Kansas. I find Ottawa to be a very attractive town with the entire Main Street area on the National Historic Register.
I head first to the Ottawa Old Depot Museum, built in 1888, which is a huge impressive stone building. Ottawa was a division point for the Southern Kansas Railway, forerunner to the Santa Fe Railroad and a prominent transportation hub for a century. The museum has a mix of railroad artifacts, a really great model train layout and much local Ottawa historical information.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa,_Kansas
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| Beautiful stone Old Depot Museum |
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| Tin ceiling and antique light fixtures |
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| Household items from a former cigar store owners home |
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| Very interesting ice cream advertisement |
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| The Ottawa Engine manufactured in Ottawa |
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| Local artist was famous for these comical post cards |
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| Munsee Indian tribe originally from the East |
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| An eloquent speech by the chief |
The Franklin County Courthouse on Main Street is a one of the most beautiful Court Houses I have seen and there are several other victorian age buildings of note. There is also a Carnegie Library now converted into a cultural Center. The Plaza Cinema on Main Street claims to be the oldest continuously operated cinema in the world, that's a hard one to believe ? This entire block on Main Street is a designated as a National Historic district.
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| The Plaza Cinema |
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| Beautiful trim work |
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| The "Butterfly Man" deserves to be remembered, see mural below |
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| Beautiful mural on dispensary building |
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| The Not Lost Brewing Company |
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| Great Indian statue in front of the Courthouse |
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| The amazing Franklin County Courthouse built in 1893 |
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| Downtown view |
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| The Grain Elevator |
After overnighting at the Walmart, I visit a car wash, clean my solar panels and leave town after a few more photos on Main Street in better light.
I am on route 50 west heading for Emporia, Kansas about 50 miles away. I make a couple of stops at Williamsburg and at Lebo to explore, they are both small, but with a few points of interest.
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| Old Bank building in Lebo, Kansas |
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| Lebo mural |
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| Williamsburg, Kansas building, love the painted windows and doors |
I arrive at Emporia about 2 PM and explore Main Street with the beautiful Granada Theater being the highpoint. I stop in a information center where the attendant recommends a about a dozen attractions to me. I pass on the nearby history museum, I’m a little overdosed on them today, instead I visit a antique store but find nothing of interest. I stop at the town library to use the internet, a daily occurrence, then more downtown photos and then go to Radius Brewing Company where I get a good dinner and a couple of brews. I go searching for the old train depot, find an old locomotive in a track side park, but no depot, I believe that is the location, but the depot is gone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emporia,_Kansas
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| Downtown view |
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| The beautiful Granada Theater |
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| It was open so I wandered in |
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| Quite impressive ! |
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| The Bourbon Cowboy looks to be the local college hangout |
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Hopefully this building will be saved
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| As I am waiting for the train to cross |
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| Another interesting building |
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| Steam Locomotive in town park |
I overnight at the Flying J truck stop, big mistake, Diesel trucks without trailers are in auto area idling all night, it’s hot, dirty, noisy and congested.
In the morning I head on route 50 east to Cotton Falls and Strong City both with something of interest. Strong City is a railroad town with a large depot now converted into their Town Hall. There is a farm mill in town with several large semi trailers driving in making clouds of dust. The side streets here are limestone chips are very dusty. Also a freight train comes through then stops down the track creating much traffic buildup at the crossing gates. The downtown is very depressed but there are a couple of interesting old structures.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strong_City,_Kansas
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| The Flint Hills of Kansas are unique in many ways |
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| The former Strong City Train Depot |
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| That's my route |
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| Strong City remains a railroad town with the tracks coming across Main Street |
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| Jake's late 1930's Ford sitting on a downtown corner |
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| The Uptown Theater is looking stark |
I then travel a couple miles away to Cottonwood Falls which is a beautiful small town with a main street lined with beautiful old victorian buildings and the very beautiful Chase County Court House. I stop in a museum, was actually surprised they were open on Saturday, and found some good stuff and had an interesting talk with the woman working there about her brother, a former pro rodeo bull rider and the controversy here over the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottonwood_Falls,_Kansas
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| The beautiful Chase County Courthouse built in 1875 |
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| An imposing sight seen when looking down the brick lined Main Street |
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| Truly a landmark of distinction ! |
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| The Chase County Historical Museum with Knute Rockne's car |
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| Knute was a legedary football coach who died in a nearby plane crash |
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| Legendary enough to have a car named for him |
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| An interesting license plate |
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| Marjorie is also legendary in other circles |
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| She did it all on a horse |
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| Another beautiful small town |
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| Bridge with old Santa Fe railroad signage |
I then visit the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve with very informative information on the Prairie, the geology, the wildlife and history. It was hot, in the 90’s but I still took a 2 mile hike along one of their trails to get a prairie view, there wasn’t much in bloom at this time, but it was scenic. They have lots of miles of trails, but it is walking trails only, no bikes allowed. I’m not a bike person, but I thought the no bike thing to be a little extreme.
https://www.nps.gov/tapr/index.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallgrass_Prairie_National_Preserve
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| How the Flint Hills were named |
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| Once covering 170 million acres got my attention |
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| The prominent native grasses |
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| Everywhere you look there are limestone rocks |
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| A view from the preserve trail |
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| Impressive stone barn at the Spring Hill Ranch site, local stone was plentiful |
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| The ranch house was equally impressive |
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| The fine woodwork throughout the house caught my eye |
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| Not your typical ranch house |
I then drive to my destination, Council Grove which was a major supply spot during the Santa Fe Trail period. It also had a Kaw Indian Mission to educate Kaw children which wasn’t very effective. Council Grove has an attractive Main Street with several great victorian buildings, in particular the impressive Farmers and Drovers Bank. They also have a very nice downtown river park and trail. There are a number of historic houses from the Santa Fe Trail days such as the oldest stone house which is now the Trail Days Cafe and Museum. I stopping in for dinner, it had many historic photos and information and the owner, cook, waiter and historian (He does it all) told several interesting stories while dining, very charming.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_Grove,_Kansas
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| Welcome to historic Council Grove on the Santa Fe Trail |
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| Council Grove has always been a crossroads of history |
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| The impressive Farmers and Drovers Bank |
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| Close up view |
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| Across the street is another former bank building, now a Book Store |
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| Front view |
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| Seth Hays was a pioneer business man in Council Grove |
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| Another town that glorifies the Indians whose land they took away |
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| A statue in the town park of a Kaw Indian man |
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| Another sad story |
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| Chief Allegawaho was correct |
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| The Mission was a failure |
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| An impressive school building, one of the finest in town |
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| The Trail Days Cafe and Museum was great |
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| The oldest stone building in town |
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| Mural in the Post office |
In the evening I stopped in the one bar in town that appeared to be open, BG's Bar and Grill, to find a Karaoke session in progress. It’s a small place and it was packed with mostly unattractive people who could not sing but had much joy doing it. I sometimes wish I could be like that. The woman in front of me getting a drink, heavy set with a large tattoo on her shoulder, picked up the shot glass and downed it right at the bar, The bar maid (a rather attractive young lady) smiled on seeing that as did I. The woman then sat down and started texting on her phone at lightning speed with her thumbs (like most facebook addicts do).
This town has lots of history, but virtually no night life or entertainment. These small rural towns are like that, there is nothing to do, it’s easy to understand how young people want to leave.
I overnight in a quiet parking lot behind Main Street.
Next stop will be Great Bend, Kansas.
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