Northwest Kansas Heritage Tour
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Gentle slopes and irrigated fields mark the northwest
corner of the state. Dramatic outcroppings such as Monument Rocks
in Gove County add interest to the scenery. Museums feature fossil
discoveries from the region, prairie art, and a site devoted to
losing presidential candidates.
Towns are listed in alphabetical order, followed by information
on historical attractions. Use our button bar below to go to the
town.
Return to Heritage Tours.
For road maps to each of these sites,
we suggest you use Yahoo!
Maps. |
Rawlins County Historical Museum
County history featuring the Eastern European Roman Catholic families
who settled in the area.
Location:308 State Street
Hours: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., 1:00 - 4:00
p.m. Monday through Friday; Summer only: 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Saturday
Telephone: 785-626-3885
Admission: Free, donations appreciated
No museums currently are listed for Brewster.
Complex on 24-acre site includes largest barn in Kansas, 1930s farmstead,
sod house, school, church, and farm machinery. Also included is the
Kuska collection of over 28,000 artifacts, including glassware, ceramics,
dolls, silver, and textiles.
Location: 1905 S. Franklin Avenue
Hours: April through October: 9:00 a.m. -
5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday;
November through March: closed Mondays
Telephone: 785-462-4590
Admission: $4.00 adults, $1.00 children
Ellis Railroad Museum
Housed in a former city office building the museum features the history
of the Union Pacific railroad.
Location: 911 Washington Street
Hours: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m Monday through
Saturday, 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Sunday
Telephone: 785-726-4493
Admission: $1.00
Before he moved to Wamego, Walter Chrysler lived in this home in Ellis
featuring exhibits on his family and career as an automobile manufacturer.
Location: 102 W. 10th
Hours: May through September: 9:30 a.m. -
4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 12:30 - 4:30 p.m. Sunday; October
through April: 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 12:30
- 4:30 p.m. Sunday
Telephone: 785-726-3636
Admission: $2.00 adults, $1.00 children
High Plains Museum
Prehistoric tools, mastodons, and mammoths provide an introduction
to the museum. The Depression and Dust Bowl exhibits feature life on
the high plains. A push button replica of a 1909-1910 helicopter offers
a whirling experience.
Location: 1717 Cherry
Hours: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (MT) Monday through
Saturday, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Sunday; closed holidays
Telephone: 785-899-4595
Admission: Free, donations appreciated
The 1879 former Presbyterian church features the St. Severin Roman
Catholic Church and the life of the Volga-Germans who settled in the
area.
Location: 100 W. Seventh
Hours: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Tuesday - Friday,
1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Saturday. Closed Sunday - Monday.
Telephone: 785-628-2624
Admission: Free, donations appreciated
An important fort on the Kansas frontier, Fort Hays was the home of
several well-known Indian wars regiments such as the Seventh U.S. Cavalry,
the Fifth U.S. Infantry, and the Tenth U.S. Cavalry, whose black troopers
were better known as buffalo soldiers. Many well-known officers and
well known figures of the day are associated with the post including
Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill Cody, General Nelson Miles, General Philip
Sheridan, and Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.
Location: U.S. Highway 183 Alternate
Hours: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through
Saturday and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Sunday and Monday
Telephone: 785-625-6812
Admission: $3 adults, $2 KSHS members and
seniors, $1 students
Displays highlighting the Cretaceous era, including walk-through diorama
featuring plants and animals from about 80 million years ago (as well
as full-sized robotic dinosaurs and trees) and the giant reptiles and
birds that lived at or in the Kansas sea.
Location: 3000 Sternberg Drive
Hours:
Telephone: 785-628-4286
Admission: $4.00 adults, $2.00 seniors and
children
Displays feature an early-day hardware store in Hoxie--display cases and merchandise from Mickey Hardware store. In 1983, the Bee Hive schoolhouse was moved to the complex, which visitors can view. This location also features genealogical materials for use by researchers and scholars.
Location: 1224 Oak Avenue
Hours: 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m., 1:30-4 p.m. Tuesday - Friday; tours available by appointment only on weekends
Telephone: 785-675-3501
Admission:
Dane Hansen Museum
Japanese art objects and a gun exhibit highlight the collection.
Traveling exhibits from the Smithsonian Institution are displayed four
to six weeks each year.
Location: 110 W. Main
Hours: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 - 4:00
p.m. Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Sunday
Telephone: 785-689-4846
Admission: Free
Uncovered from the surrounding area, the fossils on exhibit include
a 15-foot Cretaceus fish and a Tylosaurus proriger. Local history also
featured.
Location: 700 W. Third Street
Hours: Summer: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (CST)
Monday through Saturday, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. (CST) Sunday; Winter: 9:00
a.m. - 12:00 p.m., 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday
Telephone: 785-672-4839
Admission: Free, donations appreciated
No museums currently are listed for Oberlin.
Cheyenne County Historical Museum
Local history featuring prehistoric mammoths, horses from the Ice Age,
and exhibits on area wildlife.
Location: West U.S. 36
Hours: 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday
Telephone: 785-332-2504
Admission: Free, donations appreciated
No museums currently are listed for Stockton.
An 1885-1896 stone house that served as headquarters for a Kansas sheep
ranch onthe high Plains of northwest Kansas. The Pratt family maintained
elements of their English lifestyle.
Location: Five miles west of Morland on K-24
Hours: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m Wednesday through
Saturday and 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Sunday.
Telephone: 785-627-5866
Admission: $3 adults, $2 KSHS members and
seniors, $1 students
Trego County Historical Museum
Local history featuring early surveying equipment, history of the Kenney
and Warren families who founded the town, and the 1885 Western Kansas
World press.
Location: U.S. 283
Hours: 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Tuesday - Friday,
1:30 - 4:30 p.m. Sunday
Telephone: 785-743-2964
Admission: Free
Visitors are encouraged to call ahead webmaster
to confirm hours, admission, and holiday schedules. To request that
your museum be added to this listing, contact our .
 Check Blue Skyways' Kansas
Museums page for more sites around the state. See also Link
to Kansas for virtual tours of heritage sites.
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