:1.&6:1.-:1.96:1. Eisenhower Museum at Abilene GEoRGE DocKING Governor KANSAS CENTENNIAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS MAURICE E. FAGER Chairman Colorful pageantry and exciting special events in recreational facilities in hundreds of spots JoHN MoNTGOMERY each of the one hundred five counties . Hun- Picturesque and scenic drives One hun­ Vice-chairman Mns. FnANK HAucKE dreds of fairs, rodeos and other outdoor attractions dred forty roadside parks, modern highways and a Vice-chairman Elaborate stage shows and spectaculars new turnpike for the convenience of the motoring JACK HARRIS Vice-chairman . Old trail re-enactments . Special art public Some three hundred fifty historic MISS BARBARA ALDRICH and historical exhibits . Swimming, boating, sites, museums and other points of interest . Secretary LAWRENCE SMITH fishing and picnicking at forty-one state lakes and Relive the romance and color of the old west in Treasurer seven federal reservoirs Golfing and other Kansas! Mns. LOis BARRETT AnnEN BooTH FRIENDLY KANSAS INVITES YOU TO ITS FESTIVE, YEAR-LONG BIRTHDAY PARTY IN 19611 F. w. BRINKERHOFF R. A. CLYMER COMPILED BY KANSAS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Mns. MAx JoNES Sm Knoss z. AnTHUR NEVINS, Jn. DoN PHILLIPS GEo. W. STANLEY HE history of the state of Kansas a pleasant one. As this book will State Executive Director T tells a story of people who have point out, Kansas has many attractions RoGER D. KIRKWOOD met cheerfully and courageously the -scenic, recreational, historical, and many problems confronting a growth industrial-which you will want to see. in one hundred years from a section of Plan to visit some of these attrac­ Whether you come for a day, a few country inhabited only by a small tions, and sample the friendly spirit days, or to make Kansas your perma­ number of nomadic tribesmen to the of the people of Kansas, where there nent home, we welcome you and hope great civilization we have today. is still time and space to relax. Enjoy Many hands have co-operated to the rolling hills of eastern Kansas; the produce this guide book of interesting upland pastures and wheatlands of places in Kansas, and likewise, many central Kansas; the great sweep of the hands are ready to co-operate in mak­ high plains to the west; the roadside 'ii;"Zi ing your visit to the Sunflower State parks, lakes and streams. George Docking, Governor -------- ------------- THE KANSAS SCENE is far more varied than it may seem to the casual visitor. The elevation rises from about 700 feet above sea level in southeastern Kansas to more than 4,000 feet Meadowlark, state bird Sunflower, state flower Cottonwood, stale tree Buffalo, state animal near the western border. The surface changes from the gently rolling landscape of eastern Kansas , , to the upland pastureland of 4,200 wholesale establishments. Total per­ and gravel. TRANSPORTATION. Kansas holds the Flint Hills . to areas distinguished sonal incomes of Kansans are now approxi­ second place in the nation in rural highway by cliffs and canyons . and finally to mately $4 billion annually. MANUFACTURING. mileage, and third place in total highway the high plains of the western part of the state. Rising upon Kansas' fertile and mineral-rich and city street mileage. Kansas ranks fifth in Fourteenth in area ( 82,276 square miles) soil is a growing industrial empire which al­ the United S'tates in railway mileage, with among the states, Kansas is "Midway U.S. A." ready lists more than 3,500 plants turning out 8,700 miles of track owned by sixteen railroad "Home on the Range," composed in 1872 by thousands of products ranging from glass companies. More than 1,700 motor vehicle Dr. Brewster Higley and Dan Kelley near Smith fibers to bombers. Kansas ranked fourth in common carriers operate some 800 interstate Center, is the official state song. The name the nation in percentage increase of manufac­ routes in Kansas, and over 1,000 intrastate "Kansas" originated from a Siouan Indian word turing employment from 1947 to 1954, fourth routes. Five airlines serve the state, and loosely translated "swift or south wind." Kan­ in manufacturing payrolls gain, and fifth in Kansas has a network of 191 airports, 107 of sas is popularly known as the "Sunflower" state, increase of value added by manufacture. In which are fully attended and operationally or the "Jayhawker" state. PEOPLE. Kansas' 1958 manufacturing industries in Kansas em­ active fields. The state ranks eleventh in the population passed the 2 million mark in 1952, ployed an average of about 115,000 persons. nation in ownership of personal aircraft. Three and in 1958 the estimated population of the MINERALS. Mineral production in Kansas in Kansas cities-Atchison, Leavenworth, and state had reached 2,100,665. From 1950 to 1958 had an estimated value of $516.4 million, Kansas City-are served by barge transporta­ 1956 Kansas showed the largest percentage the third highest year on record. Tenth in tion on the Missouri river from April to No­ gain in population ( 10.4 percent) in the seven the nation in mineral production, Kansas has vember each year. AGRICULTURE. Bread­ West North Central States, according to the twenty-two basic minerals in commercial pro­ basket of the world, Kansas is the nation's U. S. Bureau of the Census. There are 105 duction, with five others available for produc­ leading wheat state, producing about one-fifth counties, 613 incorporated cities, and approxi­ tion. Petroleum is the state's greatest mineral of the country's supply. Kansas agriculture, mately 120,000 farms and ranches. About asset. Kansas ranks fifth in the nation in pro­ however, is varied and diversified. The state 404,000 pupils are enrolled in Kansas public duction of crude oil, which in 1957 amounted has about 50 million acres in farmland and schools, and approximately 42,500 students to an estimated 124 million barrels with a pasture. Total farm value of all crops pro­ are registered in forty-three institutions of value of $378.7 million. Production of nat­ duced in Kansas in 1958 was more than $821.6 higher learning. TRADE AND BUSINESS. Kan­ ural gas, the second leading mineral, amounted million, while livestock and poultry produc­ sas retail trade totaled over $2.8 billion in to 580.7 billion cubic feet in 1957, valued at tion had an additional value of $494.7 million. 1958, and has exceeded the $2 billion mark $59.1 million, and placed Kansas sixth in na­ In addition to wheat, the state's leading crops each year since 1950. Retail, wholesale, and tional rank. Other important minerals com­ include corn, oats, barley, alfalfa and other service establishments now employ about 188,- mercially produced in Kansas include natural forage, grain sorghums, flax, soybeans, potatoes, 400 persons. There are more than 25,000 gasoline and liquefied petroleum gases, ce­ sugar beets, apples and other fruits. Kansas retail establishments in Kansas, and about ment, coal, zink, lead, stone, salt, clay, sand livestock is the primary market for Kansas crops. 2 became well known for independent patterns of thought. To the Spanish-American War Kansas sent four regiments and hero General Funston. Kansas furnished more than its quota in World War I, and in World War II 230,000 Kansans saw service. IN THIS GUIDE BOOK, the state has been divided into six areas, At the beginning of each area is a map showing highways, cities and towns of the section. Major tourist sites not located in a city are also indicated on the map. The cities of each region are listed alphabetically, followed by a code lettel·-num­ ber referring to the letters and numbers on the margin of the area maps. These symbols also coincide with the letters and numbers on "They crossed the prame as of old the Pil­ the official state highway map published by grims crossed the sea, to make the West, as the Kansas State Highway Commission. they the East, the homestead of the free!" Following the location code is a number in­ dicating the population of each town or city, as reported by County Assessors March 1, 1958, to the Union. During the Civil War, Kansas The story of Kansas begins 79 years before and published by the Kansas State Board of was plagued by Indian uprisings in the west the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. Coro­ Agriculture. nado rode north from Mexico as far as central and guerrilla warfare in the east. After the Kansas in 1541. Three centuries later William Civil War, the lengthening ribbons of rails This symbol on the maps indicates a Becknell opened the great trade route of the prompted the beginning in 1867 of the Chis­ Roadside Park. Santa Fe Trail which stretched 750 miles from holm .Trail along which long-horned cattle were the Missouri River to Santa Fe, New Mexico, driven from Texas to Abilene to be shipped to GENERAL INDEX ............. Page 63 with 500 miles of it in Kansas. After 1840 the east. As the railroads built west and south, travel increased over the Santa Fe and along Ellsworth, Newton, Hays, Wichita, Caldwell the Oregon and California trails to the west. and Dodge City had their days as wild cow On May 30, 1854, President Pierce signed towns. Then came the settlement of western the Kansas-Nebraska Bill creating the territory Kansas as peace was made with the Indians. of Kansas, thus opening it to white settlement. In 1874, Mennonite emigrants from Russia John Brown, abolitionist, played a conspicuous arrived in central Kansas with their famous Red part in the pre-Civil War border warfare and Turkey hard winter wheat seed which even­ operated his "underground railway" for run­ tually helped to make Kansas the Wheat State.