Researching all that Wichita has to offer and knowing we had only 2 days to play tourist, we selected to visit the Old Cowtown Museum and the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.
We found the Old Cowtown Museum to be a great way to spend a leisure afternoon strolling the wooden boardwalks of recreated "old town" Wichita. These old buildings have been collected, assembled and restored to give the look and feel of what it may have been like in 1870's Wichita. Amazingly many of these old structures have been restored back to their original appearance. Also found within the buildings were period furnishings and accessories. With pandemic restrictions in place, structures you were allowed entry had limited occupancies of only 2 or 3 people at a time. While we were visiting Old Cowtown, we saw maybe 20 or so other tourists. We pretty much had the place to ourselves.
This 50-foot tall Arkansas Valley Scale House and Grain Elevator, restored back to its original 1912 working order, is a good example of grain elevators of that era.
The Murdock House, built in 1874 and also restored back to its original appearance, was built and owned by Marshall M. Murdock. He was the founder and editor of the Wichita City Eagle Newspaper.
Period furnishings of the Murdock House: living room, kitchen and the house facade.
The Old Cowtown Museum consists of 54 historic and recreated buildings, all situated along the Arkansas River. Twenty-seven of these are original buildings from Wichita and the surrounding Kansas area.
We discovered a recreated version of the Marshal's Office with info on Wyatt Earp. He was employed as a policeman here from 1875-1876. This particular building was created in 1961.
This General Store in Old Cowtown was built in 1884. It was originally operated as the A.K. Masters General Store in Garden Plains, Kansas. This building was moved here in 1965.
The DeVore Farm located a short walking distance outside of the Cowtown Preserve had a more rural feel due to its location. The dwelling was built by Homer Smith in 1884. The house was moved to Cowtown in 1990.
This rustic cabin is The Munger House. Built in 1868 by Darius Munger of Topeka it is considered to be the first substantial building constructed in Wichita. He was sent to Wichita to create the town and this building served to be the core of the original platted town. The logs are hand-hewn cottonwood and there are original sections of plaster in the upstairs area. Because of Munger's role in developing the town, this building (his home) served as a Post Office, an official meeting place and a Justice of the Peace Office.
The Visitor Center explains that there are several varieties of tall grasses growing on the plains and it's the fall season you find the tallest grasses. There's even a contest for elementary school students to enter their tallest grass discovery. Because we are here in late spring the grass is only about as tall as my mid calf. The Tallgrass Prairie once covered over 170 million acres of North America, now only about 4% of it remains. This Preserve consists of about 11,000 acres.
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This old school house can be found just up the road from the Visitor Center. It is also a part of the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Built in 1882, the Lower Fox Creek School served the surrounding community. Throughout its existence it housed an average of 1-19 students. It closed its doors in 1930. What we see here has been restored and also includes period furnishings.
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Our visit on this day happens to be unusually warm so we opt not to do any of the hiking trails through the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve but to enjoy our picnic lunch in the cool air conditioned Jeep. I did make a walk on a spur trail out behind the Lower Fox Creek School to capture these photos of the Tallgrass prairie.
Also included on the grounds of the Tallgrass National Prairie Preserve is the Spring Hill Farm and Stock Ranch. We decided not to walk the Farm grounds this day but to enjoy it as a quick drive by. I'm sure it must be an amazing sight to view the interior. As noted on the National Park's website owner Stephen F. Jones only used the highest quality of stone and the most skilled carpenters found in the state of Kansas. This building was constructed in 1881.
I grabbed a couple more glances of the Lower Fox Creek School as we drove away.
More Later from Laramie, Wyoming.
Unfortunately our motorhome has a cracked windshield.
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