In 1931 Wabaunsee County constructed a new courthouse on the block bordered by 2nd Street, and 3rd Street, Iowa Street to Kansas Avenue in Alma, Kansas. The county had levied a one-mill […]
Construction of the Wabaunsee County Courthouse, 1931
Volland, Then and Now
Photographer and graphic artist, Tom Parish has created a collection of Volland, Kansas “re-photographs” which merge the images from historic photos with those taken today. Parish uses early Otto Kratzer photos from […]
Freedom’s Frontier: Stories from the Western Border
Freedom’s Frontier: Stories from the Western Border is an exhibition of photographs, maps, and images introducing the public to the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area and how the Wabaunsee County region’s history […]
Mount Mitchell Heritage Prairie Park
– by Michael Stubbs – The Mount Mitchell Heritage Prairie Preserve is a 50-acre hilltop prairie dedicated to Captain William Mitchell and the Connecticut Kansas Colony. Located three miles south of Wamego […]
Alma’s Oldest Building, Palenske Hall
The oldest surviving building in Alma, Kansas is today known as Palenske Hall, named after Fred Palenske, the benefactor of the Wabaunsee County Historical Society. The building was built in 1873 for […]
WCHS Completes Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board Grant
Greg Hoots, of the Wabaunsee County Historical Society has completed work on his grant project, Preserving Memories: Digitizing History, which digitizes over 400 photographs and manuscripts belonging to Alma photographer and businessman, […]
Paxico
A Tale of Three Towns: Old Paxico, Newbury and Paxico By Doug Hiegert The land we know as Kansas, along with most of the Central Plains in 1850, was unorganized territory with various […]
McFarland
Located in the beautiful Mill Creek Valley, McFarland was founded by S.H. Fairfield in June of 1887. The town was platted at the junction point where the Rock Island Railroad branched Northwest […]
Maple Hill
The name “Maple Hill” was coined by Isabella (Bourassa) Higganbotham, who was appointed the settlement’s first postmaster on May 1, 1862, providing mail service to the few families in the area. Maple […]
Lake Wabaunsee
Learn more about the story of Lake Wabaunsee by clicking the link below: The Early History of Lake Wabaunsee: 1933-1945
Wabaunsee County Historical Society and Museum 