Category: Our Museum
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Hidden Cellar Discovered Beneath Museum Annex
Recently, while maintenance was underway in the Wabaunsee County Historical Society’s annex building, located at 223 S. Missouri Street in Alma, Kansas, a hidden underground cellar or “cave” was discovered under the annex floor. The cave, built of laid limestone, featured an arched-ceiling design and included a long stone staircase which led from the inside…
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Louis Palenske Archives Presented on Kansasmemory.org
The digitized photos and manuscripts of Alma photographer Louis Palenske have been included in the Kansas State Historical Society’s digital archives and presented on their website, Kansasmemory.org. The collection represents 390 new items for the KSHS website, and can be viewed as a group through this link: http://www.kansasmemory.org/locate.php?categories=13479-13484-11928-12854& The photos and documents were digitized through a…
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At The Museum: The “Beecher Bible” Sharps Model 1852 Carbine
The Sharps rifle was invented by Christian Sharps who obtained a patent for a new design of a breech-loading rifle. Sharps, born in Washington, New Jersey worked as an apprentice to a gunsmith as a youth, and in the 1830s he went to work at Harpers Ferry Arsenal, studying under Captain John H. Hall, the…
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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 and stories are tied to those of national importance. Designed as a large timeline, the display brings to life the local stories of…
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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, Louis Palenske. The project funds the digitization work which includes the creation of high-resolution scans of photographs and manuscripts and the placement of…