– By Greg Hoots – For four years in the early 1960s the Flint Hills of Wabaunsee County was home to one of America’s weapons of global destruction, an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile […]
The Cold War in the Flint Hills
The History of the Davis Ranch
– By Greg Hoots – The story of the Z Bar Ranch begins with George H. Davis, born in 1876, the youngest of three children. His father, James Davis, worked for the […]
The Early History of Lake Wabaunsee: 1933-1945
– By Greg Hoots – In 1925 the Kansas Forestry, Fish and Game Commission was formed, and soon that agency began constructing state lakes across Kansas. In Wabaunsee County, a group of […]
Otto Kratzer and His Great Western Adventure
– By Greg Hoots – The dawn of the 20th century found America hungry for motorization. In the 1890s the first powered motorcars were being developed in Europe by German engineers Karl […]
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
Harveyville
Harveyville, Kansas was founded in 1880 by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, who platted the town with the completion of the ATSF-owned Manhattan, Alma & Burlingame Railroad. There had been […]
Eskridge
Eskridge, Kansas was founded in 1869 by Colonel Ephraim. H. Sanford who platted the town built on the rolling prairie of Wilmington Township. Sanford’s town was located at “the Corners”, an […]
Wabaunsee County Historical Society and Museum 