The Kansas Historic Sites Board of Review, Topeka, voted February 9 to forward 14 nominations to the Office of the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C., to be evaluated by its professional staff. If staff members concur with the board’s findings, the properties will be included in the National Register.
The National Register of Historic Places is the country’s official list of historically significant properties.
Below are summaries of the nominations in western Kansas:
National Register of Historic Places
Oakley High School Stadium – 118 W 7th Street, Oakley, Logan County
The construction of Oakley High School Stadium in 1938 was financed through the New Deal-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) and has hosted football games and track meets since its completion in 1939. Lewis Mershon was the lead builder and used a team of unskilled WPA laborers made up of financially struggling local farmers. The limestone and concrete stadium faces a standard 100-yard football field with natural grass surface encircled by a 400-meter track and includes two locker rooms, restrooms, a tornado shelter, and outdoor bleacher seating. It exhibits symmetry, vertical and horizontal lines, and rounded features, all of which gives it a WPA Moderne appearance. The stadium was first used on October 6, 1939 for the first home football game of the season between the Oakley Plainsmen and the Colby Eagles. Although the local newspaper reminded readers that Oakley had defeated Colby “seven times in the last eleven years,” the Plainsmen were “trounced” by the “powerful” Eagles. It is nominated as part of the New Deal-era Resources of Kansas multiple property submission for its local significance in the areas of recreation, government, and architecture.
Harry Keith Barn – ¼ mile E of 200th Avenue on M Road, Penokee, Graham County
The Harry Keith Barn is located south of Penokee in Graham County and was built in October 1940 by farmer Harry Keith with the help of his brothers and neighbors. Situated within a landscape of rolling agricultural fields and century-old cottonwood trees along nearby Brush Creek, the barn is built into a hillside and features an iconic gambrel roof. The barn’s lower level functioned as a place to house and feed livestock and milk cattle, and the upper level served as hay and grain storage. The surrounding farmstead includes a few remaining outbuildings. Adjacent to the barn is an Aermotor windmill, likely the 702 model, which was first manufactured by the Aermotor Company of Chicago in 1933, along with a reservoir that holds 4,000 gallons of water. The Keith Barn is nominated to the National Register as part of the Agriculture-Related Resources of Kansas multiple property nomination for its local significance in the areas of agriculture and architecture.
Boot Hill Museum – 500 Wyatt Earp Boulevard, Dodge City, Ford County
Dodge City’s livelihood has long depended upon its ability to reinvent itself. It was born of the Santa Fe Trail, developed with the coming of the Santa Fe Railroad, and looked to the New Santa Fe Trail – Highway 50 – for renewal. While Dodge City was remaking itself, the entertainment industry was capitalizing on its place in American popular culture – as the stereotypical Wild West town. While the protagonists of dime novels, movies, and television series like Gunsmoke’s Matt Dillon were telling bad guys to “get the heck out of Dodge,” tourists flocked to the legendary town. By the mid-20th century, the city’s efforts to live down its rowdy past were overwhelmed by the potential for capitalizing on it. Locals had been advocating for a Boot Hill museum as early as the 1920s, but it wasn’t until after the 1939 world premiere of the movie Dodge City, which firmly placed the town within the popular culture lexicon, that the city commission issued bonds to begin construction. The site developed in stages and was largely complete by 1964. Boot Hill Museum is nominated as part of the Roadside Kansas multiple property nomination for its significance in the areas of entertainment and education as a mid-20th century museum that interprets Dodge City’s history as a cowtown and for its association with the local tourism industry.
Dodge City Municipal Building – 501 W Spruce Street, Dodge City, Ford County
The Dodge City Municipal Building was designed by Mann and Company, Architects and Engineers of Hutchinson, and constructed in 1929 by contractor J.N. Parham. Built to house municipal offices, a police station, and a fire station, the building is characterized by a unique design incorporating both Mediterranean and Modern influences. It is centrally located adjacent and north of the Boot Hill Museum and occupies a corner lot in downtown Dodge City. The site also contains three commemorative markers, a statue of a cowboy, and two Corinthian column lamp posts. It is nominated for its local significance in the areas of government, social history, and architecture.
Santa Fe Trail – Ford County Segment 2 (Fowler’s Ruts) – Ford vicinity, Ford County
The Santa Fe Trail – Ford County Segment 2, also known as Fowler’s Ruts, was part of the Wet Route of the Santa Fe Trail in Kansas from 1821 until 1867. During a period of tension between Mexico and the Republic of Texas in 1843, this segment was used by the First US dragoons, under the command of Captain Philip St. George Cooke, as they escorted a Santa Fe-bound caravan. Cooke and the dragoons forded the Arkansas River near this site to accept the surrender of Colonel Jacob Snively and his “Texas Invincibles.” Between 1849 and 1869, this trail segment and its associated spring also saw use by travelers heading to Wyoming along the Cherokee Trail. This trail segment is nominated for its significance in the areas of transportation, military, and commerce and for its potential to yield archeological information.