By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
On the map: U.S. Highway 36 Norton to St. Francis Distance from Hays: 189 miles Drive time: 3 hours
I can’t really call my latest adventure in northwest Kansas a Day Trip.
My nephew and I were on our way to Denver for the an extended weekend and decided to take the scenic route. However, you could complete our U.S. Highway 36 odyssey from Hays to St. Francis in a day if you wished. Diverting from the usual route to Denver, we turned off Interstate 70 at WaKeeney and headed north on U.S. 283.
Norton
Although you pass through Hill City and very close to Nicodemus, which is just west of Hill City on U.S. Highway 24, our first stop was in Norton.
For such a small community, Norton has done much to preserve its historic architecture. Forty-four properties in the downtown are part of the Norton Downtown Historic District, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Three gas stations from the 1920s and 1930s have been restored in downtown Norton. All three are on the National Register of Historic Places. The 1934 Kent Filling Station was donated to Norton County and houses the Norton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Norton City/County Economic Development and Norton Area Chamber of Commerce.
We stopped into the office and someone from economic development loaded us up with information on history, attractions and businesses in the county and all along the U.S. 36 corridor. The Underwood Conoco Station, Main and First, circa 1928, is still used as a garage by a local classic car enthusiast, and the Sinclair Station, circa 1925, Washington and First, is used as an office building. The Norton County Courthouse, built in 1929, is also on the NRHP.
The historic Heaton Building, built in 1906, 112 S. Kansas, was recently restored. It houses retail businesses and a coffee shop on its lower floor and offices upstairs. It has beautiful skylights on the second floor. Also in the historic district is the Norton Theatre, built in 1906. The stucco building still has its original green marquee. Today it is run by volunteers.
Destination Kitchen, 115 Main, is filled with kitchen gadgets and premium cookware. They serve lunch in the back, which includes sandwiches, soups and brick oven pizza. The city of Norton was under a boil water advisory during our visit, so we decided to press on to Oberlin for lunch.
A couple of doors down from the Destination Kitchen is “They Also Ran” Gallery. If you don’t pay attention, you will miss it because it is located on the upper floor of First State Bank. The gallery includes photos and information on all the major candidates who ran and lost their bids for U.S. President. You will likely recognize many names on the walls as people who at some time later won a bid for the country’s highest office.
However, there are also those who tried, tried again, tried yet again and still never had political success, such as Henry Clay who ran repeatedly from 1924 to 1948 for president and was never elected. Two native sons of Kansas are among the also ran. Republican Sen. Bob Dole lost to Bill Clinton in 1996 and Republican and former Kansas Gov. Alf Landon lost to Franklin Roosevelt in 1936 in a landslide. Landon won only two states and neither was his home state of Kansas. Admission is free. Donations are accepted.
The bank also has a number of Frederic Remington sculptures, among them a cowboy on horseback in the main lobby. Remington was noted for his vivid bronze depictions of life in the Wild West.
The Pike’s Peak Express stagecoach once stopped in what is today Norton on its run from Leavenworth to Denver. A replica of Station 15 on the line offers a self-guided tour to see what the station would have looked like circa 1859. William Russell, partner in the Pike’s Peak Express, later was a partner in the Pony Express. According to information on Station 15, William Bonney Sr. was a station manager on the line and William Bonney Jr. AKA “Billy the Kid” was born in one of the line’s stations.
Prairie Dog State Park
Prairie Dog State Park is four miles west of Norton on U.S. 36. Just inside the park entrance is a prairie dog town. You can pull off and take pictures or just observe in a shaded picnic area. Prairie dogs have been historically thought of as vermin by farmers and ranchers, but biologists believe the animals are essential to the prairie ecosystem, turning soil with their burrows and channeling water into the water table. I think they have a high cuteness factor. My nephew was excited to have the opportunity to see the animals for the first time in the wild. A set of binoculars or a telephoto lens will help you get a better look.
Keith Sebelius Reservoir at the park also offers fishing, walk-in hunting, nature trails, water recreation and camping. You will need a state park permit to enter the park. Day permits run $5 per vehicle.
U.S. 36 runs from Indianapolis to Denver, including the entire length of Kansas. We did not stop there, but there is a U.S. Highway 36 Museum in Norcatur, 15 miles west of Norton. The museum is in a former bank and seeks to preserve the history of the highway and the U.S. 36 Association, which was formed in 1913. The association sponsors an annual garage sale during the third week of September that runs 400 miles from border to border. This year it will be Sept. 14-16.
Oberlin
Hungry, we were looking for an interesting place to eat in Oberlin, and we found it. We stopped at the Teller Room Restaurant/ Landmark Inn, 189 S. Penn. The 1886 brick bank, which is on the NRHP, serves lunch during the week and dinner on the weekends on the ground floor and has suites on the second floor. The menu changes daily. My nephew and I enjoyed quiche with fresh fruit and toast. The formal setting of the restored bank building had my 13-year-old nephew displaying high manners, including a napkin in his lap.
Stroll under the covered canopies downtown to explore a variety of shops and antique stores. As you drive through the community note the barn quilts in residents’ yards. A tour list is available at area business. The Teller Room had information the day we were there.
The Decatur County Last Indian Raid Museum is an extensive network of historic buildings chuck full of artifacts from the community. The name pays homage to the last known Native American raid in the area in 1878. Cheyenne Chiefs Dull Knife and Little Wolf were fleeing their Oklahoma reservations, seeking to return to the Black Hills. The raid left 19 settlers dead. A monument to those settlers who died in the raid is at the Oberlin Cemetery just off U.S. 36. Admission to the museum is through donation.
If you are in Oberlin during the first week of August, you can attend the longest-running home-owned carnival in Kansas. The carnival has a Ferris wheel and other spinning rides.
A nice photo op is the pioneer sculpture in the middle of Penn St. It was created in 1971 by Hays native Pete Felten.
St. Francis
My brother-in-law has been a long-time Harley owner, so my nephew deemed a stop at the St. Francis Motorcycle Museum, 110 E. Washington, a must. The museum houses more than 115 motorcycles, including rare early Harleys and Indians.
The museum exhibits one of only two known 1902 Orient motorcycles—the earliest manufacturer to use the term “motorcycle.” The museum also houses 30 motorcycles older than 1929 (several of which only five or fewer are known to exist), according to its website. The museum is open seven days a week. Admission is a $7 suggested donation.
Parched from the road, we stopped in Fresh Seven Coffee at Union Square, 312 W. Washington. This coffee house started as a food truck and now is in an enclosed space that is reminiscent of a backyard patio with graffiti art on the concrete ways and brick pavers on the floor. Fresh Seven serves breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as cocktails. Find more on this quirky little coffee shop on the High Plains on Facebook.
Other stops of note in St. Francis are Sawhill Park, which contains a band shell that was constructed by the WPA. It is on the National Register of Historic Paces. The Cheyenne County Courthouse, 212 Washington, is also on the NRHP. The Quincy Gallery and Cheyenne Center for Creativity, 109 N. Quincy, features local and regional artists.
Philip and I’s original intent was to travel up to the Arikaree Breaks, which run north of St. Francis into Nebraska. However, we were tired and decided to press on to Denver. The breaks are sometimes referred to as Kansas’s grand canyon. You will encounter dry-weather roads. Maps are available at the Cheyenne County Museum in St Francis.
West from St. Francis on U.S. 36 a mile and a half and then north on U.S. Highway 27 is the Cherry Creek Encampment. The site was a place of assembly for Native Americans after a massacre of Cheyenne at Sand Creek on Nov. 29, 1864. Members of the Cheyenne, Sioux, and Northern Arapahoes gathered and formed an estimated group of 1,000 warriors to attack Julesburg on the South Platte River in retaliation. They attacked the stage station there on Jan. 7, 1865, and returned to Cherry Creek with plundered supplies to celebrate their victory. Today metal sculptures by Tobe Zweygardt mark the spot.
My next trip will be to Wilson Lake and the City of Wilson to explore Czech heritage in Kansas. See you on the road!
Other links to check out while you are planning your trip:
Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism