Touring Kansas

Stories and Photos by Marie Nolan

Anytime is a good time to get out and explore Kansas. Each week during the summer KSAL's Marie Nolan visits a community in the area to tell you some of the things you can see there.

THE AMAZING LEBOLD MANSION
“Celebrating 125 years in Abilene”

	Audio Clip
Marie Nolan
Report from Abilene.

Over 100 years ago, the Lebold Mansion in Abilene was built to be one of the finest homes West of Topeka, and it hasn't lost that title yet! The five story home was built in 1880. One of the current owners, Gary Yuschalk

Dream Room Sponsors & Prizes, says the house is very unique not just to Abilene, but to the entire country, because it is a Tuscan Villa made of stone, which is very rare. The house was built for Conrad Lebold, a banker and real-estate developer in Abilene. While they didn't have many photographs of the inside of the house to refer to, Yuschalk says they are trying to re-create what it would have looked like. He says a wealthy family living next to the railroad would have been able to acquire anything for the home from all over the world. The Lebold Mansion is currently undergoing restoration work that should be complete within a year. Yuschalk says the Lebold Mansion is getting national acclaim. Victorian Homes Magazine recently did a feature on the house, and people are coming out to see the exciting things going on at the mansion. You can find the Amazing Lebold Mansion at the corner of 1st and Vine Streets in Abilene. Tours are available Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Contact Info:
Lebold Mansion
106 North VineAbilene,
KS 67410
785-263-4356
Email: lebold@access-one.com

St. John's Catholic Church

Limestone Catholic Churches are present in many towns in Kansas, but one in Beloit has a distinctive old world charm. St. John's was built in the early 1900's with limestone native to the area but with many European influences. Mitchell County Museum Director Kyle Peterson tells KSAL News one man had a vision of what the church should be like. Msgr. Michael Heitz grew up in France and Germany and patterend the church after one in Alsace-Lorraine in France. He says Heitz saw need for a church in the area. The church has beautiful windows and a lot of religious artwork. The frescoes were all painted by Gonippo Raggi, a mural designer trained in Italy. Not only did he paint the frescoes, Raggi painted two murals on the south wall of the church. In addition to unique artwork and architecture the church also has a special altar. It was placed there in 1906. It is made of Carrara marble from Italy and decorated with African marble. It is the exact replica of an altar that was donated to the French Pope Leo XIII which is in Rome. St. John's Catholic Church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Glasco

Glasco may be home to about 500 people now, but it was a thriving town in the early 1900's. The Glasco Community Foundation formed in 1999 to help tell the story of the town's history and continue to make things better in the future. One of the Board of Directors, Joan Nothern, tells KSAL News one of the first things they did was get the downtown on the National Historic Register. She says the story of Glasco was not fresh in peoples minds and they thought if they could get historical designation it would re-awaken pride and awareness. In 2002 twenty-two buildings were named as a downtown historic district for the period of 1880-1950. While there are a few buildings waiting to be re-developed, a bank, restaurant, saloon, and an authentic soda fountain and gift shop are currently operating. And while the community of Glasco was not able to support a grocery store the Foundation turned it into a community gathering place. The Foundation Corner Store houses the farmer's market and features the artwork and crafts of local artisans. Northern says their goals for the future are to continue to grow the city. She says she would like to see more families move to the area. Glasco is located on Highway 24 and is a part of the Solomon Valley Highway 24 Heritage Alliance.

Trader's Lodge

If you want to get away to the peace and quiet of the country you don't have to go very far. Trader's Lodge Bed and Breakfast near Wells offers a little sanctuary especially to history buffs and hunters. It is owned by Neal and Kay Kindall. Neal tells KSAL News they built the Bed and Breakfast onto their country home in the mid nineties, and set it up to have rustic hunting lodge feel. In addition to a place to sleep, they offer fine dining like you would have found in the 1860's and 1870's. Neal has a hobby making replicas of Indian artifacts and has extensively studied that period of history. He says he recycles agricultural steel plow sheers and the like into knives and tomahawks from the Wild West period. When you stay at Trader's Lodge you can pick your room from four themes. They have a Plains Indian Room, a Southwest Room, a Trappers Room, and a Renaissance Room. Outdoors they have rose gardens and plenty of wildlife in the area. For more information you can visit them online at traderslodge.com.

Richardson Organs in Downs

In the late 70's the Methodist Church in Cawker City decided to build a new church and restore their 1931 pipe organ. Steve Richardson, a local high school student, observed the transformation that changed his life. After studying the craft of building organs in Europe, he returned to Kansas to begin his own organ business, He finds this work combines all of his talents. While he had planned to be an architect when he grew up, he found this combined all his interests including architecture, music, and the technical engineering. Richardson purchased the former First Baptist Church in Downs as his workshop in 1993. That is where he makes the instruments by hand. He says he makes absolutely everything from the carvings to every little individual pipe. Richardson says with so few pipe organs in this part of the country it is somewhat of an oddity to most people who stop by the shop. But he loves teaching people all there is to know about the organ. He says the most important thing that he can do to introduce people to the organ is to give them more knowledge about what is behind the facade. Once people get interested in seeing the inside they appreciate the instrument more. You can stop by Richardson organs and see the master craftsman at work. It is located just off Highway 24 on Morgan Avenue in Downs. Next week we'll head down the Highway to Glen Elder.

The Brown Grand Theatre

Restored to its original 1907 splendor, the 650 seat Brown Grand Theatre now serves as a tourist attraction and performing arts / community center for Concordia and North Central Kansas.

The theatre has two balconies, eight box seats, and features a grand drape, which is a reproduction of a Horace Vernet painting titled, "Napoleon at Austerlitz".

What do Napoleon Bonaparte and the Brown Grand Theatre have in common? This landmark was built by Col. Napoleon Bonaparte Brown in 1906-1907 at a cost of $40,000. Earl Brown, Col. Brown's son, was actually in charge of the construction of the French Renaissance theatre.

Looking down on the stage of the Brown Grand Theatre in Concordia, Kansas.

The original curtain was a gift from Earl Brown to his father on opening night Sept. 17, 1907.

Cloud County, where the Brown Grand Theatre is located in Concordia, Kansas The historic Brown Grand is located at the west end of downtown Concordia in Cloud County.

The Heritage Center of Dickinson County

The Heritage Center of Dickinson County is a unique collection of two in-door museums, that continues on out-the-back-door where you will find actual buildings from around the county, all depicting life on the Plains during the American pioneer movement and westward expansion periods. There is also a nice gift shop, a research center and a 1901 C. W. Parker Carousel.

The Historical Museum depicts life on the plains during the American pioneer movement and westward expansion periods. Exhibits include Indians, pioneers, railroad, agriculture, Victorian and cow-town eras.

The Museum of Independent Telephony recreates the unique flavor of early independent telephone system history with hands-on displays of antique telephones, insulators, switchboards and pay stations.After touring the Historical Museum and Telephony Museum, step out-the-back-door where you will find a Pioneer Community with actual buildings from around the county & the Parker Carousel, a national landmark carousel. You will see a log cabin, barn, store, early day phone office, agriculture equipment, windmill, chickens and more in the out-of-door Museum area.

Before leaving the Heritage Center, stop by the Museum Gift Shop and browse the many books about the area and other gift items.

Tours and Educational Programs are available for tour groups and school groups. Many of the Special Events on the Calendar are open to the public and are hands-on experiences of early day life on the Kansas prairie.

For those wanting to know more about the people who have lived and/or died in Dickinson County, especially those doing family histories, you will want to visit the Center's Research Center which has all the official early day records.

The Heritage Center is operated by the Dickinson County Historical Society, a not-for-profit, membership organization. For more about how to be come apart of the Society, how to volunteer at the Center, about funding and the DCHS Endowment Fund, visit the Society's page.

Hutchinson Cosmosphere

HUTCHINSON, Kan. -- The exhilaration, intrigue, and Cold War competition of the Space Race come alive for a new generation of Americans in the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center newest gallery, the Mollett Early Spaceflight Gallery. Gallery hours are: Monday – Saturday 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. and Sunday noon – 9 p.m. Any single venue of the Cosmosphere, including an IMAX film, is available for: $8 for adults; $7 for Seniors 60+ and children 5 – 12; free for children 4 and under.

Visitors to the 4,000-square-foot Mollett Early Spaceflight Gallery can immerse themselves in the total experience of the Space Race. Standing in a representation of Cape Canaveral’s Titan Rocket Pit, visitors can hear the Mission Control chatter and rocket countdown / launch sequence sounds of Mercury and Gemini launch-day activities. They can climb the gantry next to the engines of the 100-foot Titan rocket that propelled Gemini spacecraft into the stratosphere.

The Smithsonian-affiliated Cosmosphere is the only museum where visitors can view American and Soviet spacecraft side-by-side to compare their features. The gallery houses the actual, flown Gemini X spacecraft, the flown Russian Vostok spacecraft, and an engineering model of the Voskhod, as well as space suits used in the Mercury, Gemini, Vostok and Voskhod programs.

“The Mollett Early Spaceflight Gallery is really an anchor for the entire Hall of Space Museum,” said Cosmosphere President Jeff Ollenburger. “By focusing on the incredible early days of human space exploration, we see the starting point for everything that is happening in space exploration today.” An All-Day Mission Pass allows visitors to enjoy all the venues of the Cosmosphere’s 105,000 square-foot facility, including the Hall of Space Museum, the Justice Planetarium, Dr. Goddard’s Lab, and the Carey IMAX® Dome Theater (the only theater of its kind in the region, with images projected on a three-story dome screen with 270 degrees of surrounding video and sound). All-Day Mission Passes are: $12.50 for adults; $11.50 for Seniors 60+; $10 for children 5 – 12; free for children 4 and under.

TOURING KANSAS WITH MARIE NOLAN

KSAL News 785.823.1111