Road Trip: North Central Kansas
Work sent me to north central Kansas… a part of the state I had somehow managed to ignore. Not intentionally, it just never made the rotation. That streak officially ended.
On the way to Hanover, I made a few stops. As it turns out, this stretch of Kansas does not shout for attention… it just quietly waits for you to notice.
Blue Rapids
The town square is not a square at all. It is round, which feels like a quiet rebellion against geometry. No complaints here. It works.
I lucked into the museum on a day it is usually closed when a volunteer opened the doors and gave me a personal tour. Those are the moments you cannot plan and usually end up being the best part of the day.
The first thing I saw took a direct swing at my ego… a display of toys from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. My toys. Including the MAD Magazine board game, which I still own. Apparently I am no longer current. I am a curated experience.
There is a great nod to the band Kansas, who played the high school prom here in 1971, a few years before their debut album in 1974. Not a bad origin story. You can almost picture it… gym floor, folding chairs, and a future classic rock band just getting warmed up.
One of the most creative exhibits is a collection of suitcases. Each one holds the photos and documents of a different family. At first glance it looks like luggage stacked for a trip. Spend a minute with it and you realize it is a stack of lives, packed and carried forward.
There is also a display tied to the Ice Age movies. At first it feels a little random. Then you step outside later and it all clicks into place.
The town proudly notes that in 1913 it hosted a Major League Baseball game featuring the New York Giants and the Chicago White Sox. That is the kind of sentence you do not expect to write about a small Kansas town… but here we are, and it is fantastic.
A wall of framed photos tells the stories of everyday people. Not famous, not in textbooks… just lives well lived. One that stuck with me was James A. Death, who graduated high school at ten, served in the Ohio Volunteer Cavalry starting in 1862, and later held several civic roles in Blue Rapids before his death in 1903. That is a full life by any standard. Proof that every name has a story if someone takes the time to tell it.
One more favorite… a member of the 1953 championship football team had everyone sign a pair of his shoes. They are on display next to a photo of his grandson holding them. That is how history should feel… not distant, not polished… just personal.
Holm Cabin
Just down the street sits the Holm Cabin, built in 1872 by Swedish immigrants Frank and Augusta Sjoholm.
Six of their eight children were born inside that small space, which is hard to wrap your head around when you step inside. The family eventually shortened their name to Holm to make life easier, which feels like a very practical bit of history.
The cabin was moved downtown in 1996 to preserve it, and it still carries that quiet, steady presence… like it has seen enough and does not need to prove anything.
Ice Age Monument
Here is where things take a turn into deep time.
The monument is built with Sioux Quartzite, some of the oldest rock in Kansas at over 1.5 billion years old. That number does not even feel real.
Long before us, this area was home to mammoths, mastodons, giant ground sloths, oversized armadillos, bison, saber toothed cats, and even camels. Yes, camels. Kansas had a wild phase and clearly no one was keeping minutes.
Historical Marker
The marker features a pitcher and batter frozen in silhouette, like they are still waiting on the first pitch more than a century later.
It is a nice reminder that for one day in 1913, Blue Rapids was basically the center of the baseball universe… population small, but the lineup was major league.
Waterville
Waterville greets you with a charming train station and a collection of murals scattered through downtown. It is the kind of place that feels like it would be a nice stop even if you did not have a reason.
Weaver Hotel
The main attraction is the Weaver Hotel. It was closed when I arrived, which felt like one of those near misses… but on the way out I ran into the manager and just like that, I had a tour.
Built in 1905 by Herman Schmidt and restored in 2005, it blends old charm with modern comfort in a way that actually works.
The wooden staircase alone deserves a moment. You do not rush past it.
Downstairs, there is also a collection of Native American artifacts worth a look, adding another layer to the story of the building.
Marysville
For years I mixed up Marysville, Kansas and Olney, Illinois. One is the White Squirrel Capital, the other the Black Squirrel Capital. Marysville is team black. I finally locked it in by alphabet… Marysville comes before Olney, black comes before white. It is not scientific, but it sticks.
The town leans all the way in with a parade of painted black squirrel statues around downtown. Each one is different and surprisingly detailed. You can tell people have fun with it. The real squirrels trace back to 1912 when a traveling carnival brought them to town. They have been the official mascot since 1972 and are protected by law, so no… you cannot take one home. I also could not find one on this trip. The squirrels won this round. I assume they always do.
Marshall County Museum
I arrived at 3:45. It closed at 4:00. What followed was a fast walk that probably looked like a historical speed run with occasional stops for staring.
Even at that pace, a few things stood out.
The building itself is beautiful in a slightly eerie way… like it knows more than it is telling and is fine keeping a few secrets.
I spotted a reference to Vliets School, a name familiar from Wichita, which immediately sent me down a mental rabbit hole that I did not have time to fully explore.
There is also a display about a rope ferry that once carried people across the river. A full size replica now sits in the park, which is a nice reminder that getting across town used to be a little more adventurous.
The courtroom inside the museum is all carved wood and detail… the kind of room that makes you lower your voice without anyone asking you to.
And a fun surprise… Marysville once had seven cigar factories. Seven. Cigarettes took over in the 1920s and the cigar business faded, but for a while this town was rolling in a very literal sense.
One more stop… a gift shop called Reflections sits on the site of the very first Montgomery Ward retail store. Before this, it was all catalog. Here, you could finally walk in and see the goods, even if you still ordered them. Monkey Wards, as it was lovingly called, lasted until 2000. That little corner of retail history feels bigger than it looks.
Pony Express
Marysville also played its part in the Pony Express. A life sized statue downtown honors the riders, sculpted by Richard Bergen.
It is a fitting tribute to a place that clearly enjoys keeping its stories in motion. Bergen’s name might sound familiar.
He also created the Ad Astra statue on the capitol in Topeka and the Heritage Woman in Wichita.
Hanover
Moving on to Hanover for the Pony Express Museum.
I was working and did not get a chance to check out the Visitor Center, but I did have time to walk through the Hollenberg Pony Express Station. It is a sturdy 1858 cottonwood building that somehow managed to be a family home, shop, tavern, and Pony Express stop all at once.
Riders would swap horses and grab a bit of sleep in the loft before heading back out. Built by Gerat H. Hollenberg along major westward trails, it briefly served the Pony Express and the Butterfield Overland Mail before becoming part of a growing town he helped found. The structure still stands in its original spot and shape, which feels like a small miracle. It was later used as a farmstead until the state preserved it in 1941, and thankfully so.
Washington, KS
On the way home, I made one more stop in Washington to grab photos of one of the Strengthen the Arm of Liberty statues. There are 25 of them across Kansas, and they are always worth seeking out.
There is also a powerful sculpture dedicated to Washington native Mark Nutsch. He served in the Army and became a Green Beret.
During Operation Enduring Freedom, he led local leaders and their militias behind enemy lines in Afghanistan.
He received multiple honors, including the Bronze Star. The statue includes lapis lazuli from northeast Afghanistan and even a piece of concrete and steel from the World Trade Center. It is one of those memorials that makes you stop for a minute.
Finally, I stopped at the Washington County Historical Museum. One of the volunteers gave me a short but excellent tour of the buildings.
Among the artifacts was a display of recipe books from different eras, which is such a simple and perfect way to tell a story. The museum is well organized, with different areas covering daily life in Washington over time.
An entire room is dedicated to one person’s collection of cameras, ranging from early Brownies to film projectors. I was impressed. They also had an old movie theater projector, which I was able to walk my hostess through. For a brief moment, I felt like part of the exhibit.
There is also an original horn used by Pony Express riders. They would blow it as they approached the station so the next rider would be ready to go the second the mail arrived. No delays. Just motion.
To find out about other great roads trips and some interesting history. Check out the links.
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