Our first stop, like in so many Kansas towns, was at the Strengthen the Arm of Liberty Statue. The statue is one of many throughout the United States. They were created by the Boy Scouts of America, and this one stands right in front of the scout building. You can read more about Pratt’s statue here.
B-29 All Veterans Memorial – The memorial is located on the former Pratt Army Airfield. The base’s mission was to train B-29 “Superfortress” bomber crews.
The memorial has three military fighters.
The jets included the McDonnell Douglas F-4C “Phantom II,” the Northrop AT-38B “Talon” and a Bell AH-1F Cobra Helicopter.
If it wasn’t 100+ degrees, we would have checked out the walking tour of the area. Which includes a museum located in the base’s original parachute building. The museum is dedicated to the role Pratt played during World War II.
On the same campus are the Norden Bombsight Storage Vaults. They were used as a safe and secure place to store classified documents during the war.
Pratt County Historical Museum– Jeremy and I showed later than we expected, and only had about half an hour to see the place. We did not get to spend the time we wanted and agreed that we would need to return and leave more time for browsing. This is a more comprehensive story on the Museum.
Hot/Cold Water Towers – There are many towns that have recreated this idea of two water towers, but this is likely the original. The story goes that vandals painted the towers in 1956 as a joke. The city has maintained the towers since the mid-fifties. The towers themselves are a little older, they were built in 1901 and 1909.
All the pictures I see are taken from the other side of the towers. But I really liked the framing of the homes and the trees from this angle.
One more fun nugget. A stop at Donald’s Serva-teria Smorgasbord. As a fan of Route 66’s landmarks, this one would fit right in, if only it was on 66. The restaurant was closed at the time, they only serve from 6am to 2pm. Which is probably a good thing, since we are watching our diets. The Serva-teria opened in 1957. I hope we can go through Pratt after dark sometime, I would love to get a picture with the sign’s neon glowing.
