Flint Hills Welcome
Native marble from Lyon County used for new signs on highways
By Brandy Nance
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
On Monday, in the midst of tall grass and rolling hills and with a summer breeze teasing long blades of grass, a monument made of about 25 tons of marble was erected along the Kansas Turnpike, marking the entrance to the Flint Hills prairie.
The monument will greet visitors to the premiere Kansas landscape and will reads“Welcome to the Flint Hills.”
Bob Davis of Pyramid Stone is the force behind the marker erected at mile post 119. The marble comes from a large quarry west of Olpe owned by Davis through Pyramid Stone. He said he located the marble while exploring the land.
“It’ll be beautiful,” Davis said as he stood in the marker’s shadow. “It’ll be really nice.”
The finished monuments will have landscaping around the base and they will be lit at night.
Because of its weight, the monument had to be assembled in three sections. Davis, a Lyon County commissioner, supervised the placement of the three sections on Monday. The three sections were hoisted onto a large platform by a front loader and then glued together with an epoxy compound.
The monument, about eight miles southwest from the turnpike’s Emporia’s interchange, is one of four that will be placed around the Flint Hills. The second will be erected today at mile post 85 on the turnpike, southwest of Cassoday. The other two will be on Interstate 70 — one west of Topeka and one east of Junction City.
The large stones were hauled to the turnpike on a flatbed truck. Upon close examination, fossils can be seen throughout the marble.
Davis said he worked with the Kansas Department of Transportation to get the monuments placed along the highways. The work was subcontracted through Beachner Construction of Pittsburg.