Touring the south
Cheryl Unruh - Emporia
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
THE TOWN OF Sharon (pop. 200) has a grocery store, a cute little library and a tiny city jail built in 1900.
In the shadow of Sharon’s water tower you’ll find a playground and picnic tables. On the huge metal archway, flanked by two cardinals (school mascot), are the words: Martina McBride Park, Sharon, Kansas, 2006.
Dave and I visited the hometown of country recording artist Martina McBride on a recent multi-city tour of south-central Kansas. A great find in Sharon was a mostly buried old McCormick tractor in a residential side yard. Rising through the lawn are the steering wheel, tops of the rear tires, and the hood with its exhaust pipe and air intake. Apparently they run their tractors into the ground in Sharon.
Little towns have mysteries such as this. And I don’t always want to know the answers; my mind likes to wander through the possibilities.
In Anthony (pop. 2,302), you’ll find Ken’s Diner, a sharply-painted building in red, white and black. Although Ken’s is no longer in business (it’s for sale), the building is a piece of Kansas history. It’s a 10-seat Valentine Diner, one of many built in Wichita in the ’30s and ’40s, but it’s very small and not for the claustrophobic.
After Sept. 11, 2001, the community of Anthony made a connection with the family of a fallen New York City firefighter and his firefighting brothers at Engine 88, Ladder Co. 38. As a result of this bond formed through tragedy, the town created a Sept. 11 memorial featuring steel beams salvaged from the World Trade Center.
I’m a fan of George P. Washburn courthouses. Built in the early 1900s, these are stately buildings. Washburn kept his roofs busy with turrets and clock towers. His courthouses are all gorgeous structures, but the Harper County Courthouse in Anthony shines with architectural glory, well, as much as brick and limestone can shine.
The 1908 Anthony courthouse has a red tile roof with lady justice balancing the scales from high atop the working clock tower. That clock chimed at 2 p.m.
The courthouse was closed on a Saturday, but from the outside it appeared to be beautifully maintained and stands on a well-groomed lawn. A law enforcement building takes up one corner of the square, but didn’t seem to detract from the magnificence of the courthouse. Other county offices had expanded to nearby downtown buildings.
At Hillbilly Jill’s we enjoyed a late lunch — chicken and noodles served over real mashed potatoes. Also there for a meal was U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran who said he had been to Anthony Downs for a ceremony recognizing their 105th (and likely last) year of racing.
Anthony, as you may have heard, experienced a tragic downtown fire on July 8 which destroyed nearly a block’s worth of downtown businesses. Many of the historic buildings were gutted and I was sad to such a loss in this small town.
Meanwhile, the community is working to restore the 1936 Anthony Theatre. Next to the art deco theatre, in support of the building fund, is a collection point for aluminum cans. T-shirts are also being sold to raise money. A restoration grant has been awarded from the Kansas Heritage Trust Fund.
On to Freeport. This is the smallest incorporated city in Kansas. Over the years, the population declined from eight to six, and now apparently there are only two permanent residents. The town was quiet during our visit.
Service hours were over for the morning, but the post office lobby in Freeport was open for mailbox access. Walking into the narrow room, I stepped back 60 or 70 years. The post office had sliding wooden windows at the service counter and the cast iron mailboxes were each embossed with bold letters, U.S.
This fall the Freeport Presbyterian Church will celebrate its 125th anniversary.
Next up, Argonia (pop. 500). A billboard mural pays tribute to the first woman mayor in the United States: Susanna Madora Salter. And, thanks to Marci Penner’s “The Kansas Guidebook for Explorers,” we were able to locate Salter’s grave in the cemetery.
Argonia has a walkway leading from town to the Chikaskia River. It’s a half-mile sidewalk running under the shelter of trees. The walkway goes past the rodeo grounds, campgrounds and picnic area alongside the river.
In every small Kansas town I’ve been in I’ve made at least one great find. This state offers splendid driving adventures, town after town after town.
“Flyover People” is online at www.flyoverpeople.net. Cheryl Unruh can be reached at cheryl@flyoverpeople.net.
reddog (K. B. Thomas Jr.) says...
cheryl keep up the good work. your adventures are wonderful and keep them coming.
August 4, 2009 at 11:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cheryl (anonymous) says...
Why thank you, reddog!
August 5, 2009 at 12:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )