NEWS

Board nominates Santa Fe Trail sites to national historic register

The Capital-Journal

The Historic Sites Board of Review recently voted to list two properties in the Register of Historic Kansas Places and forward more than 15 nominations to the office of the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places in Washington to be evaluated by their professional staff, according to a news release.

If they concur with the board’s findings, the properties will be included in the National Register.

Twelve of the National Register nominations are the result of a partnership between the Kansas Historical Society and the National Trails System of the National Park Service to document historic resources along the Santa Fe Trail.

The two sites nominated for the Register of Historic Kansas Places are:

— Red Barn Craft Studio, 212 S. Main in Lindsborg.

The Red Barn Craft Studio was used by artist Lester Wilmer Raymer as his studio and residence from 1945 to 1991, and it continues to function as a gallery and museum dedicated to Raymer’s art. Raymer remodeled and transformed the early 20th-century buildings using recycled materials. In addition to the studio, the property includes an early 20th-century residence, a free-standing one-car garage and a shed.

— State Bank of Eudora, 707 Main St. in Eudora.

The small, one-story brick and stone building opened its doors in June 1892. The bank’s first president was Charles Pilla, an immigrant from Bavaria who settled in Eudora in 1865 and opened a general store. The State Bank failed in 1923 and was then used by the Home State Bank and later the Kaw Valley State Bank. The building has an ornate and highly decorative cornice.

Nominations to the National Register of Historic Places include:

— Manweiler-Maupin Chevrolet, 271 S. Main St. in Hoisington.

The Manweiler-Maupin Chevrolet Dealership in downtown Hoisington was constructed in 1944. One of the most unique aspects of the building’s history is the timing of its construction during World War II, when auto assembly had come to a halt as production shifted to the war effort. The building reflects the Streamline Art Moderne style with the curved showroom, rounded corner, use of glass block and horizontal banding around the building.

— Daniel and Maude Walters House, 100 S. Delaware Ave. in Manhattan.

Completed in 1928, the house represents the skilled work of architect Daniel Walters, who modified a standard Craftsman bungalow by incorporating key features of the Tudor Revival style. Walters owned and operated Walters Sand Company and it is likely he oversaw the construction of the house.

— Charles and Elizabeth Haskell French House, 1300 Haskell Ave. in Lawrence.

Charles and Elizabeth Haskell French settled on the outskirts of Lawrence and built this house over many years beginning in 1869. Elizabeth’s brother was architect John Haskell, and he may have played a role in the design and construction of his sister’s house. This gable-front-and-wing dwelling reflects the National Folk house type that was popular in the mid- and late-19th century. National Folk houses were constructed with industrially produced lumber, roofing and nails that were transported on the railroad network.

— Bethany Brethren Church, 121 1st St. in Hamlin, north of Hiawatha.

The development of Hamlin was jump-started by the arrival of the St. Joseph and Grand Island Railroad in the early 1870s. The Brethren was constructed in about 1895 and  attended religious services there until 1948. They sold the property to the local Baptist congregation in 1951, which still owns and occupies the building. The building reflects a vernacular interpretation of the Gothic Revival style executed in wood materials, also commonly referred to as Carpenter Gothic.

—  Miller Farmstead, 2913 K-4 highway in La Crosse.

Frank and Emma Seuser Miller established this farmstead east of La Crosse in 1881. One of the more unique aspects of the Miller Farmstead is the number of buildings and structures that remain — 19 in all. With the exception of a windmill, nothing has been torn down or removed in the property’s history.

— French Frank’s Santa Fe Trail segment  in Marion County.

The property was the location of a ranch established in 1861 by French immigrants Claude Francis “French Frank” Laloge and Peter Martin. The ranch likely offered meals and small provisions to trail travelers and ceased operation in 1866 when trail traffic shifted away from the area. The property includes at least six visible swales and the Cottonwood Holes, a natural amenity noted in trail-era accounts, the site of a former trail-period ranch and a 1907 commemorative marker erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

— Boyd’s Ranch Site and  the Pawnee Fork Crossing in Pawnee County.

The Pawnee Fork Crossing and Boyd’s Ranch were along the 1859 branch of the Dry Route of the Santa Fe Trail, which provided few stops along the way for water. The crossing was used by travelers headed to Fort Larned and by mail wagons and stagecoaches, who preferred the shorter route. A.H. Boyd provided provisions to hunters in the area and built a wooden bridge at the crossing that he turned into a toll bridge.

— Coon Creek Crossing and  Fort Larned Military Road segment  in Garfield.

The Fort Larned Military Road meets the Wet Route of the Santa Fe Trail near this crossing of Coon Creek. The Wet Route, which followed the Arkansas River through this area, was actively used by trail travelers from 1821 to circa 1872. The military road was in use during the years 1859 to circa 1867 and was cut to link Fort Larned to the Wet Route, allowing soldiers to aid and protect travelers along the trail. The site includes cutdowns along the creek’s bank, a trail-related dugout and two sections of trail swales

— Sawlog Creek Crossing on the Fort Hays-Fort Dodge Military Road in Ford County.

The property consists of a nearly unbroken three-mile stretch of intact swales along with a prominent crossing of Sawlog Creek. The Fort Hays-Fort Dodge Road is a good example of a secondary route of the Santa Fe Trail. It connected the two forts that were designed to aid travelers with protection and supplies. During the post-Civil War years, the forts focused heavily on the protection of freighters, travelers and railroad construction crews using the military road.

— Santa Fe Trail–Kearny County segment (Charlie’s Ruts) in Kearny County.

The Santa Fe Trail–Kearny County Segment 1, also known as Charlie’s Ruts or Bentrup’s Ruts, near Deerfield includes 12 intact swales that span approximately 800 feet. Travel over this segment of the trail likely began in 1821 and ended with the arrival of the railroad in 1872.

— Santa Fe Trail–Grant County segment 1 (Klein’s Ruts) in Grant County.

The Santa Fe Trail–Grant County Segment 1, also known as Klein’s Ruts, is part of a nearly 40-mile branch of the Cimarron Route located within the waterless area known as La Jornada and connected the Mountain Route at the Upper Crossing of the Arkansas River near Lakin with the Cimarron Route. The first known use of the Upper Crossing in relation to the trail was during a survey expedition led by George Sibley in 1825. The property includes several visible trail swales where at least 20 shallow ruts converge to form four main arterial ruts.

— Point of Rocks–Middle Spring Santa Fe Trail Historic District in Morton County.

The Point of Rocks–Middle Spring Historic District in Morton County includes multiple remnants of the Cimarron Route. Travel over this segment of the trail began in 1822 and ended with the arrival of the railroad at the Kansas-Colorado state line in 1872. Almost all travelers looking for the water promised at Middle Spring would have used neighboring Point of Rocks as a navigational aid. This large light-colored rock formation with a high flat surface, referred to as Mesa Blanco (white table) by Mexican freighters, could be seen for several miles. The property includes four trail segments, a spring, a natural navigational aid and a later commemorative marker erected in 1914 by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

— Santa Fe Trail–Cimarron National Grassland segments 1-5 in Morton County.

Travel over these segments of the trail began in 1822 and ended with the arrival of the railroad at the Kansas-Colorado state line in 1872. This trail segment is closely related to nearby Point of Rocks and Middle Spring. Traffic in this region historically tended to follow the four-parallel-column formation. The property includes trail swales and two commemorative markers erected in 1907 and 1914 by the Daughters of the American Revolution.