Kansas Backroads


The few.  The proud.  The Kansas backroads drivers.

Because there are things like this to see...



I could tell you where it is, but then I'd have to kill you.  Just kidding, it's near Beloit, KS.

How much emptier my life would be if I hadn't seen that happy, somewhat creepy, old barn.  The birds like it.  The llama likes it.  I need one.  In fact, I need birds and llamas too.  Why not?  Happy barns make you want all of those things.

Farther down the road is Cawker City, Kansas, where we thought there was a pretty good possibility of being eaten by Zombies.  Nonetheless, we risked our lives to get of the car and behold the world's biggest ball of twine.

Would have been totally worth fighting Zombies for.

Cawker City's population peaked at 2,000 back in 1880, but there are still some residents living there today.  It's a deserted looking, yet somewhat humorous town, and even though most of the buildings appear to be abandoned, they all sport hilarious paintings in the windows, each one depicting its own ball of twine.  Gotta love that the town's website says, "Cawker City is a small town with around 600 people, but still has all of the qualities you would expect in a town."  Yep.  That about sums it up.

 

The real reason for taking the backroads that day was to visit the historic town of Nicodemus.  Nicodemus is the oldest and only remaining African American town west of the Mississippi River and exhibits the involvement of African Americans in the settlement of the Plains after the Civil War.

 

 

Once the Civil War ended, Kansas seemed appealing to many freed slaves for its "soil washed by the blood of humanitarians for the cause of freedom." (S.L. Johnson, 1879).  People came to Kansas with big hopes of abundant farm land, but when they arrived, they found a harsh prairie life awaiting them.  Nonetheless, Nicodemus was settled in 1877 and thrived for many years until the railway bypassed them in 1888.

 

A.M.E. Church

If you look closely on the front of the building, you can find a brick proving this building was once the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church.

 

Less than 50 people reside in the town of Nicodemus now, and there isn't all that much left to look at, but the history is rich and interesting.  It was fun just to picture this town 135 or so years earlier, but even the buildings that remain are near collapse, and there doesn't seem to be much hope of resurrection.

 

Nicodemus school

 

We already know how much I love Colby for its I-70 Oasis,  but a little farther off the road is the rockin' Thomas County Courthouse.  It's purdy.  I made Mark pull over so I could stand in the middle of the street and take a picture.  You can do that on the backroads.  Stand in the middle of the street, that is.

 

Thomas County Courthouse, 1906.

AND, this 24' x 32' Van Gogh replica has been standing tall in Goodland, Kansas since 2002.  You can see it from I-70.  Mark and I knew it was our chance to see that baby up close.  Yep, it's big.  Real big.

Painted by Cameron Cross as part of his Van Gogh Project.

 

 Kansas, you're funny.  I heart you sometimes.  I'm so glad Mark and I took the "long way" that day.  Now, off to Colorado...