Enterprise

 

Enterprise is a bustling town of around 700 just a few miles south of I-70 and a few miles east of Abilene. It has a library, shops, a gunsmith, and a bar downtown. The bar made me smile, because Carrie Nation and her temperance ladies wrecked a saloon here back in 1901.

The railroad has been influential in the development of Enterprise, and it still runs through here on the north side of town.

Also on the north side of town is the Hoffman Grist Mill, which we toured. It's a cool little place, built in 2016 as a reproduction of an 1800s grist mill. It's even built near the site of an early mill that was built by Christian Hoffman in 1868. It was funded by Hoffman's last surviving descendant. We enjoyed the tour and came away with some ground whole-berry wheat flour!

You can take a look at some historic pictures on the town's website.

Pearl

There's not left of Pearl - just a grain elevator surrounded by some nice farms and plentiful cattle. 

This excellent article by Amy Feigley of the Dickinson County Historical Society tells the history of the town, its beginnings in the 1860s and 1870s, its early prosperity, and its slow decline. This paper by Ethan Riggs provides more information, along with old photos. 

It's a sobering reminder that all human toil ultimately ends up the same way, but also a testament to the good things that can happen in the meantime.

Lyona

Lyona is not much more than a historic church and a cemetery. The church, founded in 1859, was the oldest in the United Methodist Kansas West Conference. It had a post office for a while, but that was closed in 1888.

In the cemetery, we were delighted to see a statue of a dog. We were a little sad that it was missing one of its legs, but I guess that's as good a metaphor as any for the transience of worldly things.

Woodbine

In Woodbine, we saw a mural, a grain elevator, and a number of small businesses. It also has a number of community events, as you can read about on the town's website.

The town was founded as Lyons in 1871, named after a nearby creek, but was renamed to Woodbine in 1887 when the railroad came through.

Some other points of interest: 

• There were several cars in front of Brigitte's Country Cafe
• An old school (closed by consolidation) has an army tank in front of it
• There are lots of houses with porches (in various states of repair)
• One house had a fence and cattleshed out in the yard, with a couple of cow skulls hanging over the shed door. ("I've heard of horses, horses, bury all your horses, but I guess these are people who do that with cows?" said one of the kids)
• A park
• A lovely stone United Methodist Church building
• A library!

Navarre

Navarre was largely destroyed by a fire in 1939 and never truly recovered. However, it still has a grain elevator, a community center, and a fire station. There are a number of old buildings on Main Street, some falling apart. Many homes in the town are in good repair, though. 

We really liked the uniquely painted propane tanks and mailbox we saw while passing through.

The town was founded in 1887 by German Brethren. The Navarre Church of the Brethren served as an anchor of the community for many years, but it stopped meeting in 2001. Today, the only physical reminder of it is the church building's bell, which has been placed in the cemetery.

Times have clearly been tough here in Navarre, but the town continues holding on. 

Hope

We'd been hoping for a good place to use the restroom, and Hope (motto: There will always be HOPE in Kansas) certainly did not disappoint us in this matter. They have a nice, big park with clean restrooms, and we were so happy to use them that we stood in the chilly drizzle to get a family selfie. (Of course, it took several attempts to get one we liked.)

It's a fairly typical rural town, with a mix of homes, some well-maintained, and others in disrepair. Some yards have a lot of stuff in them.

We were excited to see a Statue of Liberty next to some freedom-loving Hoper's porch, and Matthew, still on the lookout for Bigfoot silhouettes, alerted us, "Hey, guys, look! A Bigfoot with a gun!"

Dwight Eisenhower's father, David, lived in Hope for a while in the 1870s-1880s. There's still a grain elevator, gas station, and a K-12 public school. 

Herington

Herington is a fair-sized town for central Kansas, with over 2,000 residents. We came here because of a fairly cheap hotel where we could stay after our friend's musical in Marion. The next morning, we explored.

On the edge of town, the kids noticed a number of "box houses," which were actually mobile homes. We also saw a number of other houses, mostly modest, aging, and pretty well-maintained. 

We saw one house with LOTS of bikes in the yard, to which I remarked, "Wow, those people must love bikes."

"Or hate them," Magen replied.

The downtown is pretty lively, with Ralph and Izzy's Coffee Shop, the old Dilley Bros. Baking Co. building which has been turned into Pike's Body Shop, and several other businesses. The town has a swimming pool that was built in 1937, as well as a really nice park, a pond, and some fairgrounds. There's a historical society near the fairgrounds.

Broadway is an aptly named street that has a grassy median between the lanes. Probably the broadest way we've seen in a Kansas town. Also on Broadway, we saw a Carnegie library in excellent shape, as well as an old, rundown Masonic Lodge and an equally decrepit Presbyterian church. 

Just down Broadway from those buildings, we saw a lovely mural on the side of a combination Family Dollar / Dollar Tree store. It struck me as a strangely perfect metaphor for the complicated histories and futures of little towns like this one.

Though the modern town was founded in 1887, this is also the place where Father Juan de Padilla was killed in 1542 by Wichita Indians, who apparently did not enjoy being proselytized very much. There's a memorial to him in Father Padilla Memorial Park, near the swimming pool.

In addition to a medical center and a number of shops, Herington has a lake and a reservoir, for those who love the life aquatic. It is also the western terminus of the Flint Hills Trail.

Chapman

Chapman was our next stop. By the time we got there, the boys were a bit tired and hungry. They also had to go to the bathroom, which is something of a chronic condition in our family.

Chapman is the most Irish town on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. (Maybe even on either side.) Everything there was green. There's a fighting leprechaun on the side of the grain elevator. The street names are Irish. The town website is Irish. In short, it is a Very Irish Town.

Right as we pulled into town, a train went by the grain elevator. This was, needless to say, a huge plus for us, though our eldest did not appreciate the noise.

We had lunch at Tossed 'N' Sauced, a fun little local place downtown. The pizza was good, and we had a fun stop there. We also used the bathroom. Several times.

Finally, with full bellies and empty bladders, we continued on our way.