Kansas Trivia & Tidbits - Page 15

Looking for Kansas trivia? Try our list Kansas little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

A replica of the first helicopter patented in the United States, made in 1909 by W.J. Purvis and C.A. Wilson of Goodland (pop. 4,948), is at Goodland’s High Plains Museum.

first appeared: 10/28/2001

The Kansas One-Room School House Project, headquartered at Southwestern College in Winfield (pop. 12,206), maintains a database on nearly 900 past and present one-room schools across the nation.

first appeared: 10/21/2001

The Brookville Hotel in Brookville (pop. 259) served its first meals in 1915 and remains open today as a restaurant. About 90,000 visitors come yearly, mostly for the fried chicken dinners.

first appeared: 10/14/2001

Alf Landon, who grew up in Independence (pop. 9,846), was governor from 1933-37 and ran against Franklin Roosevelt for president in 1936.

first appeared: 10/7/2001

The Prairie Museum of Art and History in Colby (pop. 5,256) was given the 28,000-item collection of Joe and Nellie Kuska in 1975. Among the items were dolls, ceramics, glass, toys, silver, and furniture, which are now on display.

first appeared: 9/30/2001

Waterbeds are used for horses undergoing surgery at Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

first appeared: 9/23/2001

Rolling Hills Refuge Wildlife Conservation Center, near Salina, is a 500-acre haven for about 200 exotic animals, including an Indian rhino, snow leopards, camels, and cheetahs.

first appeared: 9/16/2001

Highland Community College in Highland (pop. 976) was founded in 1853 by the Rev. Samuel Irwin as Highland University and is the oldest college in the state.

first appeared: 9/9/2001

The first oil well west of the Mississippi was drilled in 1892 near Neodesha (pop. 2,848). Norman No. 1 initially produced 12 barrels a day and operated for 26 years.

first appeared: 9/2/2001

The official state amphibian, the barred tiger salamander, is the world’s largest land-dwelling salamander.

first appeared: 8/26/2001

Holding 2.5 million gallons of water, the municipal swimming pool in Garden City (pop. 28,451) is the world’s largest swimming pool.

first appeared: 8/19/2001

The first patented barbed wire, made in 1853, is displayed at the Barbed Wire Museum in La Crosse (pop. 1,133), along with 970 other types of barbed wire.

first appeared: 8/12/2001

The cottonwood, one of the few trees found by people who settled the Great Plains, was adopted as the official state tree in 1937.

first appeared: 8/5/2001

Samuel Perry Dinsmoor used more than 113 tons of concrete to build a “Garden of Eden,” featuring sculptures of biblical characters, around his cabin at Lucas (pop. 436) in the early 20th century.

first appeared: 7/29/2001

Turkey Red Wheat was introduced to Kansas, near Hillsboro (pop. 2,834), in 1874 by Russian Mennonite immigrants, helping turn Kansas into a leading wheat-producing state.

first appeared: 7/22/2001

Russell (pop. 4,654) is home to the state’s newest ethanol plant. The $27 million plant owned by U.S. Energy Partners is scheduled to open later this year and will process 9 million bushes of milo (a grain) and corn into 25 million gallons of ethanol fuel annually.

first appeared: 7/15/2001

Hundreds of names and drawings left by travelers along the Santa Fe Trail have been carved in the red sandstone of Pawnee Rock, near the town of Pawnee Rock (pop. 333), over the years.

first appeared: 7/8/2001

Baker University in Baldwin City (pop. 2,789) is the state’s oldest four-year college. Methodist ministers founded the university in 1858, and its library houses a rare Bible collection.

first appeared: 7/1/2001

African-American settlers from Kentucky founded Nicodemus (pop. 25) in 1877, naming the town after the biblical figure who visited Jesus and later helped bury him. The town’s population peaked at 600 in 1880.

first appeared: 6/24/2001

In 1867, a railroad inspector built a sail-equipped railcar to help him on his rounds in western Kansas. In September of that year, he traveled 13 miles between Ellis (pop. 1,702) and Hays (pop. 19,230) in 40 minutes, at times reaching speeds of 40 mph.

first appeared: 6/17/2001

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