Beyond Kansas Highway 14

Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette:

K-96, Rush County

BEYOND KANSAS HIGHWAY 14

Where Eastern Kansas ends and Western Kansas begins is an entire column in itself, but for practical purposes, if you fold the map in half, the north-south highway closest to the fold is Kansas Highway 14.

Starting at the Oklahoma line, K-14 runs through Anthony, Harper, Kingman, Sterling, Lyons, Ellsworth, Lincoln and Beloit.

I do cross K-14 every time I visit Great Bend, where my dad and stepmother live, but I just don’t get to wander around the western wing of Kansas as much as I’d like.

However, I spent the night in Great Bend recently, so my father and I took a day to explore some towns I hadn’t seen for 30 years, and a few I’d never visited at all.

Dad and I took off on an autumn morning, the air was cool but calm, the sky big and blue. We drove west on K-96 from Great Bend, cruising first through the unincorporated town of Heizer in Barton County.

bank in Heizer

Heizer has one of those old brick bank buildings on a corner, the kind of building with the entrance facing the center of the intersection, a design popular in the early 1900s. Over the doorway on this building was carved “Bank / Established 1911.”

Timken (pop. 76) was next in a chain of towns disappearing from the Kansas map. The Holy Trinity Catholic Church appears to be in good condition, but the only businesses open were Timken Seed, the Co-op, and the Timken Hill Bar and Grill.

Downtown Timken

Along the road in Rush County, a gorgeous ring-necked pheasant flew across the highway tucking itself into the ditch. The male pheasant with its red face, green head and white collar is one stunningly beautiful bird.

“There’s an old high school,” I said to Dad as we approached Alexander (pop. 66). A box-like three-story brick building is a familiar shape for those old high schools. And, unfortunately, with the population decline in rural areas, it’s an unoccupied shape these days.

The 1916 Alexander school is a handsome building. The structure remains sturdy and strong with limestone accents and sharp architectural detailing. The date 1930 is carved over a walkway between the school and the auditorium. Doors were missing and some windows were broken but most of the glass was still intact.

the old school in Alexander

Each time I see an abandoned school, and believe me there are plenty around, I can’t help but let out a sigh of sadness.

Just west of Alexander, a historical marker at a rest area told of the Fort Hays–Fort Dodge Trail that was used by the military from 1867-1872.

And according to the marker, a man named Alexander Harvey had a trading post on the banks of Walnut Creek and provided travelers a place to ford the stream. The town, founded a few years later, was named for him.

Next stop: Bazine (pop. 334) in Ness County. This was a town that Pawnee Rock played in football and basketball, so I have a familiarity with the name, if not the town.

Quite a few yellow stone buildings stand in Bazine, constructed from the post rock limestone that is found underground in this region.

The bank was open in Bazine, as was the post office, and a plumbing and appliance store. The co-op was alive and well, but most of the store fronts are known only to history.

Bob’s Market, Bazine

Bob’s Market, the third in a stretch of five empty brick buildings, looks like it’s been closed for years. I loved the store’s metal awning, the faded Pepsi signs, and its wooden screen door.

Back on the highway, we noted a silver Quonset hut which seemed to grant graffiti permission to any high school student equipped with spray paint and a thought.

It felt good to be out in the western end of the state again. There, the landscape is more varied than one might expect. Around Timken the highway was straight but there were lots of ups and downs. My dad and I enjoyed the long views of uncluttered land, short grass prairies, and the far-reaching sky.

As we approached Ness City, a billboard invited us to check out The Skyscraper of the Plains.

Oh, boy! This I wanted to see.

Copyright 2009 ~ Cheryl Unruh