Courtland, Kansas, USA

Defining Main Street: The Gas Station.  The "fillin' station" didn't hit Main Street until the 1920s. They were never in the heart of the business district but further down the road. Almost all are now gone, or in decay, victims of economies of scale. [2009]

Ottawa, Kansas, USA

Defining Main Street: The Drug Store. Some of us just cannot get used to calling them pharmacies or (if you are in England) chemists. So few independent pharmacies are left on Main Street. The national chains seem to have taken over, and they are committed to the suburbs. [2021]

Cuba, Kansas, USA

What is the most produced staple crop in the world? Corn. Don't yawn! Only a few decades ago rice held that honor. Think: the mega-populations of China, Southeast Asia, and India. In fact, rice may still hold that honor if you consider that 45% of corn goes to the production of ethanol for powering internal combustion engines. [2009]

Marysville, Kansas, USA

It's proclaimed as Pony Express Home Station No. 1, but it was originally a barn and blacksmith shop. There were 40 home stations along the route, which stretched from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento. The Pony Express was designed to deliver the mail over long distances, but it was very soon outmoded by the telegraph. [2009]

Seneca, Kansas, USA

How do we honor our veterans? Here's another method: We build an honor wall of names, one plaque for every veteran in our town or county. Before the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, honoring vets meant only one thing: sculpting a statue. Walls like this are far more personal. Remember: Today is Veterans Day. [2009]

Quenemo, Kansas, USA

Some people still go to the post office to collect their mail. Others get it delivered to their homes, a service that was at one time available only in cities. As you travel, observe the variation in post office architecture. There is perhaps no other category of public building that exhibits such diversity: from small and shabby to large and showy. [2021]

Jones, Kansas, USA

Fall comes to the Great Plains. Today, in fact. It's the autumnal equinox. All over the Middle Latitudes trees and shrubs will be signing off for the season with one final show of colorful glory. Along the Cimarron River the palette of place may be more muted than in the East, but it is still cast in all of nature's glory. [2018]

Topeka, Kansas, USA

Representivng the Reptilian order of Testudines is the red-footed tortoise. They are native to South America. The red-footed tortoise is classified as vulnerable primarily because it is hunted for both food and the pet trade. [2021]
 

Burlingame, Kansas, USA

February is all about the number two, and 2/22 is a palindrome too! No one should have to tolerate a flat roof. Do something with it! Let it help you sell motorcycles and contribute to your branding efforts. Be sure to see tomorrow's post. [2021]

Topeka, Kansas, USA

". . . the people of the Territory of Kansas . . . on the twenty-ninth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, did form for themselves a constitution and State government . . . and asked the Congress of the United States to admit the said Territory into the Union as a State." A year and a half later, in 1861, Congress complied. Happy Birthday, Kansas! [2021]

Ottawa, Kansas, USA

In contrast to standard-issue street signs, the wayfinding aids in Ottawa deviate from the norm. They are not even near eye level: They are on the ground. And they deviate from the form we expect, too. They take the shape of three-dimensional polyhedrons rather than two-dimensional planes. In placement, though, no surprises: They are on the corners. [2021]

Lenexa, Kansas, USA

It's only a row of storefronts along the town's main street. What sets it apart? A passenger rail station that seems to serve no one, but proudly displays a clock and the town's name. It has the feel of a residence but seems new and a bit mysterious. Maybe Lenexa should add an explanatory plaque. [2021]

Mulvane, Kansas, USA

It's only a row of storefronts along the town's main street. What sets it apart? A town clock. Every American town could be satisfied with looking like every other town, but why not add something to make it different? Maybe Mulvane could also add a row of visually compatible lamp posts. Oh, wait, they already did! [2021]

Lenexa, Kansas, USA

Centenarians demand respect! Ergo, the defunct Lanexa Grain and Feed Elevator, which was built in 1917, demands respect. The problem is that the surrounding land no longer produces grain. It has been gobbled up by the urban expansion of Kansas City. Nevertheless, the BNSF train whistles a cheery 'hello' every time it passes. Now, that's respect. [2021]

Spring Hill, Kansas, USA

To revitalize downtown, Spring Hill relocated the old city jail from a city park to a position of prominence on one of the town's main streets. It dates back only to the 1920s and was used mainly to take care of drunkards and troublemakers. Today, it provides a history lesson about local problem solving in the not-too-distant past. [2021]

Wichita, Kansas, USA

Some chains are international, some national, and some, like Dog N Shake, are local. Want to enjoy their chili cheese fries, you have to go to Wichita, where the name, the sign, and the architecture will take you back to the post-war automobile era. [2021]

Wichita, Kansas, USA

Here's the world's first Pizza Hut, but it's so perfectly put together it's hard to believe it was so handsome when it stood on the streets of Wichita only minutes away from Wichita State University (moved to campus in 1986), where the brothers who started the chain found bellies begging to be brim-full of pizza. They were fast to franchise, and the rest is history. [2021]

Wichita, Kansas, USA

Cable-stayed bridges have become very popular since the 1990s, even for pedestrian crossings. But, the eye-catcher here is probably the Keeper of the Plains, the guardian of Wichita, who thinks this cable-stayed bridge was modeled on Indian bows and arrows. [2021] 

Topeka, Kansas, USA

Only a few blocks away from the Westboro Baptist "Church" is the University United Methodist Church, with the rainbow colors of the LGBTQ community flaming away out front and seeming to complement the flame that engulfs the stained-glass window. Would you expect anything less from a church next to a college campus? [2021]

Topeka, Kansas, USA

Right across the street from the hate group Westboro Baptist "Church" stands the Equality House, proudly painted in the colors of the LGBTQ flag (see it flying?) and now proudly donning a Black Lives Matter placard. The other flag is the blue-pink-white transgender standard. [2021]