Gove County, KSEst. 1886

8 Wonders of

The 8 Wonders of

Gove County, Kansas

and More!! The 8 Wonders contest was held in the winter of 2009. In June

2010 the winners were: Castle Rock & Monument Rock, Sacred

Heart Catholic Church - Park, Gove County Museum - Gove,

Opera House - Grainfield, Limestone House, BOD Markers, In-

dian Cave and Cross, and Plum Creek Barn.

Other nominees for 8 wonders included: Blacksmith Shop, Cow

Paddy Golf Course, Dr. J.J. Barclay’s House, the Firehouse, the

Smoky Hill Walking Trail & the Heritage Center, all in Grinnell;

Ethanol Plant, Campus; Hackberry Post Office, JM Tuttle home;

Horse Thief Canyon; Old Buffalo West Cemetery; Orion Store;

Oxley Barn; Quinter Museum Building; Rock Quarry; Square Ele-

vator, Park; and #9 the Soda Fountain in Ray’s Pharmacy in Quin-

ter!

Other pictures in this booklet are sights you will see in Gove

County.

Gove County has two history books, W.P. Harrington’s and the

Bicentennial Project put together by Albert & Mary Tuttle. The Gove

& Quinter museums sell these history books!

Contributors to this booklet:

Descriptions: Marcia Press and Marcia Roemer

Photography: Lem Marsh (3/4 of the pictures), Gove County Ad-

vocate - Tom and Roxy Broeckelman and Marcia Press

Layout: Tom Broeckelman & Linda Zerr

Proceeds go to the Quinter Historical Society Museum

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is a lofty calcareous limestone bluff having the appearance of an old English castle

with pillars and avenues traversing it in every direction. We named it Castle Rock.”

Harrington believed this was perhaps the first time the name was ever applied to

the place.

Castle Rock is currently owned by the Stewart family, located on Sec. 1-14-26.

Monument Rocks, sometimes called The Pyramids, owned by the Thies Pyramid

Ranch, is located in Lewis Township. Cobra Rock, Chief Smoky or The Sphinx

and Ship Rock were once individual formations that have since eroded.

Many famous fossils have been collected from Gove County: ‘Fish within a

Fish’ in the Sternberg Museum and in 1996-97 the oldest documented Mosasaur,

Tylosaurus Proriger, was found in Horse Thief Canyon owned by Glenn & Arlene

Bird.

Castle Rock &

Monument

RocksThese two sites were #1

among Gove Countians, and

of course everyone knows

they are also one of Kansas’

8 Wonders! W.P. Harring-

ton’s ‘History of Gove

County’ had a report from

Lieut. Fitch of the U.S.A.

(taken in 1865) that stated:

“Nine and one fourth miles

west (from Downer Station)

we crossed Rock Castle

Creek. The scenery here is

really grand. One mile south

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The Plum Creek Rock Barn

and Water Tower

The Rock Barn is located ap-

proximately 20 miles southwest of

Gove, 71⁄2 miles southwest of Orion,

on the west edge of what was the

Plum Creek Community. The barn

is owned by Dwight and Mary York

and stands off of the county road on

their ranch. The barn is built of

chalk rock stone, native to the area.

The rock was provided by the Cass

brothers rock quarry. There is a rock

corral fence still standing along with

the barn. The arched doors on both

ends of the barn make the building

an architectural and historical point

of interest.

The water tower is located 30

feet from the barn.

The Grainfield Opera House was built in 1887. It still stands at its original lo-

cation on Main Street in Grainfield. The Opera House was used for shows and

entertainment as well as school graduation and programs. The building also

housed businesses upstairs and on the main floor. The Opera House is currently

being renovated. The main floor is finished and is used for various activities and

events. The upstairs has a stage and ballroom and will have business offices when

restoration is completed.

The Opera House is one of three places in Gove County listed on the State His-

torical Registry.

Nicole Godek of Grainfield, KS, a young entrepreneur, has a website promoting

small towns, thusly called www.LoveSmallTownAmerica.com

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Opera House - Grainfield, KS

6

Sacred Heart Catholic Church During the year of 1899 andspring of 1900 the first CatholicChurch, a frame building 30 x 60feet, was erected on the southwestcorner of block 12 in Buffalo Park,KS. Every Catholic Church is namedafter some particular saint or mysteryof the Catholic religion. Reverend Fa-ther Paul Werr, O.M.Cap (FatherPaul) having a deep devotion to theSacred Heart of Jesus, dedicated thebuilding to such and therefore thechurch is known as the Church of theSacred Heart.

From 1916 to 1925 Rev. W. Wenzelhad charge of Sacred Heart Parishand supervised the building of thepresent brick church. It is 150’ x 60’.The prevailing style is Gothic. It hasa seating capacity for 639 adults and176 children. Cost: $74,543. This isthe highest elevation in the churchblock & can be seen across the west-ern Kansas prairies for some distance.The corner stone was laid Oct. 25,1921.(Excerpts from Sacred Heart CatholicChurch Park, KS 1898-1998 churchhistory book.)

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It’s appropriate to

have these Butterfield

Overland Despatch

markers when there is a

group of individuals

working diligently on

having the ‘Smoky Hill

Trail’ declared a Na-

tional Historic designa-

tion. The trail’s

limestone markers stand

for the period of time

that David A. Butterfield

owned it, from June

1865 to March 1866.

First it was the Smoky

Hill Trail and in a 1907

Gove Co. Atlas, it shows

a trail marked as the Old

Denver Trail. Trails,

routes, the starvation

trail, Indian trepidations,

stage stations, the gold

rush, all synonymous

with the Smoky Hill

Trail.

The 4th annual

Smoky Hill Trail Assoc.

will be meeting Oct. 15-

17, 2010 in Limon, CO.

(www.smokyhilltrail.com)

If you noticed the

GPS on top of the

marker, talk to Lem

Marsh of Grinnell about

geocaching!

Butterfield Overland Despatch (BOD)

This limestone home has a stone inset on the front of it dated 1906; around the

date are several names. The two story (900 ft. per story) home was built on the

“Oliver Ranch”. On page 231 in the “History & Heritage of Gove Co., a bicenten-

nial project by Albert & Mary Tuttle” there is a description of how and why the

native stone or rock was used for building materials. The book also mentions the

Oliver Ranch: it’s a “large stone house sitting high on the hill above the Smoky

Hill River.” The view, facing west, is awe-inspiring! It looks out over a valley that

once housed the ghost town of Alanthus. The home is located in Larrabee Town-

ship. W.P.’s history book stated there were 449 citizens - just in Larrabee - in 1907.

Owners have included the Olivers, Walkers, Ostmeyers and it’s currently owned

by Rex & Verda Albin.

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Limestone House

The Indian Cave and the Cross are located approximately 21⁄2 miles west of

Gove on County Road S, south of the road in a pasture. The cave is approximately

8 ft. high, 16 ft. deep, and 20 ft. wide. The petroglyphs on the ceiling are over 200

years old. The drawings were verified by a chief archeologist from the State His-

torical Society in Topeka. The cross stands above the cave and overlooks the Hack-

berry Creek Valley. The cross was dedicated to the original owners of the property

for their 60th wedding anniversary. It commemorates the original homesteaders

along the Hackberry Creek west of Gove.

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Indian Cave and Cross

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The Gove County Museum building was built in Gove, Kansas in 1921. The

building was first used as Gove Rural High School. In 1968 the school closed. In

January of 1970 the building was purchased by the Gove County Historical Asso-

ciation. The building was then developed into a museum of local history depicting

pioneer life in Gove County and displaying many artifacts of the history of the

area. The museum also supplies family history and genealogy information. One

room, in the museum, houses old newspapers dating from the late 1800's.

Gove County Historical Museum

The Museum is open

Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 5

p.m., April through October

and by appointment. To sched-

ule an appointment, call 785-

938-2385, or 785-938-4444.

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Grinnell - Angelus Area Heritage Center

Quinter Historical Society Museum

The Quinter Historical Society Museum building is one of three sites in Gove

County listed on the State Historical Registry. Currently there is a Farmer’s Market

on Friday mornings. For appointments contact Marcia Press, 785-754-3602 or Sam

Chestnut, 785-754-2315.

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9th Wonder - Soda Fountain

at Ray’s Pharmacy, Quinter

This beautiful 30 ft. bar “the Del Monte” was made in New York by the

Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co. from 1885 to 1910. It was purchased by Jack and

Doris Tebow in Orange, California. It was restored and assembled with this top of

the line 1948 Bastin Blessing Soda Fountain pictured below. It is now fully func-

tioning again at Ray’s Pharmacy/Q-Value in downtown Quinter.

The ghost town of Teller, NE1⁄4 of S16,

T15S, R27W, is one of six ghost towns in

Gove County. The other five were:

Jerome, E1⁄2 SE1⁄4 S15, T15S, R29W:

Alanthus, W1⁄2 S12, T15S, R27W; Orion,

12 miles west of Gove City on Road S;

Campus, S1⁄2 NE1⁄4 N1⁄4 SE1⁄4 S3, T11S,

R31W - an Ethanol Plant is there today;

and Pyramid, just southeast of the Pyra-

mids or Monument Rocks.

There are many, many old barns in Gove Co.; some are still in use, some not.

A famous barn, not the one shown here, is the Oxley Barn, owned by Kenny &

Elsie (Sanders) Loevenstein, northeast of Quinter. It is one of three sites in Gove

County listed on the State Historical Registry.

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Ghost Town of Teller marker

Barns in Gove County

Swedish Evangelical Lutheran ChurchN38º 45.471 W 100º

Sod, stone and wooden house

in Plum Creek Community

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The Tuttle history book mentions 16 cemeteries in Gove County. There are

also a lot of individual graves.

The Orion school house is located on the farm of Dwight & Mary York. The

Tuttle history book names 64 different school districts in Gove County, some were

combinations. Currently there are three: USD 291 in Grinnell; USD 292 in Grain-

field; and USD 293 in Quinter. Schools are currently in peril due to shortfalls in

the State of Kansas budget.

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Pyramid View Cemetery

Orion School House

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Wildlife is abundant in Gove County

Deer hunting in Gove County

is pretty hard to beat!

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Western Kansas is home of great hunters and great trophy deer.

Tyler Remington (left above) formerly of Gove, KS and now Quinter, KS, is

a fine example of being a great hunter. In 2004 he shot the biggest muley non-typ-

ical deer in Kansas since 1966. The muley ranks 5th in the state. Gross score 245;

point 11 x 9; spread 32. Derek, Tyler’s brother, had a pretty good day too! His

muley ranked 180 typical. The boys are the sons of Daryl and Cheryl Remington,

Gove.

Matt Palmquist (below) of Grainfield, KS, got his trophy deer in the fall of

2009. It had 29 scoreable points; 237 2/8" Net Pope and Young. His gross score

was 245 7/8. He is also ranked 5th all-time in the state for archery Non-Typical

Mule deer.

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Wildflowers bloom profusely

in Western Kansas!!

Just two of the many beautiful

Western Kansas Sunsets!

Printed by Castle Rock Printers Inc.1st printing 2010