COLBY KANSAS

Another unexpected treasure. We camped right next to the Prairie Museum of Art and History. 24 acres of art and history. The outdoor exhibits reflect the lives of the pioneers that settled in Western Kansas in 1870.

Inside is a collection of glass, furniture, ceramics, toys, dolls, clocks , coin, silver and other antiques. This wedding dress and accessories represent the Midwest wedding traditions from the late 1880s to the 1980s.

These beautiful dolls were collected by Nellie McVey Kuska. She spent her entire life collecting and had them displayed at a museum in California. It took more than 3 moving vans to move 17 tons of collectables to the Pioneer museum in Colby.

These beautiful bisque dolls were collected from all over the world.

I could only imagine the fun I could have with my 2 grand daughters with these beauties.

This one room school house the Nichol School symbolizes the cultural and social importance of education to the pioneers. My mom taught in one similar to this.

The grounds were immaculate, You can ring this old school bell but no children came running.

This sod house had cactus growing on it. Sod blocks 1 foot by 2 feet by 4 inches were used to build the one room homes.

The Lone Star Presbyterian Church was built in 1915 by a group of Danish settlers.

I was fascinated by the tiny communion cups stacked up on several round dividers.

The Cooper barn was the largest barn in Kansas measuring 66' wide, 114 ft long and 48 feet high. This barn was moved to this location in one piece in 1992. Pictures of the move are astounding. It was voted one of the Eight Wonders of Kansas Architecture.

Loved this old wooden blade windmill called umbrella or morning glory. Most farms had this type of windmill in use during the early 1900's. It was surrounded by an herb and wildflower garden. The fragrance of lavender filled the air.