kulture
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2005
6A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
There's no place like KANSAS
Prairie Dog Town is not only home to the world's largest prairie dog, but also a genuine six-legged cow. For $7 guests can see a variety of animals native to western Kansas including coyotes, foxes and rattle snakes.
Brave visitors who choose to enter the Big Well in Greensburg take a metal staircase down the to the bottom. The well, which is 109 feet deep and more than 30 feet wide, was hand dug to meet the increasing demand of water for steam-powered trains. The well doesn't draw water any more, but it does draw thousands of visitors from around the world.
Small towns play home to hidden tourist destinations
G reensburg is not big, but this small town about 100 miles west of Wichita does have one big thing about
it the 109-foot-deep "Big Well," which has attracted more than 3 million people since its opening in 1939
In 1957 Canadian artist Cameron Cross envisioned putting 80-foot-tall easels o Vincent Van Gogh's sunflower painting all over the world.
PHOTOS AND STORY BY ESTUARDO GARCIA
Greensburg is one example of the many small, out-of-the-way tourist destinations that sometimes get overlooked by road-tripping adventurers and especially by the state's residents. These attractions are as varied as they are spread out, but by trusting a map and following some signs travelers can see if Kansas is "as big as you think."
"When people travel and sign their names in a guest book, the people will see where they're from and they will say, 'oh, that's home of the Big Well,'" Stephenson said.
GREENSBURG
Richard Stephenson, manager of the Big Well, said the well wasn't just a part of the city; it was the city.
egarcia@kansan.com ★ KANSAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
As visitors come into Greensburg.
Stephenson said that this summer, the well has drawn people from all over the world including, France, Germany, Australia and Saudi Arabia. Nearly 10,000 people visited the well in June and July, with more than 3,000 visitors daring to go down it. The well was dug in the 1880s to meet the water needs of the many steam-powered locomotives used in the area. Greensburg is also the home to the world's largest pallasite meteorite, which weighs in at 1,000 pounds.
signs like the one that read, "Greensburg Activities: The Big Well," start appearing down the main street directing tourists from all over the globe to the hole in the ground that measures 32 feet in diameter. For $2, visitors are welcome to take a trip down a seemingly rickety set of metal stairs to the bottom of the world's largest hand-dug well.
MONTEZUMA
About 65 miles farther west on US Highway 56, past Dodge City, is another small Kansas farming town, but it doesn't farm traditional Kansas crops.
The potential use of wind farms as a source of renewable energy is a hot topic in the state. Any plans for a wind farm will look to the farm already in place in Montezuma as an example.
According to Aquila, the Gray County Wind Farm's 170 turbines have a generating capacity of 110 megawatts of electricity,which is enough to power 33,000 homes.
While some might not be excited by the idea of visiting turbines, the sight of 170 massive, 217-foot towers with 77-foot, 5,300-pound blades is a sight unlike anything else in the state.
HOLCOMB
Directions to the River Valley Farm can't be found in the state's tourism manual, but it is relatively easy to find the Clutter home at the end of a tree-lined road in the town's southwest corner. The Mader family, who moved into the Clutter's old home, has placed "No trespassing" signs at the top of the long driveway to ward off visitors who want to catch a glimpse of the farm. While the signs keep people from getting close to the house, it can still be seen from the road. It is worth a visit for Capote fans and the curious.
Truman Capote fans may remember the sleepy little town of Holcomb from his book "In Cold Blood," which made headlines when Perry Smith and Richard Hickock murdered the Clutter family in 1959.
Smith and Hickock were among the last five prisoners executed by the state.
SCOTT CITY
Traveling north on US highway 83 can take visitors to the bizarre rock formation known as Monument Rock.
SEE KANSAS ON PAGE 4A
No trespassing signs mark the entrance of the Mader family house. The house once belonged to the Clutters who were murdered in the Holcomb home.
The sun sets over the Gray County Wind Farm in Montezuma. Each of the 170 wind turbines is 217 feet tall with blades that are 77 feet long.
All that remains from the ocean that once covered the area near Scott City are large towers of flakey rock known as Monument Rock.