Pictures of Old Prairie Town- Part 1

I visited Old Prairie Town in July according to the day stamp on the first 3 pictures.It probably has a better and clearer view than the pictures I took at the Festival mainly because no one was there than Sunday afternoon.

At the Apple Festival the One room school house was packed, some was playing Laura Ingalls who stopped briefly in Kansas as a child and wrote a book about those experiences called "Little House on the Prairie". The TV series was based on events later in the series of that happened in Minnesota.

Last two pictures come from the festival in October, I hope the picture of the gold fish in the fountain are visible.

29th Annual Apple Festival

One of the least publicized places in Topeka was buzzing on Sunday. It's hard to get to, the signs are vague and it's pretty well hidden. Even though it boards I-70,thanks to foloage ,you can't see it from the highway. I can't think of any signs on the Highway for the place. If your from Topeka and talk about Old Prairie Town you might blank looks or the question "Isn't that in Abilene ?" Topekans might now it better as Ward Meade.



Old Priarie town has a one room school house, an old church, a train depot, a log cabin,a botantical garden ,a drug store with an actual soda fountain,an old doctors office and the Ward-Meade Mansion.

The story is the Wards are one of the first settlers of Topeka,built a cabin on the River and fairied people across the river. A Candle was lit in the windown which was a sign to traveled the house was open to travelers on the Oregon, yes we are back on that trail. Oregon trail on the Kansas River, 20 miles South ,yesterday the Santa Fe Trail. Again all came through here, and some stayed.

Parade Pictires from Overbrook

Those who went west came through here

A couple of weeks ago I drove about 30 minutes to the North and West and ran across the Oregon Trail. Today I drove about 14 South on US 75 and then 6 miles on 56 and found the Santa Fe Trail. The Trails for the most started in Independence,Missouri and whether they ended up in Oregon,California ,Utah or New Mexico, hundreds of thousands passed through Kansas, fairly close to Topeka. Wheel ruts of the 6 foot tall wagons can still be seen in fields,and parks in this part of the country. One of the speakers I heard today spoke of the covers of Conastoga wagons as far as the eye could see.

This week the town of Overbrook with it's 900 or so residents celebrated "Santa Fe Trail Days" a two day celebration at the fairgrounds which are doted with 4H barns and advertisements for next weeks Demolition Derby. Yes, the sign on the water tower does say "Don't overlook Overbrook".

At 11am there was a parade which the next entry will detail in pictures. It went down a residental street near the fair grounds past a guy with a home speaker system discribing the enterants and announcing the winners of yesterday Coloring contest. He interviewed some of the marchers, my favorite was a couple from Oklahoma who announced themselves as "from the terriotory of Oklahoma, soon to be a state". The parade was all horses or horse drawn wagons, except for the final marcher a golf cart with a man scooping up the horse droppings, I resisted the urge to photograph that. The Costumes were amazing as were the horses.

The fair itself had historical speakers,horse riding contest,re enactors doing bull whip demostrations,gun fights, a tent served as a Salloon with girls in period costume playing Scott Joplin rags and served Pop in a bottle, Root Beer,Orange and Grape Nehi.