Day Trip - Sunday June 20th to Marion, Kansas

Who would have guessed that on our way to Marion Kansas, we would go through Canada?  Canada Kansas that is.  A former Speaker of the Senate of Canada sent his sons to buy 3 square miles (8 km²) near the future site of Canada. Many Canadian immigrants moved to the area.  Canada was platted on December 15, 1883, but never incorporated. Canada had a Post Office from 1884 to 1954.  Source

Canada has a boat / RV Storage facility! Quite handy since it is just down the road from Marion Reservoir. In August 2015, a film crew for an advertising agency in Toronto, Ontario came to Canada to interview residents and give away New Balance shoes for a Canadian TV commercial.

 

Check out the video! Everyone in Canada, KS got a pair of New Balance shoes.  Video on YouTube

The real purpose of our trip to Marion was to see the Elgin Hotel. Please look at the Hotel's web page to see what it offers.  Our pictures are below.

Our last stop in Marion was a lunch at the Cafe 256.  It is located at 330 East Main Street (Highway 256) close to the Elgin Hotel.  I had the best BLT I have ever had there. I highly recommend it. It's only open from 6 am to 2 pm so get there soon.

More on the Day Trip - June 5th, 2021

Another interesting build in Cedar Point is the Cottonwood River Pratt Truss Bridge which was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 2003. The bridge was built in 1916 by the Missouri Valley Bridge Company.  The Pratt Truss design was patented by 1844 and was commonly used because of its strength and relatively low cost.

Source: Cedar Point Pratt Truss Bridge

 

 

Another picture of the bridge is below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another point of interest on this trip was in Florence. The building we stopped to see was the Harvey House which was build in 1876. The Fred Harvey Company was the owner of the Harvey House chain of restaurants and hotels that were used to service the growing number of train passengers. Today it is a museum. The Harvey House in Florence was the second of his eating house-hotel establishments.  

    

 

 

Day Trip - June 5th, 2021

Richard and I have been taking some day trips to interesting spots in Kansas.  Yesterday, we drove to the little town of Cedar Point.  When I say "little" I mean it.  The 2010 census counted 28 people in 13 households.  The town was founded in 1862. It took about an hour to drive to this little town and on our return we stopped in Florence for lunch and then came home via Highway 77 south to El Dorado and then west to Wichita.

 So what is there to see in Cedar Point?  There is the Drinkwater and Schriver Mill which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. 

"In 1867, a log dam was built across the Cottonwood River, and a wooden-frame mill was constructed for sawing lumber. The following year (1868) it was converted to grind flour and named Cedar Point Mill.

In 1870, the name was changed to Drinkwater & Schriver Mill. In 1871, construction of the current stone structure was started. In 1875, the building was completed. It used stone burrs to grind corn and wheat into flour, with a capacity of 75 barrels per day. In 1884, the log dam was replaced by a stone dam.^"

^{(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinkwater_%26_Schriver_Mill)}

^{Below are three pictures of the structure which is NOT in the best of shape.}