Edwards County Historical Society Museum - Kinsley, Kansas

05/29/2026

05/01/2026

Welcome to the Edwards County Historical Society Museum!
As of today, May 1st we are open 7 days a week until October 1st. Our hours are Monday - Saturday 9:00 A.M to 5:00 P.M. and Sunday 1:00 - 5:00 P.M.
This is our new logo and slogan, please tell us how you like it! We are working on making some great positive changes this year and this is the beginning. And just wait until we tell you the subject of our annual meeting / program this year! You definitely won't want to miss it, so save the date of August 9th!
We invite you to come visit the museum this season, it's a great place to bring guests and learn the history of our county and "life as it was on the prairie."
Shares are appreciated.

04/27/2026

A huge thank you to the National Honor Society of Kinsley High School for volunteering to help spring clean the museum.
These fine students have the museum squeaky clean and ready for our 2026 season!
Joshua Stuckey, Brady Kraft, Woodrow Lancaster, Lane Hattrup, Kaileigh Craft, Ailah Stone, Joey Preto, Zaylee Rice, Maiah Wi******er, Kiana Wi******er, and Nevaeh Rice.
We appreciate all your help with a job well done!

03/23/2026

Something VERY exciting happened last weekend at Midway Park near the museum, after many, many years of restoration our windmill is back!
This is a rare Pipe Raymond windmill manufactured by the Althouse-Wheeler Company of Waupun Wisconsin. A leading manufacturer of windmills, they were in business from 1912 to the 1930's. Pipe Raymond models were produced in 10- 12- and 16 foot diameters. Advertised as "cyclone proof" the wheel was set to operate at a designated speed and wind stronger than that speed would open the wings allowing excess wind to pass through, thus preventing damage to the mill. Our mill has the wings set to stay in this position since it is on display and will not be used to pump water. The counterweight "W" is a tribute to the manufacturer town of Waupun.
This windmill originated on the farm ground of Monk Coover which was later farmed by Gerald and Billie Herrmann, it is thought to be from 1918. The Herrmann's and Dr. Schnoebelen who enjoyed woodworking as a hobby helped restore the mill the first time, graciously donated it to the museum, and was originally erected in 1990 by the PRIDE committee.
Second restoration of the windmill, made primary of wood, has been a huge undertaking headed by the wood working skills of Jimmie Heinz and metal work by Raymond Wetzel with Ray being the only person to know how it goes back together!
It took many people to get this windmill back on its feet and up in the air and we are grateful to all those who made it happen!
A huge thank you to Jimmie Heinz, his son and grandson Jacob and Caleb who not only restored the wood but also helped erect the tower.
Russell Strate for the use of his equipment as well as material and hard labor setting the tower along with his son Ryan and friend Steve Menard.
Raymond Wetzel for his work on the metal and his invaluable knowledge along with labor to assemble the wheel, also his son Kevin for operating the equipment to get the men to the top of the tower safely.
And Brian Sparke for helping in any way possible with the tower and wheel assembly.
Due to many caring people, we have another interesting and rare artifact for thousands of people from all over the U.S. to enjoy.

03/16/2026

In honor of Saint Patrick's Day this Tuesday, an antique potato shrike.
Potato rows were ploughed then the shrike scooped up the potatoes allowing the soil to fall through.
We have tools of many kinds on display at the museum, come visit us! We open for the season May 1st.
This shrike was donated by Harold "Gus" Hearn.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

03/09/2026

Let's make some bread, and with this Frary Clark #8 Universal bread machine from 1908 it's easy!
Bread was a major staple in pioneer homes and was usually served with every meal. Imagine how laborious it was to constantly keep the family supplied, since it was always homemade, and imagine how grateful women were when this devise was invented to help.
Frary Clark Company located in Connecticut, was founded 1862 and became famous with this devise. The instructions are embossed on the lid and once the bread dough was mixed and raised, all that was needed was to separate the dough (this model made four loaves) and bake. The Frary Clark Company was bought out by General Electric in 1965.
It is said everything old is new again and this artifact proves that's true.
It won't be long and we'll be open for the 2026 season May 1st!

02/13/2026

A beautiful Victorian era valentine. The bottom folds out into a little honeycomb paper heart, many of this type of valentine card originated from Germany.
We have a good assortment of pretty valentines on display just waiting for you to come visit this spring and summer.
Happy Valentines Day!

02/06/2026

We often think of Victorian valentines as being very pretty and having a beautiful poetic sentiment, but did you know during the Victorian era and through the early 20th century there were such a thing as Vinegar Valentines?
These valentines surprisingly were very popular. They were mean spirited and cruel with a soul purpose to insult the unlucky recipient.
People that commonly received Vinegar Valentines were Salesmen, old maids, creditors, flirts and various groups such as the suffragettes (women campaigning for the right to vote) or anyone you just plain didn't like!
At just a penny a card, they were so popular to send that they made up to half of all the valentine sales. Some sympathetic postmasters confiscated them so as not to hurt certain people they were targeting.
Vinegar Valentines featured caricatures and harsh poems and are thought to have been designed by cartoonist Charles Howard with the cards bearing the letter "H." Very few of them have survived due to understandably being thrown in the trash by the horrified recipient.
This is one trend from the past we hope stays there...

01/30/2026

Can you imagine going through our recent cold weather on the prairie in the 1800's?
We thankfully live in a time of simply turning up a thermostat to keep warm, but then life on the prairie was much different.
Wood especially here in Western Kansas could be quite scarce, to survive called for creative thinking. Bison and cattle were plentiful, so all year long cow/bison chips (excrement) were collected to burn. This was often one of the chores for children.
The chips were collected, dried in the sun and stored in a dry place, not only for winter but also for cooking. They burned with intense heat, then quickly formed hot coals, they had no odor burning and were surprisingly clean to handle. Early settler women had a difficult time embracing the burning of chips but that thought soon dissipated with the first cold prairie winter and the need to cook food.
Once again, this is an example of how valuable animals were to survive life on the prairie.

12/31/2025

Some antique post cards had a sense of humor...
Celebrate responsibly so you don't end up being dragged home like Bozo!
Happy New Year!