County museum documents heritage
At the Ellis County Historical
Society museum, 100 W. Seventh, exhibits and buildings provide
a taste of life in Ellis County during its untamed early days,
when such notables as “Wild Bill” Hickok and “Buffalo
Bill” Cody called the fledgling town of Hays City home.
That´s not the only
taste visitors can get at the museum. An 1870-style saloon offers
sarsaparilla also known as root beer and prepackaged
local foods for sale to visitors.
“A most congenial spot:
Kennedy´s visit to Ellis County” is the special exhibit
on display through the end of September 2000. The exhibit displays
photos, artifacts and a text of John F. Kennedy´s November
1959 visit to the county during his campaign for the presidency.
Two murals that came from
a former Vine Street bar named Mary Kay´s went on display
in July.
They became part of the museum
collection last year but needed restoration, so the artist, Buck
Arnhold, was contracted to do the work.
Museum director Jerome Waltner
said the two paintings depict an old-time “Will Bill Hickok”
style card game and a dancing scene.
The card game picture was
designated for display in the saloon and the dancing scene for
the museum´s permanent exhibit.
“Where can I get a drink
around here?” is a new display in the permanent exhibit.
Waltner said the display chronicles
water usage in Ellis County from the first recorded flood to
the present day.
Original buildings from early
times stand on the museum grounds, including a Volga German house
and a harness shop.
The harness shop is closed
for renovation, but visitors can get a guided tour of the Volga
German house from museum staff.
Upstairs is the museum´s
children´s learning center. Recent additions make the learning
center more hands-on and child-friendly, Waltner said.
The displays are geared to
be educational and interesting to everyone, but Waltner said
the museum gift shop, with about 700 different items for sale,
is equally interesting.
“We try to have some
relatively unique items in there that people can´t find
just anywhere,” Waltner said. “We´ve got a lot
of books on local history, crafts, limestone paperweights, desk
sets and other items.”
The museum´s hours are
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. During the summer, it
also is open 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays.
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