Saturday, October 4, 2008

Naturally Limestone Tour - Cowley County, KS

On Saturday, Oct 4, 2008, I went to Arkansas City to take a bus tour sponsered by the Arkansas City Area Arts Council.



Our group left Ark City and headed east for a drive thru of the Docking Estate, where we viewed the historic limestone buildings on this property. Then we headed to the town of Silverdale for a guided tour of the Born Limestone plant. We saw what operations are done to the raw limestone from the quarry to make it into finished stone. We then drove just south of Silverdale to view the historic Goff Ranch limestone house and barn.



We then headed for Dexter, following the scenic route along Grouse Creek Road and made a stop at Henry's Candies for some shopping. From there our route took us back west for a visit to the historic Andes double arch stone bridge. A local artist completed a sketch of the bridge and it was given to a lucky tour participant by a raffle.



After that, it was on to Cambridge for a good chuckwagon lunch with some music performed by local artists. We then headed west around Winfield City Lake to the town of Floral. At Floral, we viewed the old limestone Baptist Church and were treated to some violin music by another local artist.



Next, on to the Magnolia Ranch, which has six limestone buildings and is on the National Register. The owner graciously explained the history of the ranch and let us enter the horse barn for a tour. Finally we drove on to the historic Long House before returning to our starting point at the Burford theater in Ark City.



For more information, contact the Arkansas City Area Arts Council:

(620) 442-5895 or thru the Convention and Visitors Bureau at the following:

http://www.arkcity.org/

For some of my favorite photos of the trip visit the following gallery:

http://ke2013.smugmug.com/gallery/6142303_baBZ7#386611077_rgkdX





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