The History at High Noon and Evening at the Museum lecture series is resuming at the Finney County Historical Museum in Garden City with a pair of programs about mysteries along a nearby segment of the Santa Fe Trail.
The past comes alive every autumn through the Finney County Historical Society, and that’s happening once again – several times, actually – in the season just ahead.
We’re working through a busy summer here at the Finney County Historical Museum, during an equally busy year, as we strive to keep local and area history alive for the people and communities of Finney County and southwest Kansas.
One of the interesting stories from the earliest years of Garden City involves an incident in the summer of 1885, when rumors arrived that the famed Bedonkohe Apache leader Geronimo might be leading a gathering of native warriors toward the community.
The Jesse and Cora Smith family were the recipients of the Finney County Historical Society’s 2025 Pioneer award.
Kansas water issues, particularly those relating to irrigation ditches, was the topic of the Finney County Historical Museum’s Evening at the Museum event on Tuesday.
Our primary purpose at the Finney County Historical Society involves preservation of the past, in order to enlighten the present and the future. One of many important aspects in that endeavor involves the FCHS annual meeting and banquet, because the highlight of the gathering involves a presentation in the Finney County Pioneer awards program.
While the failure of the Soule or Eureka irrigation canal in Ford and Gray counties of southwest Kansas during the late 1800s may be more famous, the network of ditches built in the Garden City vicinity turned out to be a success, with some still used to support thriving agricultural operations in the 21st Century.
Many people who visit us at the Finney County Historical Museum have an appreciation for antiques and additional items that represent the past, so we’re offering an opportunity soon to view some of the artifacts that we don’t often put on display, as well as to possibly win one of 10 collectible objects that have been donated to help us raise museum support funds.
As we join in reaching the 25th year of the 21st Century, it’s enlightening to look back at some of the previous quarter-century and other milestones that have come and gone for the United States. While it’s not yet clear how 2025 will be best or most remembered in 2050, 2075, or 100 years hence, from our shared perspective today, we may all remember that: