Waymarking the Ole Hometown

I had to replace my good laptop - the only problem is that all of my pictures are on it!  It's in the shop - hopefully, it will be back soon.  I did go out and took 32 pictures and created 12 waymarks.  Highlights:

This is the oldest church bell in Olathe.

It is located in front of the First Presbyterian Church

The Frank Lanter House - built in 1901.

George P Washburn was the architect - designed several famous buildings 

in the Midwest.

I.O Pickering House - currently undergoing renovation.

Albert Ott House

This is one of my favorite Queen Anne Victorian houses in Olathe.

Salem & Mammoth Springs Ar. - West Plains & Gainesville, Mo. - 8 April 15

I continue to process pictures from my recent vacation to Arkansas and Southern Missouri.  These were from April 8.  11 Visits and 94 Waymarks.

Salem Methodist Church

A very nice old church constructed of native fieldstone.

Mammoth Spring Dam

This is the origin of the Spring River.

West Plains Opera House

A very cool old building that is still in use!

West Plains Masonic Lodge

A Classic Revival Building on the National Register.

Gainesville Post Office

A very large stone building for a small town.

April 9 (Eureka Springs) & 10 (Mountain View and Norfolk)

More pictures from my Arkansas trip from earlier in the month.  More great buildings!  I ended up with 39 posted waymarks and 24 visits from 98 pictures.

Stamps Store - Osage, Arkansas

This is a building on the National Register built in 1898.

Carroll County Courthouse (Western District)

Carroll County is one of ten counties in Arkansas that have two

county seats.

Baxter County Orrery (Sun)

This is the start of a model of the solar system 

where 1 meter on the ground equals 1,000,000 km in space.

The edge of the model is in Yellville, 18 miles away.

Stone County Courthouse

Another great courthouse that I've gotten to post.

Jacob Wolf House

This building was constructed in 1829 and is the oldest 

public structure in Arkansas,

Back to Loading vacation pictures...

From the 11th and 12th of April through Mountain Home, Dardanelle, and Russellville, Arkansas.  I took 131 pictures and I was able to post 41 waymarks and 19 visits.  Highlights include:

Confederate Memorial @ Dardanelle

This once had a working fountain installed.

Yell County Courthouse

I love old Courthouses

Russellville American Legion Post

This building was a WPA project in the 30's and

is now on the National Register.

Pope County Courthouse

Art Deco in design and built in the 30's.

Following the Santa Fe Trail

Sunday, I decided to start working on the new Santa Fe Trail GeoTour.  My wife and I have been finding the monuments along the SFT using a guidebook by Marc Simmons I bought at Philmont in '93.  Of course, I couldn't pass up the chance to waymark, also.  I found 14 geocaches and posted 7 waymarks on 19 pictures.

My first Little Library waymark - this is really a cool concept.

Trails West Sculpture

This used to be on the side of a Kansas Visitor Center - 

of course, the building was torn down as Kansas is 49th in tourism - 

(thanks, North Dakota!) it now stands in Lone Elm Park - 175th and Lone Elm

Trail Park in Baldwin City

The road in the background is an original segment of the Santa Fe Trail

A Waymarking Lunch Break

I decided to take a walk on Wednesday (4\16) to get some pictures of some buildings on the National Register and in the West Ninth/Baltimore Historic District.  I took 25 pictures and posted 10 waymarks from them.  Highlights -

Former Kansas City Dime Museum.

A place Kansas Citians used to go for culture and 

to see the more "unusual" entertainments.

New York Life Building

This building, at one time, was the tallest 

building in Kansas City.

Kansas City School of Law

Harry S. Truman took law classes here.

Springfield to Mountain Home (or how a two hour drive takes seven!)

Nice warm day yesterday for the first official day of the Spring vacation!  Temps in the upper 50's allowed for 6 geocache finds and 70 pictures to be taken.  Nothing has been processed yet, but some of the pictures turned out well...

Ozark County Courthouse - Gainesville, Mo.

A very nice lady asked me where the tractor pull was being

held.  I guess my Kansas University T-shirt and camera wasn't

screaming "TOURIST" loud enough!

Douglas County Courthouse- Ava, Mo.

I'd REALLY like to know the story why the courthouse

no longer sits on the square and the square is a large parking lot.

My first low water crossing waymark (hopefully)

This was at a roadside park north of Ava - we had our

first picnic here at this park.

I HATE CABOOSE CACHES!!!!!  Found this one very 

quickly, though.  This nice example is in Rogersville, Mo.

Clinton and Chilhowee Missouri

I FINALLY got all of the pictures processed from the trip from the 16th of February from my trip to Clinton and Chilhowee Missouri.  I took 265 pictures and was able to get 124 new waymarks and 7 visits.

A cool old bank in Chilhowee

This Elks Building in Clinton was rebuilt on the site

of a older building that collapsed in 2006.

The Henry County 9/11 Memorial with steel 

from the Twin Towers.

More Mormon History

My lovely daughter went with us last weekend to Chillicothe, Mo. to see the murals.  On the way, I saw signage for "Far West" - which from my reading of a historic marker in De Witt, Mo., was a main Mormon settlement in 1836.  The "town" now consists of a Community of Christ Church, the site of the Temple that was platted with the cornerstones, but never completed, a general store, and a couple of houses.  The site had, at one time, over 5,000 inhabitants.  An interesting, but disurbing chapter of Missouri history.  I also visited the Mormon cemetery @ Richmond, Mo.  It is in a residental area and very well taken care of.  This cemetery is also the burial location of one of the most feared Missouri guerrillas - "Bloody Bill" Anderson.

This Sunday saw me take 200 pictures.  I am unsure at the moment of the visit and post counts.  Most of the posts will come from Lexington, Mo. where I took pictures of the Downtown Historic District.  

Waymarking in North and West Central Missouri

I made a trip on the 22nd of February to Laclede, Brookfield, Chillicothe, Carrollton, and DeWitt, Mo.  Final numbers appear to be 29 posted waymarks and 48 visits.  Highlights include:

Mormon Marker on a Flagpole in De Witt, Missouri.

I was not aware of the history of the Mormons being run out of this little town.

Laclede Covered Bridge

Only one of four left in Missouri - This is my second one visited!

Woodman marker in the Rose Hill Cemetery

This is one of the more elaborate early tree trunk WoW memorials

I have found.

Sometimes I get lucky - this is a common "slab" Woodman marker I posted.

I always try to check the internet when I get home to find out about the person.

Turns out that Albert Parker was a prominent banker in Brookfield!

Just completed writing up the photos I took on 1/20/14 in and around downtown Kansas City, Mo.  I posted 22 waymarks on 27 photos.  Highlights included a sculpture of a Bison Skeleton, a Giant Needle Sculpture, and a new Center of the Arts that looks like two stainless steel seashells.

Descent of Civilization

This sculpture highlights the loss of Bison from the Plains

The Area around 8th & Broadway was known as the

Garment District - hence this sculpture of needle & thread.

The new Kauffman Center - I saw the "Nutcracker" in  Decemeber

and was on the 8th floor.  I could hear the footfalls of the dancers - AMAZING!!!

Made the first waymarking trip of 2014 to Liberty / Excelsior Springs, Mo. on the 14th of January.  I completed the Liberty Square West Historic District and came up one building shy of completing the Excelsior Springs East Commercial District.  I ended up posting 56 waymarks from 99 pictures.  I also met Kim McElwee from the Downtown Excelsior Partnership.  She was curious as to why a crazy Kansan was taking pictures of the Historic District while his wife took notes.  I explained the concept of waymarking and she seemed interested - hopefully, she can use the resultant waymarks!  Highlights of the trip:

Site of the First Daylight Bank Robbery

On the Liberty Courthouse Square

Cool old Millstones out front of the Bank

From the old Liberty Mill

Excelsior Springs Hall of Waters

Several different Mineral Waters were bottled

and used here back in 30's thru 70's

An old Bank turned into the Excelsior Springs Museum.

I always find it funny when I can claim an

object like stairs as a "Contributing Building" :)

2013's Waymarking Stats

2013 was my best year so far for Waymarking. 

I posted 755 waymarks in 12 states.
I visited 512 waymarks in 10 states.

My state posting breakdown with the top 5 categories were:

Kansas -
300 waymarks in 54 categories

National Register District Contributing Buildings - 131
Dated Buildings - 26
Kansas Historical Markers - 20
National Register Buildings - 17
American Guide Series - 11

Missouri -
380 waymarks in 77 categories

National Register District Contributing Buildings - 164
Dated Buildings - 35
Woodmen of the World - 18
Missouri Historical Markers - 17
National Register Buildings - 13

Nebraska -
11 waymarks in 5 categories

Top category was Grave of a Famous person - 7

Iowa -
9 waymarks in 5 categories

Woodmen of the World - 4

Oklahoma -
4 Waymarks in 3 Categories

Woodmen of the World - 2

Texas -
14 waymarks in 8 categories

Woodmen of the World -7

Arkansas -
2 waymarks in 2 categories

Baptist Churches / Dated Buildings 1 each

Illinois -
3 waymarks in 3 categories

Grave of a Famous Person / Roadside Attraction / Woodman of the world - 1 each

Tennessee -
1 waymark in the Simulcra category

Kentucky -
7 waymarks in 4 categories

Woodmen of the World - 4

South Carolina-
18 waymarks in 9 categories

Grave of a Famous Person - 6

Georgia -
6 waymarks in 5 categories

Non Specific Veteran Memorials - 2