Newsletter

Fun, Farm Animals, and Fathers!

It was a joy to see dads out with their families, spending time in our community when Father’s day saw the museum host the Farm-yard Olympics at Island Park. Over 200 participants, from Winfield and Ark City stopped by to try their hand at a variety of farmyard themed activities, animal petting, ice cream making, and even riding a barrel train.

It took a whole town to put this wonderful event together, with the Winfield Fire Department providing ice, Wendy’s donating free frosty coupons to participants, and Coca-Cola chipping in drinks to slake everyone's thirst. The Biby family brought several tractors for visitors to take photos with, while Cameron Beeson and family provided roping and riding. Tisdale 4H brought farm animals for all to meet and pet, while Becky Reid with the K-State Extension Office brought their blender bike to make smoothies. The Davis family provided what might have been the hit of the day in the barrel train.

Competing for the title was Marsha Granburry’s facsimile milking cow which also drew a crowd. In all over twenty-seven volunteers came together to make the event a tremendous success.

CCHSM MEMBERSHIP DRIVE TO BEGIN THE LAST WEEK OF SEPTEMBER

The 2025-2026 CCHSM membership drive will begin the last week of September. For the past several years the Southwestern Lady Builder basketball team has helped assemble these packets. They will be helping again this year. These pictures show them assembling the packets last year. Be sure to watch your mail for your new membership mailing to arrive the last week of September. We appreciate all of you and your generous membership donations. We depend on you to keep our museum open! Without your help we would not be able to offer all that we do.

HISTORIC PLAQUE
110 E 9th, Winfield

Recently another historic building plaque was mounted on the building at 110 E 9th St in Winfield. This plaque is one of many located on buildings in downtown Winfield. They provide the history of the building including past owners and businesses that have occupied that space. These plaques are a Winfield Main Street project and co-sponsored with Cowley County Historical Society Museum. The museum archives help provide the materials needed to research these plaques. Next time you walk down Main Street in Winfield be sure to notice all the plaques.

A Summer of Sunflowers

Sunflower Summer returned to the museum again this year, and with it visitors from varied parts of the state. The program, which is provided by the legislature, saw some changes this year but was still a great success. One of the changes cut funding to any county that has over 15,000 residences, but more importantly to us was the reduction in time for the program. Instead of the entire month of July and part of August the program only ran for the last two weeks of July and the first week of August. Despite the reduced time we still had a dozen families come to the museum via Sunflower Summer from as far away as the Kansas City metroplex. We even tracked our visitors origins on a map that they placed pins into representing their homes.

A Word from Summer Volunteer Robby Meyer

This summer has been my second as a volunteer at the Cowley County Historical Society and Museum. Last year, I worked mainly as a research assistant, while this year I focused on community connections. Dustin and I filmed several videos for our social media accounts, presenting different parts of the museum. I especially enjoyed showing the more obscure parts of history, such as the “Hail Columbia” postcard that we filmed for Independence Day. I also assisted in advertising the museum, such as when I showed off our map that marked different visitors from the Sunflower Summer program. But above all, my foremost job was to greet visitors as they entered the museum. Though a small task, I hope that I have been able to give a good first impression of the museum and allow Dustin to stay focused on all he has to do to keep the museum running. I am incredibly thankful for all of the opportunities that I have been given at the museum. In all, my only real hope is that I was able to make a positive impact. I look forward to continuing to aid, however I can, in the preservation and education of the rich and meaningful history of Cowley County.

NEW BENCH IN COWLEY COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT MEMORIAL

Recently a new concrete bench was donated and installed in the Cowley County Law Enforcement Memorial. Thank you, Craig and Kelle Thompson for this donation. The law enforcement memorial was created several years ago as an Eagle Scout project and honors all those Cowley County law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty through the years. The stones were donated to the museum from the Topeka law enforcement memorial. If you have not taken the time to peruse this memorial, please do so the next time you visit the museum. Be sure to pick up the free brochure in the museum that provides a brief biography of each of the law enforcement officers remembered in the memorial.

Future 2025 Summer Events

Sunday, September 7th Pickin’, Pork, and Pie at the Pub at Ladybird see page 4
Monday, September 8th Museum Friends presents “Geuda Springs in its Heyday” 4:30 P.M. at the museum
September 27-27 Museum Membership Drive
Sunday, October 12th Voices of the Past Cemetery Tour 2:00 P.M. at Highland Cemetery
Monday, October 20th Museum Friends presents “HDU & EHU units of Cowley County” 4:30 P.M. at the museum

FAIRYTALE TEA

The first Saturday of June Marsha Granberry graciously opened her home to host a delightful Fairytale Tea. After touring Marsha’s beautiful home grandmothers, mothers, and little girls all enjoyed a traditional multi-course Victorian Tea complete with savories and sweets. The little girls also searched for hidden fairies throughout the home. Such a delightful morning for all that attended! This is the second year CCHSM has held this event. Another similar event is being planned for next spring for adults only. Watch for details to come. Thank you Marsha for being such a wonderful hostess for this event. And thank you to our CCHSM event volunteers that prepared and helped serve this tea.

New Reads at the Museum

I want to take this quarter to highlight some new acquisitions at the museum that might shed some light on an under utilized portion of the museum: the lending library. We received two new books at the museum that are available to borrow, and look to be quiet fascinating.

Hunting and Trading on the Great Plains 1859 –1875 by James R. Mead was donated by Chris Jarvis, while The Reflections of D. Arthur Walker: A Happy Country Lawyer for Fifty Years by D. Arthur Walker was donated by Cliff Gotlob.

Both are available at the museum, and after reading the first several pages of the latter it looks to be an amusing read. Swing by the museum and check out these and other titles.

BOOKS FOR SALE AT THE MUSEUM OR ONLINE:
Celebrate Winfield History Books 2001-2011 $15.00
Celebrate Winfield History Books 2012-2015 $15.00
Celebrate Cowley County History 2016-2024 $15.00
Celebrate Cowley County History 2025 $20.00
Winfield’s Golden Era of Sports $15.00
History of CC KS. The Indians Vol. II $33.00
Southwestern College $21.99
Winfield – Postcard History $21.99
Penrose Hills Albright $10.00
Kansas Mural’s $15.00
Prices include Sales Tax
Shipping/handling is an additional $6.00
To purchase please stop by the museum or check out our website www.cchsm.com.
Credit Cards and PayPal are accepted.
You may also send a check or money order with a list of books to:
CCHSM
1011 Mansfield St, Winfield, KS 67156

CCHSM Board of Directors

Top Row: Joe Chrisman, Chris Jarvis, Graham Donals
Next Rows: John Baker, Jonathan Leeper, Karen Vann Young
Lindsey Rice, Sharon Taylor, Juliie Mignone
Front Row: Cindy Goertz and Jody Lawrence

Commemorative Bricks

We partner with Dawson Monument to engrave bricks, which are for sale, and make great memorials and also support the museum. The bricks border the walkway from the parking lot to the front steps. To purchase, forms can be found on the table by the books for sale or call 620-221-4811.

There are three levels of donations: Flat red brick with 2 lines of 12 characters -$75 donation. Flat red brick with 3 lines of 12 characters -$100 donation.

A contrasting brick with 12 characters-$500 donation.

Fewer letters may be used if you wish.

Established in 1931 and revitalized in 1967 with a reloca-tion to our current home on Mansfield Street in the historic Bryant School building, the Cowley County Historical Society is dedicated to safeguarding and sharing the vibrant stories of our county’s past.

We are committed to fostering and promoting endeavors that celebrate local history. We take pride in our extensive archive of historical documents and treasured photographic memories.

Come visit and see what’s new (or old) at the museum!

All donations, both monetary and historical arti-facts, are greatly appreciated. Our building is over 140 years old and requires significant ongoing maintenance in addition to operating costs. We continue to be a no fee museum and we have no plans to change that.

Your continued support will allow us to best serve the community.

We are especially seeking anything from diverse ethnic groups to add to our displays.

Arkansas City Public Library
120 E. 5th Ave.
Arkansas City, KS
620-442-1280

Barnett Ranch, 26930
261st Rd, Dexter, KS 67038

Winfield Veterinary Hospital,
1920 E. 9th Winfield, KS
620-221-9505

Cowley County Historical Society Museum
1011 Mansfield St.
Winfield, KS 67156
620.221.4811
Email
museumcchsm@gmail.com
Website– www.cchsm.com