Welcome to the Flint Hills Special, your digital history magazine. Please scroll down the listing of stories or search for specific subjects while exploring Kansas history from the comfort of your home.
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Minnie Palenske Zwanziger Memorial Museum Turns 50
Fifty years ago, on October 27, 1968 the Wabaunsee County Historical Society held the grand opening of their new museum in Alma, Kansas, the Minnie Palenske Zwanziger Memorial Museum. Present at the […]
1963 Wabaunsee County Farm Directory
For more than a half-century, rural directory companies in Kansas have produced county plat maps in a booklet form that feature all of the Townships of a particular county, while identifying all of the […]
The History of the Alma National Bank
-by Greg Hoots- The Alma National Bank enjoyed a prominent place in the history of the business community of Alma, Kansas, boasting a rich history in the very roots of the town. […]
Photo Friday: School District No. 20, The Cousins School
District 20 is a very early school district in Wabaunsee County, organized in 1867-1868. It is likely that the first school building was constructed of logs. In September of 1874 the school district held a […]
Eskridge Branch Library Digitizes Photos
The Eskridge Branch of the Pottawatomie-Wabaunsee Regional Library system recently partnered with Kansas writer and historian, Greg Hoots to digitize their historic photo collection. The library had a small but significant collection […]
Kratzer and Parish: Volland Then and Now, Showing at Wabaunsee County Museum
A new photography exhibit is showing at the Wabaunsee County Historical Society Museum in Alma, featuring the work of Kansas photographer and designer, Tom Parish. Kratzer and Parish: Volland Then and Now, A Re-Photography […]
Daddy’s War
A Veterans Day Tribute by Greg A. Hoots Chapter 1: Before the War I opened the lid of the big plastic storage container. The contents appeared in disarray; however, I soon realized that […]
The Alma Hotel: A Chronology
-by Greg Hoots- Joseph Brandt was born in Germany in 1828 and immigrated to America in the mid-1850s, settling first in Wisconsin where he met his wife, Christena, the daughter of Prussian […]
Dunn Home Supply, Eskridge, Kansas
-by Greg Hoots- Dean Dunn was born in 1926 in Eskridge, Kansas, the son of local pharmacist, Preston Dunn and his wife Dora. Preston Dunn had moved to Eskridge with his parents […]
