Kinsley
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Kinsley is the county seat of
Edwards [ED] County.
It calls itself the "Midway City" because, according to the
sign in the roadside park, it's 1561 miles from both New York
and San Francisco. During the thirties, the cover on one issue of
the Saturday Evening Post featured this sign. The town is located
near the junction of Coon Creek and the Arkansas River. The river
south of here could be jumped by a moderately athletic person.
Downtown Kinsley is really compact with narrow streets. The main
street, Sixth Street where the Carnival Mall is, is one-way.
City Hall, near downtown is fairly new. South of downtown along
highway 183, there is a large city park and fairgrounds. Along East
Seventh Street there are many large older homes.
Kinsley has both a country club (south of town) and a trap club
(at the airport).
- The stone and yellow brick Edwards County Courthouse has a neat little
decorative balcony over the front doors. It's well away from downtown at
3rd & Massachusetts; you have to cross the tracks and US-56.
- There is a roadside park in Kinsley where US-50 and 56 join. It has the Edwards
County museum, AT&SF steam locomotive #3424, an old church, and a sod house.
The church used to be at Centerview south of Lewis. The park also has a red
stone DAR marker about the Santa Fe trail, picnic tables, playground equipment,
and public rest rooms.
- The train station at Kinsley is not used anymore but it is a
baroque confection of stone and brick that surely was once a source
of great local pride.
- The Palace Theatre on Sixth Street is still in business.
- Local artists Bruce White, woodcarver, [659-2514] and John Winter,
glassblower, [659-2225] will demonstrate their crafts.
- East of Kinsley on US 50, there is a
historical marker describing
the battle of Coon Creek. When you stop, notice the unusual little hills
around. They look like little sand dunes covered with grass.
 History
Kinsley is on the Santa Fe trail near where it divides into the "Wet"
and "Dry" routes. The army fought a battle against Indians near here
at the 1848 batle of Coon Creek to protect this route. The soldiers
used "new-fangled" breechloading rifles to defeat the attacking Indians;
this seems to be the first use of breechloaders in combat by United
States troops.
The town was founded by emigrants from Massachusetts in 1873; they
named it for E. W. Kinsley of Boston. Edwards County is named for W.
C. Edwards, who built a block of brick buildings in early downtown
Kinsley.
Schools
Special Events
- Coon Creek Bluegrass Festival
- Midway Days
Library
Museum
- Edwards County Historical Society Museum (620) 659-2420
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM May - September
Highway 56-50 / Kinsley, KS 67547
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