About Our Home
Wide open spaces invite exploration even as they remind us of the care generations have taken to preserve the tallgrass prairie. We are eager to share our rural heritage and livelihood and invite you to linger here — and to help us protect its beauty.
Local History
Visitor’s Pledge
We love welcoming guests to Wabaunsee County. We ask all visitors to help us keep the Flint Hills shining bright for generations to come by taking the following pledge.
I promise to:
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Honor the beauty of the Flint Hills — its wide-open spaces, winding roads and close-knit communities;
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Treat the land with care — as if it were my own — and leave no trace behind;
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Support local businesses, listen to local stories and share in the pride of this special place;
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Show kindness to every person I meet, knowing that hospitality goes both ways; and
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Respect the working landscape — its farms, livestock and the daily rhythms of rural life.
The story of this region begins with the tallgrass prairie, the Kansas Flint Hills, and the people who shaped their lives around the natural resources found here. Paleo-Indians once shared this landscape with woolly mammoths and long-horned bison, and centuries later the Kansa and Osage continued to hunt and farm across the prairie. By the 1830s, forced migration brought Shawnee, Kansa, and Potawatomi communities into the area, and their presence remains a meaningful part of today’s narrative.
After the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, Wabaunsee County was officially organized in 1859, just before Kansas achieved statehood. It was later named for Chief Wabanosie of the Potawatomi Tribe. The county became known for its strong anti-slavery convictions, supporting the Underground Railroad and hosting the Connecticut Colony that established the Beecher Bible and Rifle Church. Funds raised by Henry Ward Beecher helped supply firearms—soon called “Beecher Bibles”—to the new congregation.
Early settlers quickly realized the rocky soil would not support traditional crops, yet it produced exceptional native grasses ideal for grazing livestock. Ranching took root and still thrives today. Visitors can see its legacy in stone fences, barns, ranch signs, barn quilts, and folk art throughout the countryside.