Historic sites offer step back in time

Built to be one of the most splendid homes in Dodge City, Ford County's "Home of Stone" lives up to this, even today. It remains the lone stone house in Dodge City, elegant in its simplicity of line. It can also claim the distinction of being the oldest building in Dodge City that is still on its original site.
    Come step back into history.  Stand where the pioneers of the Old West lived. You can still see the parlor, basement "summer kitchen," bedrooms and exterior as they were in 1881. This building is truly Dodge City's “hidden jewel”. The home preserves a part of our history and allows those who visit a true picture of what it was like to live in those pioneer times.
    The Muellers' bedroom today houses the Ford County Historical Society's Pioneer Mothers' Collection. The parlor features original furnishings, including matching walnut chairs, a horsehair tapestry chair and a walnut loveseat. There are also pieces donated to the Historical Society, including the desk where Dodge City Town Company President Robert M. Wright wrote "Dodge City: The Cowboy Capital." (1913)
    The house is open to the public June, July and August. Hours of operation are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is not charged, but donations are welcome. Tours at other times can be scheduled by appointment. 

Coronado Cross
    The 38-foot-tall Coronado Cross on U.S. 400, one mile east of Fort Dodge, marks the location where, on June 29, 1541, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, with 300 horsemen, soldiers, guides and Franciscan friar Juan de Padilla, crossed the Arkansas River and held a Mass of thanksgiving on the nearby hills. It was the first Christian service held in the interior of the continent. Coronado Cross Park allows a view of the unplowed prairie across to the Arkansas River and to Fort Dodge, built in 1865.

Fort Dodge
    Long before Dodge City was a hustling, bustling cattle town, Fort Dodge was established to protect railroad workers and travelers on the Santa Fe Trail from the Plains Indians. Today the Fort is utilized as a retirement community and nursing facility for retired Kansas veterans. A historic library and self-guided walking tour tell the fort's history to visitors. Many of the original buildings are still in use.  The fort is located five miles east of Dodge City on Highway 400.