Langdon, KS

Langdon, KS.  According to census data, the population here is 42.  That's down thirty from the 2000 census.  That can't bode well for its future.

The Langdon city hall.  The town is still incorporated.

We were attracted to this building largely because of the cat camped out in the doorway.

A big part of the fun of these trips around the state has been the animals we've encountered along the way.  

In 1998 I photographed this canopy-style gas station with my trusty old AE-1.  If I can find the photograph I'll scan and upload it.  In those days there were still gas pumps on the island.  

Another gas station across the street.  I don't recall if the pumps were there in '98.

Defunct antiques store.

These older commercial buildings often had nice detailing.  No snap-in mullions on those windows.

Arlington, KS

Arlington, KS is situated on KS 61 in Reno County.  Our primary purpose for stopping was to eat at Carolyn's Essenhaus.  

I've heard about this place for years but never got around to trying it until now.  We'd hoped to try their pan-fried chicken, but that's only on Wednesday.  But we certainly weren't disappointed by the food we ordered and the prices were reasonable.  The chocolate pie was superb.  

I have mixed feelings about antiques stores.  I wish there were more 'normal' businesses in these towns, selling hardware and goods that people drive miles to purchase these days.  But without the loving care given to this building by the current proprietor, it would have probably been left to rot.  And it's no small task to attract tourists and the dollars they seem willing to spend.

Small town grocers are becoming an increasingly rare sight.

The main street of Arlington abruptly ends at KS 61.  At this junction is the Crazy Horse Dining Hall which we intend to try the next time we are in the area.  I like the old 'Cafe' sign but it's too bad that the neon was removed at some point.

I'm a sucker for old motels.  I wonder if the owner of the establishment lives above the convenience store.  Admittedly a bit silly, a dream of mine has always been to own and operate a classic motel.

Across KS 61 on the road that leads to Sterling is an old structure that might have once been a school although I haven't been able to determine this for certain.  It appears to be vaguely parochial. 

It's amazing what time and nature can do to even the most solid of mankind's structures.

A 19th-century structure across from the old school.  

Trembley, 1921.

At the eastern edge of the downtown.   Haven is 22 miles distant.

When researching Arlington I stumbled across this.  

Gypsum, KS

Gypsum, KS, located on one of my favorite roads in Kansas-- KS Highway 4.  The town still has many nice structures, but apart from a gun store and a service station, there aren't many businesses still in operation.  Overall it's a nice town and one that could be rebuilt by a new generation of purposeful citizens.

  

Moore Grain and Feed Co.  

Drink Coca-Cola.  Gothic windows aren't a common design element on buildings in Kansas.

City Auditorium.  We've passed through Gypsum many times over the years and I vaguely recall a semi-famous country act performing here at some point in the recent past.

This service station is still in operation-- a definite rarity these days.  In the olden days places like this would top up your radiator, check your oil, air up your tires, dispense free road maps and little framed pictures of a stream with a tiny thermometer inset next to the inscription bearing "Ollie's 66" or some such.  Outside would be an old-fashioned pop machine dispensing grape soda in honest-to-God glass bottles.

Alas, no soda fountain or daily specials for us as the Cookie Jar Cafe is out of business.

The Country Cafe also appears to be no more.

Old calaboose, right off the main street of town.  I wonder if its former occupants filed grievances over the living conditions!

Today a building like this would be a metal shed, ostensibly to save construction expenses.  Today, even McMansions don't have this quality of brick work or detail.  

Abandoned grain elevator.  The town's levee can be see off in the far distance.

This elevator is still in use.  However, the railroad that serviced it is long gone.  

Strange house on a side street.  I couldn't tell for certain if this wasn't once a church.

Abandoned school, in the tertiary stages of decay.  Hard to imagine the voices of children learning their ABCs in this dilapidated facility.  I've read that to demolish structures like these is prohibitively expensive but I can't see this place escaping the wrecking ball much longer.

I wonder when was the last class to have graduated from Gypsum High.  I also wonder if they don't look at the building and feel a profound sense of loss.  The people who built this school clearly intended for it to last forever, but these days forever isn't very long.

In years past even truck trailers had nice styling.  'Progress' seems to go hand-in-hand with ugliness.

Modern day ruins.

Nice pagoda-style structure for the public water fountain.  

Rather than having their children share the same bridge that cars use, the residents in years past decided to build a separate bridge for pedestrians.  These were to be found in several locations in Gypsum.  Today such a thing would be found to "cost too much." Besides, who walks anymore anyway?

Another pedestrian bridge-- this one doesn't parallel any roads and was built for the sake of those on foot.

Slumbering cats.

According to Wikipedia, Frank Wilkeson lived here.  

Kipp, KS

Though just a short drive from Salina and despite boasting a Great Plains manufacturing facility, Kipp appears to be clinging onto life like so many other Kansan towns.

Kipp, an unincorporated town southeast of Salina, KS.

Former church converted into someone's home.

"Stay out!"  

For some reason, this looks like the sort of place someone's grandmother would live.  Perhaps it's the pink trim, planter boxes and the garland around the bright yellow fence.

The main street of Kipp.

This crazy cat entertained us with his antics.  Apparently he was after a bird. 

The old railroad grade extends off into the distance.  Too bad the trains no longer run and too bad this wasn't converted into a hiking/biking trail. There are signs (not seen in the photos) warning off would be interlopers, but I can't really blame the property owners-- often ATVs will use these old grades to access fields and to generally raise hell.

A Great Plains facility in the old school.

As always, I think about the good and bad times that made this place a home once upon a time.  

Pedestrian bridge decorated with Christmas lights in the remnants of an abandoned park at the eastern edge of town.

Battered remains of the outhouse in the former park near the pedestrian bridge.  It's amazing to me how nice small towns used to be before people could just escape in the cars to the mall.  I wonder why and when the town gave up on this place-- was it when Kipp went unincorporated?  In any case, there are few things more depressing to me than abandoned parks.  Often, even the most moribund locales still maintain some kind of park or playground.  Alas, not Kipp.

A thriving little town of Saline county, is located on the line between Solomon and Eureka townships, and on the Missouri Pacific R. R. about 11 miles southeast of Salina, the county seat. It has telegraph and express offices and a money order postoffice. The population in 1910 was 150.
From: Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc.; edited by Frank W. Blackmar, A. M. Ph. D.; In Two Volumes, Illustrated; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, 1912, Volume II