A few days ago I saw a posting on Facebook that referenced the Kansas Dept. of Transportation website where they offer images of historic maps. The map above is from 1947, the year I was born. If you can view it large enough to read, it’s quite entertaining.
My home town was Great Bend, which is near the center of the state. It got it’s name because it’s where the “great bend” of the Arkansas river is. I was surprised when I looked at Great Bend on the map as it was noted with a comic drawing of Frank Robl and labeled as the place where Frank Robl did Bird Banding. My first thought was “And that’s what Great Bend was known for in 1947 ????”
A few miles northeast of Great Bend lies Cheyenne Bottoms, a natural wetland and wildlife area. Frank Robl, it seems, was well known as an ornithologist in the county and banded birds to track their migratory patterns as they came through Cheyenne Bottoms.
I found it quite amusing to read the notations beside many of the towns in Kansas to see what they were noted for during the year of my birth.
1 comment:
I thought KS was the sunflower state??? LOL
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