Kansas's 1941 roadside markers, on the maps of their own eras

Kansas built its first roadside history sign in 1938, and in 1940 the governor authorized fifty more. By late 1941 there were fifty-six, and Kirke Mechem, secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society, had written the inscriptions himself. That November the Society's own quarterly printed fifty-five of them word for word. Those fifty-five now have permanent pages at TreeAlive, placing their 1941 text on georeferenced maps from the periods they commemorate.

55marker pages live

82,000+historical map sheets

Kirke Mechem, Kansas Historical Quarterly (November 1941), Kansas State Historical Societycredited on every page

Every dot is a live page. Click one to preview it or add it to a road trip. Prefer a list? Browse all 55 markers by county.

Featured markers

HOLLENBERG PONY EXPRESS STATION

1857–1860

See it on a period map →

GEODETIC CENTER OF NORTH AMERICA

1901

See it on a period map →

PAWNEE ROCK

1826

See it on a period map →

DODGE CITY, THE COWBOY CAPITAL

1872–1884

See it on a period map →

What a Kansas family sees

TreeAlive maps family trees. When a visitor's ancestors lived in Kansas, the markers standing near those places surface automatically alongside their family's journey:

Hollenberg Pony Express Station · near where a family homesteaded in Washington County in the 1870s · the ranch house four miles north, built in 1857, is believed to be the only original and unaltered Pony Express station

A marker stops being a roadside plaque and becomes a destination with a personal reason to visit. Open the live demo tree, choose the Crossings tab, and turn on Historical Markers to see the experience working (the demo family’s markers are in Pennsylvania; a Kansas family sees Kansas’s).

QR-ready, from day one

Every marker page has print-ready QR artwork. A scan at the sign opens the marker's page on the period map, no app to install. The artwork files are available to the society and its sign vendors; TreeAlive does no printing or installation.

Marker page links are permanent: identifiers are never reassigned, so a code printed today resolves for good.

QR code opening the HOLLENBERG PONY EXPRESS STATION marker page

Scan: Hollenberg Pony Express Station marker

Find a marker

Browsing all 55 markers by county.

Allen County 1

BOYHOOD HOME OF GENERAL FUNSTONUS-59, four and one-half miles north of Iola

Atchison County 1

ATCHISONUS-59, at southwestern city limits of Atchison

Barber County 1

MEDICINE LODGE PEACE TREATIESUS-160, on Peace Treaty grounds, one mile east of Medicine Lodge

Barton County 2

FORT ZARAHUS-50N, three miles east of Great Bend
PAWNEE ROCKUS-50N, west city limits of Pawnee Rock

Bourbon County 1

FORT SCOTTUS-69, at north city limits of Fort Scott

Cherokee County 1

BAXTER SPRINGS MASSACREUS-66, at Baxter Springs

Cowley County 1

OPENING OF THE CHEROKEE OUTLETUS-77, three miles south of Arkansas City

Decatur County 1

LAST INDIAN RAID IN KANSASJunction of US-36 and US-183, at northern city limits of Oberlin

Dickinson County 2

ABILENE, END OF THE CHISHOLM TRAILUS-40, two and one-half miles west of Abilene
FATHER JUAN DE PADILLA AND QUIVIRAUS-50N and US-77, one mile south of Herington

Doniphan County 2

ELWOODUS-36, one-fifth mile east of Elwood
HIGHLAND PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONUS-36, one-fourth mile east of Highland

Douglas County 3

BATTLE OF BLACK JACKUS-50, three miles east of Baldwin
LAWRENCEUS-24, three and one-half miles northeast of Lawrence
LECOMPTON—SLAVERY CAPITALUS-40, three miles south of Lecompton

Ellis County 1

FORT HAYSUS-40, at east city limits of Hays

Ellsworth County 1

FORT HARKERUS-40, one and one-half miles north of Kanopolis

Finney County 1

THE INDIAN AND THE BUFFALOUS-50S, at Garden City

Ford County 2

DODGE CITY, THE COWBOY CAPITALUS-50S, one mile west of Dodge City
FORT DODGEUS-154, at State Soldiers' Home, four miles southeast of Dodge City

Geary County 2

FIRST CAPITOL OF KANSASUS-40, east of Junction City, in the First Capitol grounds, Fort Riley military reservation
FORT RILEYUS-40, east of Junction City, in Fort Riley military reservation

Grant County 1

WAGON BED SPRINGSUS-270, eleven miles south of Ulysses

Harper County 1

OLD RUNNYMEDEK-2, at Runnymede

Harvey County 1

RED TURKEY WHEATUS-50S, one-half mile east of Walton

Jefferson County 1

BATTLE OF HICKORY POINTUS-59, one-fourth mile north of Dunavant

Johnson County 2

OREGON AND SANTA FE TRAILSUS-50, one-fifth mile west of Gardner
SHAWNEE FRIENDS MISSIONJunction K-10 and US-50, near Shawnee

Kearny County 1

CHOUTEAU'S ISLANDUS-50, one mile west of Lakin

Lincoln County 1

LINCOLN COUNTY INDIAN RAIDSK-18, two miles east of Lincoln

Linn County 2

BATTLE OF MINE CREEKUS-69, about two miles south of Pleasanton
MARAIS DES CYGNES MASSACREUS-69, at north edge of Trading Post

Marshall County 1

MARYSVILLEUS-36, one mile east of Marysville

McPherson County 1

KANSAS INDIAN TREATYUS-81, about five miles southeast of McPherson (near Elyria)

Meade County 1

LONE TREE MASSACREUS-54, one and one-quarter miles west of Meade

Mitchell County 1

WACONDA, OR GREAT SPIRIT SPRINGUS-24, about three miles east of Cawker City

Montgomery County 1

CIVIL WAR BATTLE, DRUM CREEK TREATYUS-160, about one mile east of Independence

Morris County 1

COUNCIL GROVEUS-50N, one-third mile east of Council Grove

Neosho County 2

MISSION NEOSHOUS-59, on Christian church grounds at Shaw
OSAGE CATHOLIC MISSIONK-57, at east city limits of St. Paul

Osborne County 1

GEODETIC CENTER OF NORTH AMERICAUS-24 and US-281, one-fourth mile north of Osborne

Pawnee County 1

FORT LARNEDUS-50N, six miles west of Larned

Pottawatomie County 1

ST. MARYSUS-24, at east city limits of St. Marys

Republic County 1

PIKE-PAWNEE VILLAGEUS-36, near Republican river bridge at Scandia

Rice County 1

CORONADO AND QUIVIRAUS-50N, west of Lyons

Saline County 1

INDIAN BURIAL PITUS-40, about four miles east of Salina

Scott County 1

EL QUARTELEJOUS-83, 10½ miles north of Scott City

Sedgwick County 2

INDIAN TREATIES ON THE LITTLE ARKANSASUS-81, four miles north of Wichita
THE CHISHOLM TRAILUS-81, one and one-half miles north of Wichita

Shawnee County 1

CAPITAL OF KANSASUS-75, one-fourth mile north of Topeka

Sumner County 1

CALDWELL AND THE CHISHOLM TRAILUS-81, one mile south of Caldwell

Wallace County 1

FORT WALLACEUS-40, at Wallace

Washington County 1

HOLLENBERG PONY EXPRESS STATIONUS-36, one-half mile east of junction with K-15E (near Hanover)

Wyandotte County 1

KANSAS CITY, KANSASUS-24, nine miles west of Kansas City