Attractions

Midland Railway

Depot: (785) 594-6982
K.C.-area: (913) 371-3410
Toll-Free: (800) 651-0388
http://www.midland-ry.org/midland.html

The Midland Railway offers scenic train rides on an 11-mile round trip from Baldwin City to Norwood. The train operates rain or shine Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays during the summer season. Day Out with Thomas 2008 will be held again next year during the 1st two weekends in June. Railway season opens with the Thursday excursion on June 17 and runs through the end of October. A Mystery Train and Terror Train take place each fall in a joint effort with the Baldwin City Community Theatre. Call for current departure times and fares or visit the calendar of events on the chamber website. Other special events are also held during the year. The railway is a joint project of the Midland Railway Historical Association and the Santa Fe Trail Historical Society. The Railway Depot is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Baker University

PO Box 65
Baldwin City, KS 66006-0065
1 (800) 873-4282

Baker is a small private university affiliated with the Methodist church. It was established in 1858 along the Santa Fe Trail and is the oldest university in Kansas. Baker's three schools serve more than 2,000 students at various campuses: the College of Arts and Sciences at the main Baldwin campus, the School of Nursing at Stormont-Vail Regional Health Center in Topeka, and the School of Professional and Graduate Studies in Overland Park, Topeka, Wichita, and Lee's Summit, Mo.

Historical Buildings & The Old Castle Complex

Three of Baker's buildings are listed on the National Historical Register: Old Castle Museum, Case Hall, and Parmenter Hall. Pulliam Hall is listed on the Methodist Register. The Old Castle Complex consists of a museum, a cabin and a post office. The Kibbee cabin and Palmyra Post Office are reproductions of originals that related to Baker's history.

Sproxton English Chapel

The Clarice L. Osborne Memorial Chapel was brought to Baker from England in 1995 and reassembled on campus. The chapel was first built in 1864 and was used by former British Prime Minister Lady Margaret Thatcher's father, who preached there in the 1930s as a lay minister. The building's stones were packed in 200 crates and traveled more than 5,000 miles by boat, train and truck. The chapel is open to visitors from 6 a.m. to midnight every day. For tour information contact the University Minister's Office at (785) 594-4553.

Quayle Rare Bible Collection

The Quayle Rare Bible Collection, housed in Collins Library, was a gift to the university from the estate of Bishop William Quayle in 1925. Quayle was a Baker alumnus who later served as president. The collection includes more than 250 bibles from early Biblical manuscripts and early English Bibles to a collection containing presidential signatures from the past 50 years. The exhibit also features a late 17th century room from an English country manor house - the Urishay Castle Room. You will also view a 14th Century Tapestry that is on display. The exhibit is open Monday, Thursday and Friday from 1-4pm. Tours are available at your convenience by appointment. Contact John Forbes at 594-8393 or email to quayle@bakeru.edu for more information.

Santa Fe Trail Ruts

Photograph courtesy Dorthea Jackson

Just three miles east of Baldwin City in the Ivan Boyd Prairie Preserve, visitors can view wagon ruts carved out more than a hundred years ago by thousands of wagons traveling the trade route between Missouri and Santa Fe between 1825 and 1875.

Signal Oak

Settlers hung lanterns at night and flags by day from the top branches of the old oak tree that once sat at the top of Santa Fe Ridge, overlooking the Vinland Valley. The signals warned settlers from other communities of approaching invaders during the "Bleeding Kansas" days. The oak tree died in 1914, but a marker and plaque remain to tell visitors about a piece of Kansas history.