Driving Kansas: Burlington

Apple-picking time is here again and that means another trip South, this time to an exciting destination of Burlington, KS. Somehow, I have never realized that the Wolf Creek Nuclear Generating Station is located near Burlington, or even in Kansas, but the distinct-looking domed building is clearly visible while approaching the town on HWY 75. We had to cut our visit to Burlington short because we had plans for the evening and my camera’s battery was getting low, but I did manage to snap a few photos and resolved to come back to the area for a more detailed look.

At the first glance, Burlington the Coffey County seat –  is not much different from the other rural county seats in Kansas like Garnett or Cottonwood Falls.

Similar-looking downtown, clean and in decent shape…

…City Hall inside an old bank building…

…a video rental and and insurance agency…

…a cleverly named store…

…an old railroad engine caboose in front of the museum…

…but Burlington has something other places don’t – murals clearly drawn by a carnival cartoonist, displayed on the side of a local newspaper building.

More typical old buildings…

…a beautiful car…

…Burlington elementary school has an unexpected colonnade in front of it…

…buildngmaterials…

…a nice-looking church…

…an old body-shop.

This mural depicts a courthouse that no longer exists. I didn’t even take a photo of a new courthouse, it was that boring. On the left we see Frederick and Isabelle Scott Troxel, who, according to my kid, look about the same, but one has no beard. Wolf Creek Generating Station is on the right.

Gods Store House…

…this old place…

…Dan’s Hair…

…has a competing barber shop across the street…

…I think the former movie theater a club of some sort…

…Across The Border Mexican and American cuisine…

…prefers to see the 1.97% of the city’s Mexican population behind bars (behind bars! get it?)….

…dentist…

…photography…

…insurance and real estate…

…victrolas…

…and some old barn on the way out of town.

Follow the road past this barn and eventually you will find Garnett, then Osawatomie, Paola and Olathe is just a short distance away.