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Podcast

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Podcast Library

Tallgrass Prairie

A collection of podcasts about the nature, history, and culture of Tallgrass Prairie NPres and the surrounding region.

Episodes

Spring Hill Ranch House Tour Stop 6: Office/Bedroom and Back Porch

Transcript

Historic Spring Hill Ranch House Office/Bedroom and Back Porch

The first use of this room was as the Spring Hill Ranch Office, complete with telephone service. People conducting ranch business would enter the office directly from the outside through the side door to the west. The back porch enclosure was added in the 1920.

Later ranch house residents would make good use of this back porch access to turn this room into a bedroom, with the quick access to the outside useful in case of any overnight emergencies on the ranch.

History and description of the office/bedroom and back porch in the Spring Hill Ranch House at Tallgrass Prairie NPres

Spring Hill Ranch House Tour Stop 7: Dining Room and Sitting Room

Transcript

Historic Spring Hill Ranch House Dining Room and Sitting Room

The two rooms north of the back porch were the ranch house's original dining room and sitting room. A doorway to the north provided entry into the dining room from the outside. The sitting room located east of the dining room were where most evenings were spent when the parlors were not being used.

This room may have also become the primary household living room in the 20th century when the parlors downstairs were turned into storage rooms. The butler's pantry and the top of the staircase from the former downstairs kitchen are along the north wall. In the 1920s and 30s, the ranch house's kitchen was moved from downstairs into the butler's pantry. To make this possible, the butler's pantry was widened to accommodate a stove, refrigerator, and other modern appliances. A doorway was also added connecting the dining room to the sitting room/living room space.

History and description of the dining room and sitting room of the Spring Hill Ranch House at Tallgrass Prairie NPres

Spring Hill Ranch House Tour Stop 8: Upper Floor Rooms

Transcript

Historic Spring Hill Ranch House Upper Floor Rooms

Three rooms on the upper floor were used as bedrooms and guest rooms. Although the Jones family still had to use an outhouse, the upper floor of the ranch house also featured a bathing room, complete with a copper bathtub and water holding tank.

History and description of the upper floor rooms of the Spring Hill Ranch House at Tallgrass Prairie NPres

Spring Hill Ranch House Tour Stop 9: Front Porch

Transcript

Historic Spring Hill Ranch House Front Porch

Explore the front porch and view the impressive eastern face of the house and the lovely terraces and landscaping Mr. Jones constructed to enhance the look of his ranch. Along Fox Creek, marked by a line of trees east of the ranch house, Jones began building the Spring Hill Farm and Stock Ranch. In August 1878, he purchased 160 acres of rich Fox Creek bottomland for $2,000. He eventually purchased around 7,000 acres from local landowners and railroads and built.

History and description of the front porch of the Spring Hill Ranch House at Tallgrass Prairie NPres

Spring Hill Ranch House Tour Stop 10: Jones Family History After Leaving the Spring Hill Ranch House

Transcript

Historic Spring Hill Ranch House Jones Family History After Leaving the Spring Hill Ranch House

The Jones family lived on the Spring Hill Ranch for only eight years, from 1878 until 1886, living in the ranch house for only five of those years, from 1881 until 1886. In 1886, they moved to Kansas City, Missouri so their daughter and two of her nieces could attend high school. However, within a year, Loutie married E. Percy Hickman and Stephen and Louisa returned to the Flint Hills, taking up residence in Strong City.

In 1888, they sold the Spring Hill Ranch to their southern neighbor, Barney Lantry, a limestone supplier. Stephen would then go on to be successful in banking, real estate, and several other businesses throughout the remainder of the 19th century.

In 1891, Stephen and Louisa celebrated the birth of their granddaughter, Mildred Hickman, but three years later mourned the passing of their youngest daughter and Mildred's mother, Loutie Jones Hickman at the age of 23. Mildred would be then raised for a short time by her grandparents, until she went to go live with an aunt in 1905. Then in 1908, Louisa passed away, leaving Stephen to live his final days in Wichita with his daughter, Christiana and her husband, Calvin "Wit" Adair.

Finally, in April 1914, Stephen passed away at the age of 87. He was laid to rest in Prairie Grove Cemetery in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, five miles to the south of the Spring Hill Ranch, along with his wife Louisa, daughter Loutie, and his wife's mother, Adeline Barber.

The experiences of the Jones family on the Spring Hill Ranch helped to set in place the foundations of the beloved way of life in the Flint Hills, a way of life that continues today.

History and description of the Jones family's life after leaving the Spring Hill Ranch House

Spring Hill Ranch Barn Tour Stop 1: Introduction

Transcript

Historic Spring Hill Ranch Barn Introduction

The massive Spring Hill Ranch Farm and Stock Ranch Barn stands as an impressive example of form following function. Completed in early 1882, the three-floor barn's multiple functions of animal keeping and hay, grain, and equipment storage, have given it a beautiful working form that has stood up quite well to many decades of use and varied activity.

Spring Hill Ranch Barn Introduction

Spring Hill Ranch Barn Tour Stop 2: Beginnings

Transcript

Historic Spring Hill Ranch Barn Beginnings

Finished in early 1882 and costing around $15,000 to build, the barn is the working center of the ranch. It remains one of the largest historic limestone barns in Kansas, standing three stories tall and measuring 60 feet wide by 110 feet long. The lower floor was set up as stables for cattle and horses. The main floor stored wagons, hay, an other equipment. The upper floor was used for more hay storage, as well as for grain storage, and was large enough to accommodate entire teams of horses and wagons. These wagons entered the upper floor by driving up one ramp and exited by driving out the other ramp. A large, two-headed, 30 feet in diameter windmill was at one time attached to the barn and could generate 12 horsepower to grind grain and drive other equipment. However, it was dismantled in 1884 when high Kansas winds threatened to destroy it. An 1887 lithograph, however, draws the windmill back into its original place, between the two upper-level ramps.

Beginnings of the Spring Hill Ranch Barn at Tallgrass Prairie NPres

Spring Hill Ranch Barn Tour Stop 3: Main Floor

Transcript

Historic Spring Hill Ranch Barn Main Floor

The main floor of the barn, which used to store wagons, plows, harnesses, and other equipment and vehicles useful on the Spring Hill Ranch. In the 1940s the barn was modified to accommodate modern uses. On the barn's western side, a grain dump and auger were installed to move grain and feed, dumped by trucks entering the barn's west side, into four, 1,000 bushel storage bins on the upper floor. On the barn's eastern side, steel I-beams were installed to support the new storage bins. Small augers were installed to move the grain and feed into trucks entering the barn's east side. Finally, the floors on both sides of the barn were strengthened to carry the extra weight of the incoming feed trucks.

History and description of Main Floor inside the Spring Hill Ranch Barn at Tallgrass Prairie NPres

Spring Hill Ranch Barn Tour Stop 4: Lower Floor

Transcript

304: Historic Spring Hill Ranch Barn Lower Floor

The lower floor of the Spring Hill Ranch Barn was used as a stable area and could accommodate cattle, horses, and other livestock. A hopper for the large, modern grain auger is also visible on the lower floor.

History and description of the lower floor inside the Spring Hill Ranch Barn at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

Spring Hill Ranch Barn Tour Stop 5: Upper Floor

Transcript

Historic Spring Hill Ranch Barn Upper Floor

Originally, the upper floor of the barn was used to store hay and grain. Later ranch owners would also use the upper floor for storage. In the 1940s, four 1,000 bushel grain and feed bins were installed on the upper floor. Remnants of the former windmill can be seen in the rafters of the barn's roof.

History and description of upper floor inside the Spring Hill Ranch Barn at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

Spring Hill Ranch Barn Tour Stop 6: Stone Corrals

Transcript

Historic Spring Hill Ranch Barn Corrals

Stone corral walls enclosed space to the south and west of the barn to contain cattle during roundups. These walls had been reconstructed by stonemasons from Lexington, Kentucky using traditional dry stone building methods and techniques. No mortar is used to hold the stones together. Only the sheer weight of the stones themselves, the friction between them, and the precise shaping and fitting of the stones, hold the walls together.

History and description of stone corrals of the Ranch Barn at Tallgrass Prairie NPres

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