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Lawrence, Kansas

The Watkins Museum anchors the south end of downtown on Massachusetts Street. The three-story red brick building houses exhibits and artifacts of the area's history, including a display on the history of basketball. Current exhibits include "Early Settlement," which details Lawrence as an 1850's Free State fortress, and "On the Banks of the Kaw," an exhibit of Douglas County dating back 300 million years, when the area was once a shallow inland sea. Notable artifacts include a restored 1920 Milburn electric car, a 1900 surrey with a fringe top, and an 1878 two room children's playhouse.

Perhaps the most significant exhibit of the Watkins Community Museum is the building itself. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is a Richardsonian Romanesque building, considered to be one of the finest examples of such a building in the State of Kansas. The wide round arches around the windows and entrances are indicative of the style. The building features ash on the first floor for the main woodwork and then oak on the second floor, and then yellow curly pine or burly pine as it's called on the top floor. The beauty of the 45 foot tall and 25 foot wide stairwell and attractive marble mosaic floors complement the wainscoting of Tennessee marble and Mexican onyx. The eye is drawn to the 25 foot long hanging chandelier with its brass, simulated jewel encrusted, glass-globed, two-part fixture.

Commissioned by Lawrence financier, Jabez Bunting ("J.B.") Watkins, the future Watkins Land Mortgage and National Bank was constructed between 1885 and 1888. It was designed by Cobb and Frost, two architects from Chicago, who also designed the Palmer Home of Chicago of the 19th century as well as the terminal of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.

Attractions and Upcoming Events

KU Natural History Museum

Established in 1866, this museum is nationally recognized for its public exhibits and collections as well as research and graduate education. The museum's exhibits are housed in Dyche Hall, on the main campus of the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Dyche Hall is listed on the

Lawrence, KS Museums

Prairie Park Nature Center

This center hosts a vast system of trails, a bird watching area and prairie observatory. The main building houses nine permanent exhibits plus a classroom, gift shop and meeting room. The park encompasses 71 acres and contains approximately eight acres of virgin, never plowed prairie with nearly 180

Lawrence, KS Learning Centers

Spencer Museum of Art

Seven galleries display selections from the permanent collection of over 17,000 works of art. Special exhibitions drawn from the collection for touring from other museums are displayed in four additional galleries.

Lawrence, KS Museums

Historic Cemeteries Tour

While cemeteries are the final resting place of friends, relatives, and community residents, they are also historical landscapes that reveal much about a community'

Lawrence, KS Cemeteries

Wakarusa River Valley Heritage Museum

The Wakarusa River Valley Heritage Museum has a small but rich collection of local memorabilia including exhibits on the original African-American settlements in the area, the "Border Wars" and the Underground Railroad that passed through the area.

Lawrence, KS Museums

Things to do near Lawrence, KS

Clinton Lake Fishing Report

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT ACCURATE FISHING REPORTS: This is just to remind you that fishing reports are given with the bes...

Sports Center Golf Complex

Course Access: PublicHoles: 9Reserve Advance Tee Times: Yes...

Old Schoolhouse/Residence

Lyndon's first school was located in the home on Madison Street shortly after Lyndon was founded in 1870. The house continued...