Columbus Museum & Genealogy Library - Columbus, Kansas The Columbus Museum & Genealogy Library in Columbus, Kansas attempts to take visitors back in time to see Columbus was in the past. The museum displays farm equipment, vintage clothing, and memorabilia from area schools, church and businesses. One of the exhibits is devoted to Merle Evans, who grew up in Columbus and was a bandmaster for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus for 50 years. The most unusual display is a giant ball of string which was wound by Eddie Fouts of Columbus, starting in 1941. In 1952, he and the ball of string were on the TV show "I've Got a Secret" with Gary Moore. At that time the ball weighed about 600 pounds. When Mr. Fouts passed away in 1957, the ball weighed 826 pounds and contained 468 miles of string. One of the largest displays is a scale model of the Spencer Chemical Company Jayhawks Works which was located near Pittsburg, Kansas. The facility processed unirradiated uranium scrap for the Atomic Energy Commission, recovering enriched uranium from it for use in the weapons complex. It closed in 1961. The model was built in 1948 by 6 Jayhawk employees. One very simple display is dedicated to the Cherokee County Community High School's class of 1929, which holds the Guinness World Record for the longest running class renunion. The record was established on June 24, 2000, when the class held its 71st class reunion with 12 of the original 110 attending. It went on to hold the 77th class reunion in Columbus, Kansas on June 27, 2006, when 6 were still alive and 4 former class members attended the reunion. The Columbus Sports Hall of Fame is also housed in the museum.
copyright 2008-2023 by Keith Stokes |
