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Hays KS Tourist Attractions
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Hays KS Tourist Attractions
Tourist attractions in Hays KS - Theme Parks, Tours, Museums, National Parks, Historic Sites & More!
Below is a list of attractions in Hays KS to help you plan a Hays KS Vacation! Find detailed information on the Hays KS tourist attraction entries by clicking on their links. Narrow your search by selecting from a specific Hays KS attraction category on the left hand menu.
Create an online Hays KS vacation itinerary
You can use WeGoPlaces.com to plan your Hays KS vacation itinerary! To begin, select from our list of Hays KS tourist attractions, activities, accommodations, events, restaurants or Hays KS vacation & visitor information entries. Click the "Add" button to add individual entries to your online Hays KS vacation itinerary.
Explore All Of Kansas's Regions
You can find Kansas tourist attractions and activities in all of Kansas's regions: Hays, Junction City, Kansas City, Lindsborg , Overland Park, Salina, Topeka, Wichita and Other.
Featured Kansas Tourist Attractions and Activities
Please visit our Kansas featured listings - Darius Rucker at Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts, Brad Paisley at Intrust Bank Arena and Bon Jovi at Intrust Bank Arena.
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Ellis County Historical Society Museum
See the history of Ellis County
Category: Hays Museum in Kansas
Description of this Hays Attraction: 100 W. 7th
Hays, KS 67601
785-628-2624
Hours:
Summer hours – June-August
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Tuesday – Friday and
1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Saturday
Winter hours – 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Tuesday – Friday
Admission: $4.00 Adults, $1.00 children (3 –12 years)
www.elliscountyhistoricalmuseum.org
Located at the corner of 7th and Main in downtown Hays, the Ellis County Historical Society Museum exists to preserve and relate the county's colorful history.
Beginning with its infamous Wild West days, the permanent exhibit gallery highlights not only the well-known characters who walked the streets, such as "Wild Bill" Hickok, "Buffalo Bill" Cody, and General George Armstrong Custer, but also lesser known but equally interesting scouts,and buffalo hunters. Learn about the clash of the railroad with the buffalo, and with the Native Americans who called this their hunting grounds.
Find out about our Boot Hill, its disreputable host of residents, and its distinction as the first Boot Hill west of the Missouri River. A visit to the museum's display on Boot Hill greatly adds to one's appreciation of the site itself, which is located at 18th & Fort.
Visitors round out their time spent in the Wild West with a trip to our saloon, where they may learn how to play the Old West's favorite card game, Faro.
Continuing on through time, the gallery leads visitors into our settlement era, when English and Scottish gentry hunted and played polo in an area they named for their queen, Victoria, and their leader, George Grant who brought the first black Aberdeen Angus cattle to America. Many are surprised to learn of a Socialist commune begun by a Danish expatriate who lasted until the food ran out. Better organized were the Bukovina Germans who settled in the Ellis area and the Volga Germans who settled in and around Hays.
A special exhibit on water in Ellis County gives one a better understanding of the difficulties of settling the area, and the resourcefulness of the people who prospered in the undertaking.
Other elements of the gallery include photographs and artifacts from the turn of the 20th century and beyond. Included is a glimpse of Walker Air Base, a bustling beehive of activity during World Ward II, housing 6,000 people and many B29 bombers at its pinnacle, but today a ghost town. The permanent exhibit gallery leads visitors to a better understanding of how Ellis County has grown and changed through the years.
Children of all ages enjoy the Learning Center, located in the balcony overlooking the permanent exhibit gallery. A one-room school exhibit sets the stage for learning about life before electricity and piped water. This popular area augments displays with hands-on items for all to try out or try on.
Incorporated within the museum itself is an 1879 native stone chapel, the oldest building originally erected as a church in Ellis County. It is thought to be the oldest existing church building in western Kansas and contains some of the original furnishings.
There are three sites on the grounds of the museum. The Harness Shop is an original structure
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Ellis County Historical Society Museum
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Fort Hays State Historic Site
Museum located on the grounds of Indian Wars fort.
Category: Hays Historic Site in Kansas
Description of this Hays Attraction: Fort Hays was first established in the fall of 1865 as Fort Fletcher and was to protect travelers and mail coaches along the Smoky Hill Trail. It was closed after only six months when the trail was no longer in use. In the fall of 1866 Fort Fletcher was reopened in order to help protect railroad workers building the Union Pacific Railway, Eastern Division, to Denver. Shortly after reopening it was renamed Fort Hays. In the spring of 1867 the fort was relocated 15 miles west to its present location on the south edge of present-day Hays, Kansas. It became a major supply depot for other forts as well as a base for troops. Famous units stationed at Fort Hays included the 9th and 10th Cavalry's (the famed "Buffalo Soldiers"), the 5th Infantry, and the 7th Cavalry. General Philip Sheridan, General Nelson Miles, Major Marcus Reno, and General George Armstrong Custer were some of the famous military figures associated with Fort Hays. It was closed in 1889 and in 1965 became a state historic property administered by the Kansas Historical Society.
The museum consists of two wood frame officers' homes, a stone guardhouse and a stone blockhouse.
One officers' home has recently been renovated interprets unique perspective on life at Fort Hays. One half of the building shows the early period in the late 1860s when life was fast-paced and troops frequently moved in and out of the fort. The other half shows the latter period when things were much slower. The 18th Infantry was stationed here the last 5 years the fort was in operation so officers had time to furnish and decorate their homes to personal taste. The other officers' home shows the difference in rank structure and how living quarters were assigned.
The guardhouse (military prison) has also undergone extensive conservation in the recent past. Exhibits are currently being designed and will be installed by December 2009.
The blockhouse was originally built as a barrack building although its major use was as the post headquarters building. Exhibits tell its interesting story.
A modern visitor's center is also on site. A variety of exhibits and displays interpret the life of Fort Hays and its occupants.
Special events are held periodically. A free Independence Day picnic (hot dogs, chips, & iced tea) and band concert is held on the museum grounds in conjunction with the city's fireworks display that takes place across the highway from the museum. The Saturday before Halloween, "Graveside Conversations" offers a tour of the Fort Hays cemetery. In early December is "Christmas Past," an open house with buildings and grounds decorated in the Victorian style. Contact the museum for specific dates and admission fees each year.
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Hays Public Library
Located in Historic Downtown Hays, Kansas
Category: Hays Culture in Kansas
Description of this Hays Attraction: The Hays Public Library, consistently ranked among America's top libraries by the HAPLR, is located in the beautiful and historic Chestnut Street District of Downtown Hays. We offer free internet access stations and Wi-Fi, periodical & book reading areas, and an art gallery. In addition to its many resources, the Library hosts many activities for youth and adults alike, including live music, special presentations by authors, games and crafts for youth, lectures and discussions, and more.
The Hays Public Library features Children's and Young Adult Departments which sport large collections of books, graphic novels, music CDs, and games, and include separate computer labs for their respective youths. The Dorothy D. Richards Kansas Room is a specialized resource for Kansas History and Genealogical research. The library is also home to the Friends of the Library used book store.
Hays' history claims such colorful figures as George Amstrong Custer, "Buffalo Bill" Cody, and "Wild Bill" Hickock; the surrounding downtown area features a historic "walking tour" exploring Hays' Wild West days. The Library is also in easy walking distance of several restaurants and shoppes, art galleries, and the Ellis County Historical Society, and is only a few blocks from Fort Hays State University.
From I-70, take exit 159 and drive south 2 miles on Vine Street (US-183), then turn west (right) at 13th and proceed to Main Street (less than one mile). Street parking is available throughout downtown Hays; a parking lot is located off of 12th Street on the southwest side of the building.
Winter Hours:
9am to 9pm Monday through Thursday
9am to 6pm Friday
9am to 5pm Saturday
1pm to 5pm Sunday
Summer Hours (between Memorial Day and Labor Day):
9am to 7pm Monday through Thursday
9am to 6pm Friday
9am to 5pm Saturday
(Closed on Sunday)
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Hays Public Library
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