On our recent tour of the Gunsmoke Trail in Kansas, we stumbled on Fort Larned (pronounced Lar-ned) National Historic Site. Located on the Santa Fe Trail at 1767 KS Hwy 156, this is one of the best-preserved forts we have seen. We have included a lot more photos at the end here than we usually do because we really want you to see the beauty and impressive preservation of the fort.
The fort was named after the Army paymaster, Benjamin R. Larned, and was active between 1859 and 1878. It was stablished to protect travelers and merchants on the Santa Fe Trail. The original fort was built of fragile sod and adobe, then was replaced with sandstone and wood.
You can truly see how life was back during that time. Sitting in the middle of an expansive prairie, it doesn’t feel like the “middle of nowhere” as the buildings show a very full life. Just about everything you could ever want or need was provided, as you can see from the various storehouses with their groceries, clothing, kitchen and food supplies, among others.
The site has nine original buildings that have been restored and you can go into most of them. They include a bakery, barracks, officer’s quarters, school, a blacksmith shop and my favorite – the hospital, which was really quite spacious and clean. The beds aren’t narrow little single beds, but more full-size beds. Although, the attached four-hole toilet and bathroom would not have been much fun to deal with…
After it was no longer utilized as a fort, it was abandoned in 1878, then later sold to a private party and was used as a ranch. There was no protection for the historic value of the property until it became part of the National Park system in 1964.
But the most intriguing aspect of the fort to us, besides the impressive reconstruction and recreation of daily life, was the “graffiti” – the names and dates etched into the sandstone walls of almost every building. It would take forever to look at every single one, but we kept looking for ones that were easy to read and with clear dates. It was fun to see them and be part of the writer’s journey all those years ago. The oldest ones we saw was dated 1878 but there could be older ones that we didn’t see.
Of course, as a national park, is it illegal to carve on the walls now, which helps preserve the site.
Fort Larned also has a small museum and gift shop that you can explore. Parking is excellent with plenty of room for your RV.
The Facebook page is excellent, with great information about the site as well as activities and living history events that are happening.
The fort is open daily from 8:30 am-4:30 pm (except for holidays). All of this is FREE, so don’t pass it up!
Now, take a look at more pictures of this historic treasure!
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