Northwest Corners Monument
Location: This one is not on most maps, so pay close attention. Go North on Hwy K-27 13 miles from it's Jct. with Hwy US 36. Turn West at the marked turn off. Go 4 miles West and turn North at marked intersection. After traveling Northwest for 7 miles turn West at the marker and cross the cattle guard. Follow the marked route for 2 3/4 miles to the monument. Dry Weather Road Only. See contact for a detailed pamphlet with a map.
Nearest Town: St. Francis
Contact: Ph.
785/332-2961 or Email:
schamber@ruraltel.net
The
corners of the states Kansas, Colorado, and Nebraska meet at the
small benchmark located near the center of this enclosure. It's a monument
of sorts to the early surveyors who faced huge obstacles when surveying the
state lines as early as the 1860's. These men faced hostile Indians, heat,
cold, and lack of water. Just to keep things interesting, they were
expected to accurate down to the inch with imaginary lines hundreds of miles
long.
Like
the monument at the Southwest corner of Kansas, this one also
draws the visitor like a magnet to stand over the marker and to be in three
states at once.
The monument is on private land. Please be considerate so that it will stay open to the public. If you notice trash left behind by some knot-head, please pick it up.
Like
a lot of the really great off-the-beaten-path attractions in
Kansas, the Northwest Corners Monument is in a cattle pasture. In the
photo at left is a limestone marker which is 621.7 feet south of the brass
benchmark, and was put here by the surveyor Oliver Caffee in 1869. Why he
did this has to do with baselines and some other surveyor-type stuff that
neither me nor the cows could understand. The cows do think it's pretty
neat someone would put something for them to rub on way out here.
Please sign the register located in the mailbox at the brass marker, and don't try to tip the cows.