Alma, Kansas and The Secret of Whispering Springs

Ravenstone Press *Stories of Kansas and the Great Plains*
The setting for The Secret of Whispering Springs

Alma, Kansas - The City of Native Stone

In The Secret of Whispering Springs, Annie Gwynne lived near the town of Alma, on a ranch by Mill Creek. This area is in the beautiful Flint Hills of Kansas. Annie "lived" from 1883 to 1897. Here is a little bit of background about the place where her family lived. Alma, Kansas calls itself "The City of Native Stone." The downtown area and many of the older homes are constructed of native limestone. Some of the stonework is quite intricate and beautiful. The first white settlers came to the region in 1856 and built log cabins. The townsite was chosen in 1866. Alma is in in the heart of the bluestem prairie pasture lands and eventually there were several large cattle ranches in the area. The town settlers were mainly German but there were also settlers of English descent. After three elections, Alma won the county seat in 1871. The construction of the stone buildings and homes began primarily in the 1880s. By 1866, there were well-traveled trails to Topeka, Kansas City, Junction City and Manhattan, but travel was difficult in the narrow, rocky valleys where travelers had to maneuver along and across streams, often deep in mud and blocked by rocks. Travel in and out of the area was difficult until the railroad came in 1880. Annie would have been able to travel by train. The railroad brought new businesses. By Annie's time, there were real estate offices, mortgage loan agencies, banks, drug stores, hotels, a creamery, a bakery, a restaurant, a marble works, a feed business, a livery and sale stable, groceries and general stores. The town also had a photo gallery, flour mill, book and stationery store with musical instruments, clothing and dry goods stores, as well as two newspapers. There were board sidewalks, gasoline street lamps, and a jail. Annie would have attended a stone school, and she might have enjoyed the Alma Literary Society, which began in 1885. The Alma Hotel, which you can see in one of the photos, was built in 1887. It took 5 1/2 months to build and there was a grand opening on December 12, 1887. Several crews of stone masons and carpenters, worked on it. It was host to many salesmen, political candidates, and others who came to town on the Rock Island and Santa Fe railroad lines, and was also a meeting place for town organizations. It even included a bridal suite for newlyweds. It was originally known as the Brandt Hotel and subsequently had several names and different owners. There was lots of music at public events. Singing societies, bands, and orchestra groups were organized by churches and townspeople. Parties and picnics were popular. They held all-day celebrations on July 4th with fireworks, pink lemonade and band music. The town spent $250 on fireworks for the 4th of July, 1888. Annie lived near Mill Creek. It has three branches which join just south of Alma. It empties into the Kansas River just northeast of Maple Hill in Wabaunsee County. It got its name from an early stone flour mill east of Alma. In those days, the mill pond behind the mill dam served as a Sunday outing place where people paddled small boats. Settlers were attracted to the area by excellent soil, water and tall grass. Prehistoric Indian sites abound on Mill Creek, and sometimes spear points and stone tools are found, especially on sandbars when the water is low. Mill Creek is a wildlife and bird habitat, and there are also lots of migrating birds, especially warblers, gnatcatchers, finches and wrens. Herons migrate through here. Hawks, owls and whippoorwills live in the area. There are good fishing places in pools on the creek, and some “white water,” due to the rocky area. Fish that are caught in Mill Creek include catfish, bullheads and panfish. In the area around Alma, there are miles of attractive stone fences. The state legislature passed a law giving a bounty for constructing stone or hedge fences, beginning in 1867. As early as 1869, thousands of rods of stone fences had been constructed. There would have been stone fences on Annie's ranch.
If you enjoy ghost stories in a prairie setting, don't miss Trespassing Time - Ghost Stories From the Prairie
Annie's Ranch and Home were modeled after two actual ranches in the Flint Hills. Visit the ZBar/Spring Hill Ranch: ZBar/Spring Hill Ranch The ZBar/Spring Hill Ranch in Chase County, Kansas, has a large stone barn and a spring house, much like Whispering Springs. The Dewey Ranch (now Konza Prairie) also has a large stone house, large stone barn, and outbuildings. The actual house used on the cover of The Secret of Whispering Springs is in Beloit, Kansas, northwest, quite a ways northwest of Alma, Kansas, and does not actually have a third story.
The ZBar/Spring Hill Ranch in Chase County, Kansas near Cottonwood Falls.	A view of the Flint Hills on the Konza Prairie near Manhattan, Kansas
All photos on this page are by Jerri Garretson. Copyright 2002, 2003.
More Alma and Wabaunsee County Resources on the web: Don't miss Don Palmer's wonderful photos of the Flint Hills and Mill Creek Skyline Drive. See a photo of Mill Creek. Find out more about Alma and Wabaunsee County. More good photos of Alma and Wabaunsee County. Wabaunsee County, from William G. Cutler's History of the State of Kansas, 1883. Wabaunsee County Official Website

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Last Updated July 11, 2005