Santa Fe Trail 80th Street D.A.R. Marker - Overland Park, Kansas
Posted by: iconions
N 38° 59.048 W 094° 40.314
15S E 355190 N 4316345
This is the first of five DAR markers placed in 1906 in Johnson County, Kansas.
Waymark Code: WM3120
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 01/22/2008
Views: 71
An explanation of the DAR markers in Kansas from the Johnson County, Kansas History website:
(
visit link)
The historic Santa Fe Trail and Oregon-California Trail easily ranks as the most marked historic places in Johnson County. While the paths of these overland trails show little physical evidence of the hundreds of thousands of travelers who traversed this area, monuments and signs placed by various organizations abundantly mark these historic routes. One of the earliest marker programs in the nation started here in the State of Kansas. The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) was one of the first organizations to mark historic places throughout the country, starting in our region with the Santa Fe Trail. In 1880, the railroad arrived in Santa Fe and the old Santa Fe Trail was no longer commonly used. The DAR recognized the historical significance of the Santa Fe Trail, and beginning in the early 20th century, marked the trail before commercialization and highways obliterated what remained.
On March 1, 1905, an act of the Kansas Legislature made $1,000.00 available to mark the Santa Fe Trail through Kansas under the joint supervision of the regent of the Kansas chapter of the DAR and the secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society. The markers were made from red granite rock from Oklahoma. The program provided a total of 89 markers, with additional markers produced by local communities making a grand total of 96 markers to be placed throughout the state of Kansas. In 1906, five of these markers were placed in Johnson County.