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Alma, Kansas

Alma, Kansas

Alma, Kansas, the Wabaunsee County Seat, is a small community rich in German heritage. Alma is part of the Scenic Mill Creek Drive, one of the most beautiful in Kansas, providing a panoramic view of both Mill Creek and the endless rolling Flint Hills country.

Nestled in the beautiful Flint Hills, Alma is a stable community, surrounded by fertile farmland and bluestem grasslands. Mill creek winds through the area providing excellent fishing and canoeing along with the nearby City Reservoir and six federal Reservoirs within a 50-mile radius. The rural area abounds with excellent quail, prairie chicken, and deer.

The picturesque town of Alma first was a site of the Indian Pottawatomie tribe. Later in 1858, the first white settlement emerged, mostly settled by Germans, with some Swedish, English and Irish. The Germans were the most permanent and the most satisfied with the hard life of the pioneers, and they remained, their Teuton names still pepper the town and county: Palenske, (German-Polish), Thoes, Treu, Zwan Ziger, Ringel Vobach, Stueve, Schmitz, Schmidt, Geisler, Mueller, Hafenstein, and many others who have lent continuity and substance to this vicinity.

The town's name "Alma" has taken on controversial stories over the years. Some pioneers claimed it was named for the bloody battle of Alma in the Crime War in which Germans took part and some of its survivors later came to America. Others simply say that Alma was a pleasant settlement in Germany, remembered by the adventurers who left it. Another suggestion was that the name Alma means in Swedish, "A high place, frequented by Herds-men and by lovers." The latter name is at least, the most poetic, so we are willing to settle for that.

"Alma... has it all!"

Attractions and Upcoming Events

Wabaunsee Co. Historical Society & Museum

A focal point for visitors near and far. The museum features turn-of- the-century farm exhibits, a blacksmith shop, leather-making display, an early day doctor's office, an 1880 schoolroom, a 1928

Alma, KS Museums

Eck/Stratton Residence

The gingerbread trim home was built by Mr. Eck, who was a lumberman in Alma. It was built in 1904 and features a turret room, a tower resembling a castle, and original lap siding.

Alma, KS Famous Homes

Historic Stone Fences

The federal government abolished the open range in a law passed in 1867. The government paid farmers $.40 per rod (16.5 feet) to build and maintain a 4.5

Alma, KS Scenic Drives

Alma City Office

This beautiful and stately native stone building was once one of the finest building in town. It was built in the early 1880s by the Limerick Brothers, two red-headed Irishmen. These freckled, Irishmen came swinging into Alma with a fortune of $375,000 to invest, which they did in splendid style.

Alma, KS Historic Buildings

Stone House in City Park

This house was built in the 1880

Alma, KS Famous Homes

Things to do near Alma, KS

Self-Guided Walking and Driving Tours

Emporia, founded in 1857, includes several sites of national and local significance. These tours provide a view of Emporia fr...