The Walz family donates a Kiowa KS Main St Building to the Kiowa Museum

skylarkcolo

Aug 1, 2019

4 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

a photo and press release of the Walz family after they donate a $500,000 Kiowa KS Main St Building to the Kiowa Museum — **The Kiowa KS Historical Society meeting where the** **Walz family donates a Kiowa KS Main St Building, to the Kiowa Museum**

Front of the Kiowa KS Historical Museum Annex with red roof, museum signs, blue sky, and empty street outside — **The new Kiowa Historical Museum Annex**

Positioned along the border between Kansas and Oklahoma, the City of Kiowa is a town with 796 residents.

Note: Not Kiowa County KS, but the City of Kiowa, in Barber county KS.

Wheat farming and cattle has been a significant industry in Kiowa for many years. Each year during the wheat harvest, officials from across Kansas look to Kiowa as a key indicator of the state's harvest performance. In addition to agriculture, Kiowa also produces goods and services that are distributed worldwide, from RSI Corp and The Rope Man.

Several years back, the community of Kiowa identified the need to upgrade the local hospital, leading to the completion of the new Kiowa District Hospital in 2013. This 27,600 sq. ft. facility offers services such as an emergency room, labs, therapy, and surgery to cater to the medical needs of Kiowa and the surrounding region. The hospital also oversees the Kiowa Hospital District Manor, an updated rest home facility.

Kiowa boasts of excellent schools under South Barber USD 255, an effective governing body, active civic groups, women’s clubs, and thriving downtown businesses. Just north of Main Street, there is a modern library and the Kiowa Historical Museum has two sites. The Kiowa Community Building is frequently used for events like estate sales, wedding receptions, birthday parties, dances, and community gatherings.

The local nearby cities such as Medicine Lodge, Hardtner, Hazelton, Sharon, and Kiowa. For entertainment, Kiowa has a movie theater showing current films every weekend. The Kiowa City Pool, located in Progress Park, is open throughout the summer.

As you can see, Kiowa may be small in population, but it offers a high quality of life. This is why the residents of Kiowa enjoy living in the Heartland.

A photo of the Stateline Ham station the building and equipment was donated by Steven and Barbara Walz — **Above is the New Kiowa KS museum station, honoring the old Stateline Amateur Radio Club from the 1950 and 60's, the equipment was K**0UO's first ham station in the late 1960's

The donation allows the museum to expand beyond its original location to house significant collections that were previously in storage or off-site

Historic Kiowa museum storefront with murals, red roof, and fire hydrant on a quiet street under a clear blue sky. — **Art Murals** **that depict Kiowa, KS, from Old Kiowa to New Kiowa, the Oklahoma Land Rush and the days of Carry Nation smashing her first saloon in Kiowa,** **on the side of RSI Building 543 Main St Kiowa, KS**

Dusk on a decorated main street with lit shops, cars, and signs reading Insurance Professional Associates and Speed Limit 20. — **Downtown Main St Kiowa KS**

Kiowa Historical Society acquires RSI building!

Thanks to the incredible generosity of Steve, Barbara and Miranda Walz, the Kiowa Historical Society is now the proud owner of the Walz building. Thank you Steve, Barb and Miranda for the donation! We’re keeping the original Museum and expanding into the Walz building which will not only house many items we have not had room to display in the old museum, but all the Kiowa High and South Barber High School memorabilia from the Nazarene Church as well. This is a huge project and we need your support more than ever, not only in the way of donations, but especially in the way of physical help. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Gayla Reed, Cindy Archuleta, Jim & Bobbie Parker, or anyone else in the Kiowa Historical Society. Thank you!

The wall of the RSI building 543 Main ST Kiowa KS street view of a long wall covered in historic murals, with Welcome and Historic text and a brick foreground. — **The History of Kiowa KS in Art Murals** **that depict Kiowa, KS, from Old Kiowa to New Kiowa, the Oklahoma Land Rush and the days of Carry Nation smashing her first saloon in Kiowa,** **on the side of RSI Building 543 Main St Kiowa, KS**

https://www.facebook.com/groups/296814358456279/posts/367950224676025/

Cowboys on horseback herd longhorn cattle down a sunny downtown street past historic buildings. — **Cattle Drive Down Main St**

The Mural Project: As of 2024–2026, the annex is the site of a mural project on its east wall, funded by a grant from the South Central Community Foundation, depicting key events in local history