Hutchinson, Kansas
Ranked #7,558 in Travel & Places, #202,076 overall
Things to See and Do in Hutchinson, Kansas
I would like to introduce to my hometown of Hutchinson, Kansas. There is a lot to see and do here.
I hope you will enjoy the tour as who knows, someday you might actually visit.
1,500,000 visitors per year come to Hutchinson. That's not a bad figure for a town of 40,000.
I hope you will enjoy the tour as who knows, someday you might actually visit.
1,500,000 visitors per year come to Hutchinson. That's not a bad figure for a town of 40,000.
Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center
One of the main attractions is the Kansas Cosmosphere. One of only 4 cosmospheres in the world. Inside you will find a planetarium, space museum, Imax Dome theater and laser light shows. Some of the finest space artifacts of the world, including the original Apollo 13 space shuttle, are inside the space museum. You will also find the largest collection of Russian artifacts in the western world. You can even touch the Berlin Wall. They offer Space Camp as well. Kansas State Fair
Hutchinson is the home of the largest single event in Kansas. Yes, we are the home of the Kansas State Fair. We call it the Party on the Prairie. Ten days of fun and tons of people in September. During the rest of the year the fair grounds are used for auto racing, the Mennonite Relief sale, rodeos and livestock shows. NJCAA Men's Basketball Tournaments
The NJCAA Men's basketball tournaments have been held here since the year 1949. They are held each March and really bring in revenue from all over the United States. They are held at the sports arena. Great Stuff on eBay
Fox and Flag Theaters
You will find the historic Fox Theater. It's an Art Deco masterpiece and is listed in the historic registry. They have recently restored it to it's 1931 appearance.The Flag theater is the only festival stage in Kansas. Family Children's Theater is now making use of it.
Reno County Museum
The Reno County Museum offers great history of our county as well as other counties in Kansas. Out on the grounds you will find the Seigrest Claim house. An original claim house built here in 1876 by Mr. Siegrest and his son to stake their claim of free land here in Kansas. Dillon's Nature Center
Dillon's Nature center has been named a National Urban Wildlife Sanctuary. Here you will find over 300 types of trees and shrubs and over 3 miles of walking trails. The kids love to go here. They also offer canoeing. Great Stuff on Amazon
Sand Hills State Park
Just up the road a bit from us is a National Park. It's about 5 minutes north of town. It's the Sand Hills State Park. Horseback riding is the big hit here.
Yoder Mennonite Community
Just 10 or 15 minutes south of us is Yoder. This is an authentic Mennonite community. They still rely on the horse and buggy for transportation. The food is great! Carey Park
Our big city park is Carey Park. It's on 365 acres of land. They offer a free zoo. It may be small but there is a lot to see. You can go underground with the prairie dogs. You can go into the aviary. You can pet the animals in the petting zoo and so much more. They also offer the finest public golf course in this area at reasonable rates. Last summer Hutchinson spent 4 million dollars building a water park inside Carey Park. It's awesome with 4 different pools to choose from. There is a heated regular pool with basketball and volleyball that can be played. There is a pool just for the water slides. The best pool is set up with all kinds of goodies for the kids to have fun in the water with. The smallest of the pools is for the littlest swimmers. They did a great thing when building this to keep our kids entertained over the summer months. Salt City Splash
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Avenue A park
Another great park for kids and adults alike is the Avenue A park. Here you will find an amphitheater which they keep filled over the warm months with music of all kinds. You can walk over and around and beside the cow creek. The best part is the free water park that they built. Can't afford to go to the pool? Just take your kids here for all kinds of water fun! Fun Valley and Prairie Dunes Golf Course
You will also find Fun Valley here. Fun Valley is the host of both National and Championship Ball games.
The 2002 PGA women's golf tournament was held at the Prairie Dunes golf course. You will find it north of town close to Dillon Nature Center.
The 2002 PGA women's golf tournament was held at the Prairie Dunes golf course. You will find it north of town close to Dillon Nature Center.
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Jim Martinez Sunflower Trail
You will also want to check out the Jim Martinez Sunflower trail. This is a trail that was made from Carey Park on the South side of town to Rice Park on the northwest side of town. There are 8 easily accessible entrances along the way. It's a great trail to walk, ride your bike, roller skate or other things Hedricks Exotic Animal Farm
Camels, giraffes, kangaroos, ostriches, zebras and more can be found at Hedricks. Seasonally, public tours are conducted on weekends for a nominal fee. Opportunities to feed and touch the animals are offered during the tour. Group hayrack rides and wiener roasts can be enjoyed with prior arrangement. Visitors will also find a bed and breakfast on the property with rooms uniquely designed to reflect animal themes. Kansas Underground Salt Museum Now Open!!
Hutchinson is the only city in North America with a museum 650 feet below ground at the Kansas Underground Salt Museum near the intersection of Hwy 50 and Yoder Road. The museum exhibits include the history of salt mining; the use of the salt mine for secure storage of documents and original television and big screen film; and the transportation of salt, among others. A special Exhibits Gallery accommodates temporary changing exhibits as well.
Open Tuesday - Sunday. Reservations are strongly recommended. Contact the Executive Director of the museum for more information on this exciting attraction.
Open Tuesday - Sunday. Reservations are strongly recommended. Contact the Executive Director of the museum for more information on this exciting attraction.
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Find Hutchinson, KS on wikipedia.com!!
Lots of Great History!
Here are some excerpts from the wikipedia site. Please click the link at the bottom to read the full story.
Hutchinson is the largest city in and the county seat of Reno County, Kansas, United States, 39 miles (63 km) northwest of Wichita, on the Arkansas River. Hutchinson's nickname is The Salt City but is referred to locally as Hutch. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 42,080. Every September Hutchinson hosts the Kansas State Fair, and in March it hosts the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Basketball Tournament. Hutchinson is also the home of the noted Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center aerospace museum, near the state fairgrounds.
The city of Hutchinson was founded in the year 1871, when Indian Agent C.C. Hutchinson contracted with the Santa Fe Railway to make a town at the railroad's crossing over the Arkansas River. The community was known to be called "Temperance City".Hutchinson was incorporated on August 15, 1872.
On January 17, 2001, 143 million cubic feet (4,000,000 m3) of compressed natural gas leaked from the nearby Yaggy storage field.[8] It sank underground, then rose to the surface through old brine, or salt wells making around 15 gas blowholes. An explosion in the downtown area at 10:45 a.m. destroyed 2 businesses and damaged 26 others. An explosion the next day in a mobile-home park took the lives of two people. The Kansas National Guard was called in to help evacuate parts of the city because of the gas leaks, and a team of specialists looked over all the city for leaks after the event. These events were broadcast on nationally televised news stations across the country
The Hutchinson High School football team (the Salthawks) has had seven straight appearances, including six straight wins, in the 6A & 5A State Championship Game. They have moved down to 5A. In 2011-2012 school year, all Hutchinson High School athletics will become 6A.
Salt was discovered in Reno County by Benjamin Blanchard on September 26, 1887. This gave rise to the first salt-processing plants west of the Mississippi River. Salt was originally extracted using the evaporation method by pumping water into brine wells. In 1923, the Carey Salt Company opened the only salt mine in Hutchinson, which then produced rock salt. That mine is still in use today and is now operated by Hutchinson Salt Company. Cargill and Morton Salt also have evaporative salt plants in Hutchinson.
Excavated portions of the mine are used for archival storage of movie and television masters, data tapes, and permanent business records. Underground Vaults & Storage currently houses the masters for The Wizard of Oz (1939), Gone with the Wind (1939), and Star Wars, (1977) among many others.
The world's longest grain elevator was built in Hutchinson in 1961.
Check Hutchinson out here at wikipedia.com
Hutchinson is the largest city in and the county seat of Reno County, Kansas, United States, 39 miles (63 km) northwest of Wichita, on the Arkansas River. Hutchinson's nickname is The Salt City but is referred to locally as Hutch. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 42,080. Every September Hutchinson hosts the Kansas State Fair, and in March it hosts the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Basketball Tournament. Hutchinson is also the home of the noted Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center aerospace museum, near the state fairgrounds.
The city of Hutchinson was founded in the year 1871, when Indian Agent C.C. Hutchinson contracted with the Santa Fe Railway to make a town at the railroad's crossing over the Arkansas River. The community was known to be called "Temperance City".Hutchinson was incorporated on August 15, 1872.
On January 17, 2001, 143 million cubic feet (4,000,000 m3) of compressed natural gas leaked from the nearby Yaggy storage field.[8] It sank underground, then rose to the surface through old brine, or salt wells making around 15 gas blowholes. An explosion in the downtown area at 10:45 a.m. destroyed 2 businesses and damaged 26 others. An explosion the next day in a mobile-home park took the lives of two people. The Kansas National Guard was called in to help evacuate parts of the city because of the gas leaks, and a team of specialists looked over all the city for leaks after the event. These events were broadcast on nationally televised news stations across the country
The Hutchinson High School football team (the Salthawks) has had seven straight appearances, including six straight wins, in the 6A & 5A State Championship Game. They have moved down to 5A. In 2011-2012 school year, all Hutchinson High School athletics will become 6A.
Salt was discovered in Reno County by Benjamin Blanchard on September 26, 1887. This gave rise to the first salt-processing plants west of the Mississippi River. Salt was originally extracted using the evaporation method by pumping water into brine wells. In 1923, the Carey Salt Company opened the only salt mine in Hutchinson, which then produced rock salt. That mine is still in use today and is now operated by Hutchinson Salt Company. Cargill and Morton Salt also have evaporative salt plants in Hutchinson.
Excavated portions of the mine are used for archival storage of movie and television masters, data tapes, and permanent business records. Underground Vaults & Storage currently houses the masters for The Wizard of Oz (1939), Gone with the Wind (1939), and Star Wars, (1977) among many others.
The world's longest grain elevator was built in Hutchinson in 1961.
Check Hutchinson out here at wikipedia.com
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Other Hometown Lenses
Would You Like to Visit My Hometown?
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lollyj
May 3, 2012 @ 9:07 am | delete
- Ah yes! I've been to Hutch many times. Thanks for the memories.
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NeverTooLate2012
Feb 6, 2012 @ 2:54 am | delete
- aaaahhhhhh Memory lane! I have been to almost all of the places you have listed & had a blast. I miss Hutch, even though I only visited often. Sounds like the water park is great. Thanks for the good lens.
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NeverTooLate2012
Feb 7, 2012 @ 1:15 pm | delete
- Hi Marsha
I was married for over 20 years. He is from Hutch. We lived in Colorado Springs for a long time & his parents were in Hutch. We would go visit them & run all over town. Everyone is in Washington state now & we are no longer together, but still friends.
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RinchenChodron
Nov 9, 2011 @ 6:18 pm | delete
- Hi Marsha - I can tell you really love your home town! Interesting lens.
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Ruthi
Aug 25, 2011 @ 4:15 pm | delete
- I'd like to visit your hometown of Hutchinson, Kansas, mostly for the simple reason that I'd love to visit you!
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marsha32 Aug 25, 2011 @ 4:28 pm | delete
- Thanks Ruthi! I would love if we could get together some day too.
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Wednesday_Elf
Feb 5, 2011 @ 10:34 pm | delete
- This lens has now been 'featured on' and 'lensrolled to' my SquidAngel Blessings by an Elf lens.
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Wednesday_Elf
Nov 2, 2010 @ 12:34 am | delete
- I love 'home town' tours, as it's always a delightful way to learn about places one might never get to see. I especially enjoyed reading about your hometown - Hutchinson, Kansas - because I once lived there and because you did such a wonderful job of describing it. I've returned now to leave a ~~SquidAngel Blessing~~
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kansasww
Sep 15, 2010 @ 6:30 pm | delete
- I visit there often to shop and see the sights and chow down on some of the best BBQ in the state, Danny Boys is my current favorite. My grandson was just in Hutch today with the band from Great Bend. Great to find more folks from Kansas on Squidoo.
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- My middle daughter and her family live in Great Bend!
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by marsha32
My name is Marsha and I am now a married woman, as of July 30 2011, residing in Kansas. I have 1 child left at home. We are a home school family.
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