June 22: One-day exhibit features more than a century of Franklin County wedding dresses

Something Old: Franklin County Wedding Dresses, 1848-1971  Saturday, June 22, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.  Carnegie Cultural Arts Center, 501 South Main, Ottawa, Kansas  Tickets: $23 in advance, $25 at the door. Click here to purchase tickets online   Ottawa, Kansas— On June 22, the Franklin County Historical Society will host a one-day exhibit of more than 120 years of bridalwear history to raise funds for the care and management of the historical society’s collection. “Something Old: Franklin County Wedding Dresses, 1848-1971” will be on exhibit at the Carnegie Cultural…

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Exhibit: Imprinting the West: Manifest Destiny, Real and Imagined

During the 19th Century, Americans were fascinated by the idea of moving west in North America. Printed imagery—lithographs and engravings—played an important role in the dissemination of knowledge and understanding about the West and its inhabitants. More than 40 of these hand-colored engravings and lithographs will be on display at the Old Depot Museum through a new exhibit, Imprinting the West: Manifest Destiny, Real and Imagined, which opens April 6. In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France. This transaction extended the United States’ boundaries by 828,000…

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Historic sign lights up Old Depot Museum

Rick Hamman of Coffelt Sign Company puts the final touches on the newly restored 1962 Ottawa sign in the Model Railroad Room at the Old Depot Museum in Ottwa, Kansas. The sign is one of a pair that once served as a beacon for trains arriving at Ottawa’s fifth and final Santa Fe depot, which opened in 1962. Passenger service ended in 1971. Restoration and installation was completed by Coffelt Sign Company of Emporia, Kansas, and funded in part by a grant from the Caroline E. Hewitt Trust.

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