The sculpture was moving with the gentle breeze against a blue sky background. The silhouette children below the sculpture appeared to be running around looking up at the flying machine. Sitting watching the flying machine gently moving was calming to our travel weary souls. We were enjoying a quiet moment in downtown Chanute, KS. After watching the flying machine swaying, we became curious why Chanute, in southeast Kansas, was honoring the Wright Brothers and their Flying Machine.
Chanute was not on our itinerary. We had been in Junction City, KS and were heading south to the Dallas, TX area. Then our traveling buddy, Mike, realized that Chanute was home to Hitchhiker RV Manufacturer (for another post) and it was only a couple of hours from Junction City. We had visited the New Horizons Plant in Junction City so why not Hitchhiker in Chanute. Plans changed – off we went.
Not planning a trip to Chanute, we had not done any research into what the area offered. So downtown we went to see what the city offered and we found the Flying Machine Sculpture. We also found out that the Flying Machine has as much or more to do with Octave Chanute than the Wright Brothers. Octave Chanute was an engineer in charge of building four railroad lines in Kansas, one of which went through an area forming a new town that was named after Chanute. The year was 1873. Okay, but what does that have to do with flight? In 1889, Chanute, living in Chicago, began studying heavier than air flight. In 1896, Chanute began experimenting with gliders and developed the biplane. His biplane design was the standard for the next 50 years. The Wright Brothers modeled their biplane off the Chanute Standard. Chanute was a mentor to most of the early flight pioneers. Even though the town of Chanute, KS was named for Octave Chanute, the
railroad builder; it also honors him as a major contributor to modern flight.
Like many cities in the west, the railroad played an important part in the development of Chanute. To honor this, the city maintains two important buildings – the Santa Fe Depot and the Flat Iron Building. The depot standing today is the fifth Chanute depot. At its peak, the depot served ten passenger trains daily, a Wells Fargo office, and a large Harvey House Restaurant. Today the depot has been restored and houses the Chanute Public Library and the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum.
Across from the depot is the Flat Iron Building, so called because it has the shape of an old time flat iron. The building was built on the railroad’s right of way and housed a drug store on the first floor and offices on the second floor. The building is now
owned by the city and houses the Office of Tourism and Main Street Chanute.
We ended our walk in downtown Chanute with a milkshake at the Cardinal Drug Soda Fountain. The soda fountain was a dream of owner Jim Chappell. He purchases various pieces of old soda fountains and put them together to make the Cardinal Drug Soda Fountain. Here we purchased milkshakes made the old fashion way with hand dipped ice cream and a milk shake blender. Sitting on the stools at the soda bar, Laurie
remembered the stories her Dad would tell about being a soda jerk during high school at Port Allen Drug Store. How he would always give her Mom a little extra in her glass or how they would share a soda with two straws.
This is what memories are made of and we are making memories as we travel!
