A slice of Europe beckons in Kansas, where some of the architecture,
food and festivals recall a diversity of cultural heritages and traditions.
By Sally M. Snell

There is nothing like a European vacation with its cultural landmarks and cobblestone streets that have been around since the Middle Ages. But if your travel budget is shrinking this year, you can have a slice of Europe close to home. It’s waiting for you in Kansas.

In Title: Each spring, thousands of tulips bloom around Wamego’s Dutch Mill, built by a Dutch immigrant in the 1870s. Above: Festivals in Lindsborg celebrate the city’s Swedish heritage with dancing, music and authentic foods. Below: The striking St. Fidelis Church in Victoria was built by German immigrants in 1911. ©Michael C. Snell photos

Kansas was widely settled by immigrants who brought with them their taste in food, architecture and fashion. With a savvy eye and map in hand, the flair of a European vacation is only a short drive away.

Remembering Wales in Emporia

The dark smokestacks of Cardiff, Wales are a welcome sight after that rough Atlantic crossing, and the port is bustling as shipments of coal and iron ore are loaded onto outbound vessels. It was at a Welsh port like this where settler Richard Howe last saw his homeland. Howe moved to the United States in 1850 and began building his home outside Emporia prior to the Civil War. He finished the home in 1867 and three generations of his family lived here until it was eventually deeded to the Lyon County Historical Society.

Howe brought the furnishings for this limestone home from Wales. The dishware on display is a style known as Gaudy Welsh, which was produced in England for the American market during the mid-19th century and was typically glazed in bold colors with floral sprays and a copper luster. The home’s woodwork and floors are built out of black walnut

Emporia is about 90 miles northeast of Wichita along the Kansas Turnpike (Interstate 35). The Howe House & Welsh Farmstead, 315 E. Logan Ave., is open by appointment.

Dutch tulips in Wamego

Now it’s off to the land of tulips and windmills with a visit to Wamego’s Dutch Mill. Dutch immigrant John B. Schonhoff built Kansas’ only operating stone windmill on his farm in Pottawatomie County in the 1870s. The mill was later donated and moved to City Park in Wamego in the early 20th century. Today, the mill continues to grind wheat for flour, which can be purchased in the historical museum gift shop among other local venues.

Thousands of tulips bloom around the base of the mill during the annual Tulip Festival on April 18–19. Other highlights include a juried craft show, petting zoo, children’s entertainment and local bands. Wamego is an hour west of Topeka on Kansas Highway 24.

A little bit of Sweden

The plains of Sweden are known in Kansas as Lindsborg, a charming town founded in 1869 by immigrants who left their drought-stricken homeland searching for a better life. Their rich heritage is evident at every turn, from the festivals to the Välkommen sign at the city limits to the collection of 30 brightly painted four-foot-tall Dala horses in the main commercial district.

Four Swedish gift shops in town sell anything that you can find in Sweden. Head to Hemslöjd for personalized Dala signs, and Clogs & Such for clogs and sweaters. Even Scott’s Thriftway gets in the act with loads of lingonberries, rye bread, lutfisk (dried whitefish) and bondost cheese, a cylindrical shaped cow’s milk cheese sometimes flavored with caraway seeds.

Festivals are held throughout the year. During Midsummer’s Day Festival, the town is decked out in floral wreaths. This celebration of the year’s longest day will be June 20. Svensk Hyllningsfest, held every other year, is a tribute to pioneers who settled the community. Highlights for this year’s festival, Oct. 9–10, include folk dancing, music and an authentic smorgasbord. To reach Lindsborg, travel half an hour south of Salina on Interstate 135 to exit 78 toward U.S. Highway 81 business.

Czech out Wilson

Wilson is known as the Czech Capital of Kansas, and last year observed its 125th anniversary. This small town of 800 residents is located about 50 miles west of Salina via Interstate 70 (exit 206, Kansas Highway 232).

The Wilson area is a melting pot of cultures, but it’s the Czech connection that is celebrated the last weekend in July during the annual After Harvest Czech Festival. Activities in past years have included folk dancing, Czech music, egg painting demonstrations and a Polka Mass at the church.

Savor Czech flavors all year by picking up a kolache at the Sincerely Yours Gift Shop in the Sportsmen’s Lodge on Avenue E downtown. These tasty sweet rolls stuffed with cottage cheese, poppy seeds or pureed dried fruits are a staple of the Czech diet.

Slavic Traditions

Stop for tea at Kansas City’s Strawberry Hill Museum and Cultural Center, 720 N. Fourth St., and learn about the many immigrants who settled here. People from Poland, Croatia, Slovenia, Ukraine and the Netherlands originally came to Kansas City to live and work in the West Bottoms area where the city’s packinghouses were located. In 1903, a flood wiped out the Bottoms and many of these families moved to a nearby hill, which earned its name from wild strawberries that once grew here. The first Croatian school in the United States was founded on Strawberry Hill.

Today, the Strawberry Hill Museum and Cultural Center honors its ethnic heritage through permanent exhibits about the costumes and customs of these and other cultures. A tearoom, open on weekend afternoons, serves fresh-baked Slavic pastries such as apple strudel, povitica and nut kolachy–the Slavik spelling for those same delicious desserts found in Wilson. Povitica is sweet yeast bread containing a swirl of nut mixture that is revealed when the bread is sliced. The tearoom is only open seasonally, so it’s best to call ahead.

Russia

In the 1760s, Empress Catherine the Great invited Germans to emigrate and settle along the Volga River in the steppes of Russia. The Volga-Germans came with the understanding that they would be free to self-govern, free to practice their Catholic religion and free from conscription in the Russian military.

A century later, Russia broke its promises to its newest residents, and scouts were sent to America’s frontier. In 1875, they formed a settlement called Herzog, named after their town in southern Russia. Herzog was near a small English community east of Hays called Victoria. The English soon moved on due to the harsh conditions, but the Germans remained and founded several other communities within Ellis County, each with a church.

The stone towers of St. Fidelis Church in Victoria punctuates the horizon 20 minutes east of Hays along I-70. The exterior of this Romanesque structure is made of native limestone, while the altar inside is made of Italian marble. It seats 1,100. Other highlights include the German windows and Austrian hand-carved stations of the cross.

The congregation celebrates Fidelisfest on Memorial Day, which includes a German wedding-style meal and musical entertainment. Proceeds go toward the upkeep of this Kansas landmark. The church is open to visitors daily from dawn to dusk. William Jennings Bryan gave St. Fidelis the name “Cathedral of the Plains” during a visit to the church in the early 20th century. It was named one of the Eight Wonders of Kansas in 2007.

These wonderful communities and attractions–each with a European flair–gives travelers a sense of the state’s varied cultural heritage.

Sally M. Snell is a contributor from Lawrence, Kan.