MCPHERSON, KS.  We are parked a few miles from Lindsborg, the hometown of Gene Sundberg.  His friend since boyhood, Leland Nelson, who still lives there, showed us around town and had lunch and supper with us.  Our supper was at the Swedish Crown, a restaurant that serves Swedish food.  Leland's daughter is the manager there.

One of the historic sites that we visited was Coronado Heights.  It seems that the Spanish explorer, Francisco Vazquez de Coronado, on one of his city of gold quixotic quests, came to this part of Kansas.  The Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the Roosevelt administration, built a public park here in the 1930s, that included a castle along with outdoor grills and picnic areas for the local citizens.  Even though the weather was very overcast, I got a few photos with my phone.

Coronado Castle on Coronado Heights

Inside First Floor of Castle

Upper Floor of Castle

View Out Upper Floor Window

WPA 1936

Historic Smoky Hill Cemetery was our next visit.  Many local families are represented here.

Smoky Hill Cemetery

Leland then gave us a private tour of the old flour mill in the old town section.  There were many floors of intricate gears, pulleys, belts, chains, and the like that would not pass a modern safety inspection.  So numerous were the places were a limb could get caught into a gear or leather belt that it looked dangerous just standing idle. 

Some of Intricate Workings of Old 19th Century Flour Mill

Some More Belts and Chains

Samples of Flour at Stages of Milling Process

Across the street from the old mill were several historic buildings, one of which was the old schoolhouse, interestingly named the West Kentuck.  Apparently there is no connection to the state of Kentucky.

One-room Schoolhouse

Inside West Kentuck Schoolhouse

Another interesting building was the Swedish Pavilion, built for the St Louis World's Fair in 1904.  It was built in Sweden, disassembled and sent to St Louis where it was reassembled for the fair.  Eventually it made its way here.  Christmas performances are done here, but on this day things were pretty much in disarray inside.

Inside the Swedish Pavilion

After our tour of these sites, we visited some shops around town, then went to the Swedish Crown for supper.  After supper, Leland was joined by fellow musicians for a guitar and banjo ensemble performance in a room toward the back of the restaurant.