HISTORIC WILLIAM FULTON HOUSE OPEN FOR SUMMER TOURS AT MUSEUM
The historic William Fulton House is open again for summer weekend tours at the Finney County Historical Museum in Garden City.
The house, built by Garden City co-founder William D. Fulton in 1884, is available for public viewing from 2 to 4 p.m. most Saturdays and Sundays throughout the summer. Admission is free.
The two-porch Folk Victorian home is located just southwest of the museum in Lee Richardson Zoo. Summer hours will run through mid-August, and may be extended depending on demand.
The 133 year-old house is the last of three homes occupied by Fulton and his wife, Luticia, whose garden is credited with inspiring Garden City’s name.
One of the community’s earliest remaining residences, the house previously stood south of Garnand Funeral Home on Seventh Street, and was moved to Finnup Park in 2003. It opened for tours in 2005, after extensive renovations. This will mark the structure’s 12th summer of tours, which are supported for the third consecutive season by the Finney County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
Erected when the community was just five years old, the home’s main floor features a living room, dining room, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen equipped with period furniture. The parlor houses an exhibit on early-day Garden City and the home is surrounded by gardens featuring plantings appropriate for the late 19th Century.
Garden City resident Abel Loza is serving as host and tour guide at the house. The Garden City native is on the staff of Neil Hawley Agency, American Family Insurance, and has a strong background in history. Loza also handles other work at the museum on a periodic basis, and is among volunteers in the Finney County Historical Society’s Historic Walking Tours of Valley View Cemetery.
In addition to weekend hours at the Fulton House, the Finney County Museum is open with summer hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, as well as 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays.
Admission to the museum is also free and exhibits include the Front Door Gallery; My Place in Time; Take Stock in Finney County; a Windsor Hotel room re-creation, featuring period clothing dress up opportunities; Finney County Agriculture; the Celebrate Kansas Exhibit, offering children a chance to build Kansas icons using Lego blocks; Take Stock in Finney County; and the temporary gallery, currently showing “Garden City Then and Now.” Visitors can also see the Spirit of the Plains Gallery, showing life and development on the plains over several thousand years; the Santa Fe Trail exhibit and a small display featuring the latest Finney County Pioneer Family Award recipients.
The Museum Store is open whenever exhibits are, offering locally-created original art, products and crafts; as well as Kansas items, books, videos, postcards, handcrafts, decorative items, toys inspired by past times, T-shirts, jewelry, historic photographs and items specific to local and area history and culture.
