Until the devastating May 4 tornado, Greensburg sole claim to fame was that it was the home of the world's largest hand-dug well.From BigWell.org:
The story of the World's Largest Hand-Dug Well began in the 1880's when both the Santa Fe and Rock Island railroads were laying tracks across the plains of Kansas. A large supply of water was needed for the steam locomotives and for the people of the area. The only dependable source of water was from a well. In 1887, the city granted a franchise for a water works system, to cost approximately $45,000, a huge sum of money in those days. The Santa Fe terminated its track at the west Kiowa County line and removed it eight years later.
Construction of the well was a masterpiece of pioneer engineering. Hired on a day to day basis for fifty cents to a dollar a day, crews of twelve to fifteen farmers, cowboys, and other local men dug the well. Some of the men lived on location in a camp of tents while working on the well. Other crews quarried and hauled the native stone used for the casing of the well This stone was hauled in wagons from the Medicine River twelve miles south of Greensburg. Dirt from the well was hauled away by the same wagons which had slatted beds. By opening the slats and dumping the dirt in low spots, streets and roads to the quarry were leveled.
As you can see on the bottom photo, the structure surrounding the Big Well, as with much of Greensburg, was destroyed. A Greensburg resident told me that the yellow sign was found a block away from the site, and a good samaritan placed it where it stands now.
According to BigWell.org, 3,000,000 people have visited the attraction over the years. Soon hopefully, more will be taking the stairs down the world's largest hand dug well.
I took the top and bottom photos. The middle two come courtesy of BigWell.org.
Related post: My Kansas Kronikles: Greensburg, the fall and rise, part one
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