Next to an old steam locomotive in a park on the west side of Kinsley is a sign positioned on atop two telephone poles: One arrow points to the east — New York, 1,561 miles; the other points west — San Francisco, 1,561 miles.
Thus, earning Kinsley, KS., the nickname, “Midway USA.”
But most Kansans have been taught that the geographic center of the contiguous 48 United States is near Lebanon, Kansas, closer to the Nebraska border. How did Kinsley get this nickname?
“I moved here in 1979," Julie Miller said, "and I saw the Midway sign in the museum, and I was curious about it because I love history.”
Miller is a curator of the Edwards County Historical Society Museum and Sod House Museum, located in the park where the Midway Sign sits.
“In 1939, there were two World’s Fairs — one in San Francisco — the Golden Gate Exposition; and one in New York," Miller said. "The April 22, 1939, Saturday Evening Post put a picture of one car headed for the fare in San Francisco; and one headed for the fair in New York. Behind them was a sign.”
The photo became the cover of that Saturday Evening Post. But in actuality, the sign had yet to be created. That idea comes from the local Chamber of Commerce.
“The director of the Chamber of Commerce was George Taylor," Miller said. "Upon seeing the mileage shown on the sign on the magazine’s cover, George had a brainstorm that the halfway point from New York to San Francisco would be somewhere close to Kinsley. Using dead reckoning, he determined that this fictional point would be two miles outside of Kinsley.”
The sign was erected two miles west of Kinsley on U.S. 50 Highway in February 1940. But as the years went by, the sign was often vandalized. It eventually was moved closer to town and nearer to the junction of U.S. 50 and 56 highways … and local law enforcement’s eyes.
Travelers still often stop at the sign, stretch their legs and come into the museum to talk with Miller. They often say the same thing: “They say we’re almost to San Francisco or we’re almost to New York … We’re halfway there!”
And so, just like those travelers … for now, I am halfway there.