Marshal Ensor farm house and amateur radio station, The Marshal Ensor Park and Museum in Olathe, Kansas is a seasonal museum devoted to the teacher, craftsman and amateur radio operator, Marshal Ensor. Marshall taught industrial arts in Olathe from 1915 to 1965, except for World War II. The seasonal museum occupies the Ensor family farm buildings and 8 acres of the former farm. The 1890 farm home is filled with Ensor family furnishings (including many pieces of furniture built by Marshal Ensor) and the radio equipment which he operated under license W9BSP. Marshall's sister, Loretta also earned a ham license and became W9UA. Loretta Ensor was trustee for the first high school radio station in Kansas, where Olathe students could learn to become amateur radio operators. When Loretta died in 1991, she left the Ensor farm to become a museum and park. Tours of the main house at Marshall Ensor Park & Museum take from 20 minutes to an hour depending on the background of the docent leading your tour. The other buildings are usually open, but may not be, depending on volunteers being available to open and show them. Each June, the Santa Fe Trails Amateur Radio Club (SFTARC) of Olathe, Kansas, conducts a Field Day with practice and competition using the Ensor Farmhouse and Park. In 2007 members of SFTARC replaced the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) as the docents at Ensor Park and Museum. Ensor Farmsite is both a National Historic Site and on the Register of Historic Kansas Places. Groups of 10 or more may tour the Marshall Ensor Museum by advance appointment. It may be hard to reach someone by telephone, but you may write the Marshall Ensor Memorial Organization at 18995 W. 183rd Street, Olathe, Kansas 66062.
Marra Museum of Deaf History
Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop
copyright 2006-2009 by Keith Stokes |
