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in the day – 1881 to 1884 to be more specific - the town was a major cattle
shipping point in the United States. A mural depicting one of many longhorn
cattle drives commemorates its cowtown legacy in the quiet community of
Grenola.
Grenola
lies just south of U.S. 160 in Elk County. The town was created in 1879 by a
merger of two communities, Greenfield and Canola, along the Southern Kansas
Railroad. The cattle drives of the 1880’s gave way to an oil and gas boom in
the early 1900’s. Grenola’s population swelled to 1,500 in 1920, gradually
shrinking to just over 200 today.
The
cattle drive mural is painted on the west side of North Main Street. A restored
gazebo and stone etched with a short narrative on the town’s history stand
nearby. Across the street is the Grenola Historical Society Museum, housed in
the 1909 Grenola Mill and Elevator. A walk north on Main gives locals and
visitors a panoramic view of the modern rural landscape, which features
windmills in addition to cattle.
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