Host City Highlights

Syracuse: BAK is returning to this host city for the first time since 2009. It was originally named Holidaysburg after C.K. Holliday, the president of the Atchison-Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, and was renamed around 1878 to Syracuse to honor the settlers’ hometown. It’s home to the large sand dune park in Kansas. For about five miles just west of Syracuse, highway US 50 follows the original path of the mountain route of the Santa Fe Trail.

Visitors tab of city website: https://www.syracuseks.gov/local-fun 
Geographic Region: Arkansas River Lowlands

Holcomb: This town has never before been selected as an overnight stop for BAK. South of town is the a 325-megawatt coal-fired generating plant, which burns low-sulfur coal mined in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, and uses more than one million tons of coal annually. Truman Capote wrote the best-selling, true, crime novel In Cold Blood based on the 1959 murders committed in a farmhouse on the outskirts of town.

City website: http://holcombks.com/
Geographic Region: Arkansas River Lowlands

Spearville: BAK is returning to this host city for the first time since 2014. The townsite was platted in 1873 and named for Alden H. Speare, railroad director and president of the town company.  The Bill Doolin Gang, which was formed in the aftermath of the Dalton Gang’s demise in Coffeyville, Kansas, robbed the Ford County Bank of $1,697 in October 1892. Between 300-400 giant windmills make up Gray County Wind Farm and surround the town.

Welcome page of city website: http://www.spearville.org/welcome.html
Geographic Region: Arkansas River Lowlands

St. John: This town last hosted BAK in 2009. It was established in 1875 by Mormon settlers, who originally named the town Zion Valley. A church elder declared that as long as someone of their faith lived there, a tornado would never hit the town. The Mormon temple still stands at 5th and Exchange, but services are no longer held there. The county courthouse here is the only triangular courthouse in Kansas. It’s town square includes a three-tiered fountain and a small scale Statue of Liberty.

Visitors tab/page of city website: https://www.stjohnkansas.com/visitors
Geographic Region: Arkansas River Lowlands

Hutchinson: BAK is returning to this overnight stop for the first time since 1999. Its nickname is The Salt City due to the large salt deposits, which were found in 1887 when drilling for oil. Salt mining is still an economic force today. Home to the Kansas State Fair, Cosmosphere International SciEd Center & Space Museum, Stratica (Kansas Underground Salt Museum), and Historic Fox Theatre.

CVB website: https://www.visithutch.com/
Geographic Region: Arkansas River Lowlands

Hillsboro: BAK is excited to be staying overnight in this town for the first time. Known for its location at the edge of the beautiful Flint Hills. It was originally named Hill City but was renamed in 1879 since another Kansas town had the same name. Its home to the Mennonite Settlement Museum, which includes the Peter Paul Loewen House (NRHP), the last remaining Mennonite-style Russian clay-brick house-barn structure in North America.

City website: http://www.cityofhillsboro.net/index.html
Geographic Region: Wellington-McPherson Lowlands

Olpe: This town is welcoming BAK for the first time. Founded in the late 1850’s by German immigrants just north of the current town site and named Olpe after their hometown. When the Santa Fe railroad came through, Bitlertown, a town further south, and Olpe combined. It is the only town in the U.S. with this name.

City’s website: http://www.cityofolpe.com/
Geographic Region: Osage Cuestas

Ottawa: 1999 was the last time BAK stayed in this host city. Named for the Ottawa Indian tribes, the town was laid out on the reservation in 1864. A treaty to obtain the land was connected to the founding of Ottawa University to educate Native Americans and non-Indians. In 1867, the Ottawa tribe sold the rest of their land and moved to Oklahoma. It lies at the intersection of popular Prairie Spirit and Flint Hills Rails-to-Trails system.

City of Ottawa’s website: https://www.ottawaks.gov/
Geographic Region: Osage Cuestas

Louisburg: BAK celebrated the end-of-the-ride here in 2015. Around 1827, the Confederated Tribes of Wea, Peoria and Kaskaskia Indians lived here. It was once called “Little St. Louis,” but the name was changed to Louisburg in the early 1870s. It’s home to the Louisburg Cider Mill, Powell Observatory, and Cedar Cove Feline Conservatory.
City’s website: https://www.louisburgkansas.gov/
Geographic Region: Osage Cuestas