The OZ Museum in Wamego, Kansas. Image credit Matt Fowler KC via Shutterstock

This Is Kansas's Quirkiest Little Town

As you awake in a field of poppies, the radiant Emerald City soars in the distance. You skip down a yellow brick road toward this magical destination, where you will encounter the special effects wizardry of the Great and Powerful Oz. By the time a squad of flying monkeys appears in the sky, you find yourself quoting the famous line: “I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” 



But that may not be true. You may, in fact, be in Wamego, the quirkiest small town in the Sunflower State. 



Journey to Oz

Downtown street in Wamego, Kansas.
Downtown street in Wamego, Kansas.

You might remember traveling northwest from Topeka on US Route 24, when after 45 minutes of driving your car’s navigation system reported a surprising re-routing: It seems you took a sudden turn, and followed a little bluebird over the rainbow. 



You arrive at the intersection of Hollywood’s Golden Age and the imagination of L. Frank Baum, the author of 14 books about the Land of Oz. The sun shines with a Technicolor intensity, as you explore the town’s storied OZ Museum, the murals along the two-block Yellow Brick Road, the Emerald City Playground, the Oz Winery, and the uniquely painted Toto statues arrayed across the town.



Wamego’s Dream Factory

The Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas.
The Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas. Image credit Sabrina Janelle Gordon via Shutterstock

The museum’s opening in 2003 turned Wamego’s image from sepia to dazzling. Incorporated in 1866, the town was long known as a railway hub located on the north bank of the Kansas River. Its population remained small through boom times and Dust Bowl years alike. Today it is at its peak, with roughly 5,000 residents.



Wamego has thrived by creating its own dream factory on the Prairie. It had no real connection to the Oz books or the classic movie. That changed when a local collector wanted a place to display his Oz memorabilia. Later, a Franciscan monk added his own vast collection to the inventory, making Wamego’s museum the largest permanent display of Oz artifacts in the world.



Much like the Wizard of Oz screenplay, the museum is laid out as an adventure. Visitors pass through Dorothy’s farmhouse into a colorful world where flatscreens, collectibles, costumes, props, posters, and figurines of beloved Oz characters compete for attention. Recently, the museum hosted the first public display of the only surviving “tornado house,” a miniature model that spirals in a tornado’s vortex in the 1939 movie. 



Other Wonderful Worlds

A windmill surrounded by beautiful foliage in Wamego, Kansas.
A windmill surrounded by beautiful foliage in Wamego, Kansas.

Wamego’s Oz is truly a worldwide realm, embracing cultural experiences as diverse as Cal-Mex cuisine and OZtoberfest. Once you have won the costume contest at the annual OZtoberfest celebration, sampled a Drunken Munchkin at the Oz Winery, and garlanded your Tin Man Burrito with Witch’s Wicked Meltdown Jalapeño Hot Sauce at Toto’s TacOz, you will be delighted to discover that Wamego has many more stories to tell, and more fun activities to enjoy. 



The Columbian Theatre is a good place to start your new journey. A renovated 19th-century opera house, it is Wamego’s cultural epicenter, hosting an assortment of concerts and community plays. Wamego City Park is the town’s recreational playground. It’s the site of the springtime Tulip Festival, which draws thousands of visitors to its kaleidoscopic gardens for a celebration featuring music, live performances, food trucks, and displays from local artisans.

Old statue in a pond in Wamego, Kansas.
Old statue in a pond in Wamego, Kansas.

In the middle of the park stands the Dutch Mill, the perfect backdrop for the festival’s tulips. Built on nearby farmland in 1879 and relocated to the park in 1924, it is an operational stone windmill that today mills flour and cornmeal. Next door, the Wamego Historical Museum and Prairie Town Village features authentic buildings from Wamego’s earliest days.



The museum includes a special section that honors Walter Percy Chrysler, who was born in Wamego in 1875. The display showcases a 1950 Chrysler Coupe, a gleaming tribute to the engineering wizardry of the town’s favorite son. Wamego’s 4th of July celebration also remembers the auto pioneer with its Walter P. Chrysler Car Show, an event which draws classic car owners and enthusiasts from around the nation. 



Beyond Oz

A landscape of Tuttle Creek Lake surrounded by greenery under a cloudy sky in Kansas, the US
Tuttle Creek Lake, surrounded by trees in Kansas.

Outdoor attractions that are especially popular with families include the Emerald City Playground, picnics and boating in Wamego City Park, canoeing on the Kansas River, and cooling off at the Splash Park and Aquatic Center.

Beyond the town limits, there is more to see and do. The green rolling hills provide a vivid contrast to the austere landscape of Dorothy’s Kansas. Rich farmland and picture-perfect scenery extend in all directions. Fancy Creek State Park is ideal for fishing, hiking, and camping, and visitors enjoy the calm waters and scenic trails of Tuttle Creek Lake. For students of history, the Oregon Trail crosses the region. For cheese connoisseurs, the Alma Creamery is a must-try experience, offering samples of flavorful local varieties.

Wishes Come True

For any town seeking to reinvent itself, Wamego provides a fascinating template. Once an unremarkable stop along the Kansas Pacific Railroad line, Wamego dared to dream big. Old Wamego had only one thing in common with the storybook adventures of Oz: the word “Kansas.” But that didn’t discourage the town’s visionaries, who didn’t simply reinvent Wamego — they reimagined its future. They turned a collection of quirky artifacts into the center of the Oz fan universe. And they did it with some familiar gifts: wisdom, courage, and plenty of heart.

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