Stafford County Museum

Stafford County Historical & Genealogical Society

• Home
• About Us
  • Genealogy Research
  • KHC Book Talk
  • Celebrity Auction
• Collections
  • Books, Videos, and CDs
  • Civil War Library
  • Glass Negatives
  • Newspapers
  • Photo Gallery
  • Public Records
  • School Records
  • Services
• History of Stafford County
  • O, Pioneer!
  • First Election
  • Battle For County Seat
• Contact Us

Welcome to the official site of the Stafford County Museum in Stafford, Kansas.

Museum Office CLOSED May 3rd - May 7th!

Our museum has four buildings of heirlooms, antiques and information about Stafford County, Kansas.

Collections

We have a large collection of Stafford County newspapers, rural school records, family files and obituaries. We also have a substantial Civil War library and a collection of books written by local authors and history books written about Stafford County.

One of our most famous collections includes over 29,000 glass plate negatives from the W.R. Gray Studio of photography in St. John, Kansas.

We provide research services to help patrons with local roots discover their Stafford County ancestors as far back as the late 1800s.

Use the Collections link above to learn more.

Museum News

• We were awarded $11,904 by Heritage Trust Fund to restore the south column and capital on the old bank. A donation from the Estate of Marilyn Rankin will help cover matching funds required from us.
• On Dec. 9, 2011, Metzker Restorations of Ness City replaced the restored south column and new capital on the old Farmers National Bank.
• In July, 2011, a new air conditioning/heating unit was installed on the first floor of the old Farmers National Bank. This was made possible by a grant from USDA Rural Development, proceeds from our June garden tour and the Ruth Stude cookbooks, and donations from IOOF #537 and three patrons.
• Ten windows were purchased to replace the remaining windows in the old Masonic Hall. A donation from the Estate of Marilyn Rankin will help to get them installed
• We hope you enjoy our brand new website! The site was designed and developed by the students at the University of Missouri - Kansas City Advanced Web Development class this last semester (Fall 2011). They had a contest for the best website for the museum. Five teams of very bright and ambitious students came up with their entry. Michael Hathaway selected this one but agreed it was a difficult decision since they were all so good!

  THANKS to the students of UMKC! It was a fun project for all and we all learned a great deal.

  

  GLASS NEGATIVES WORKSHOP/WORKDAY
  
  VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
  
  The museum needs volunteers to help with the glass negatives project -- especially with computer data input and scanning so the negatives may be uploaded to the Internet. If you have an eye for detail and some free time and would like to help move this project forward, please let us know. You can drop by the museum office at 100 N. Main in Stafford or call 620-234-5664 between 9am-3:30pm.

  This photo was scanned from one of the Gray Studio glass plate negatives. According to Mr. Gray's ledger, it was Negative #55,164, ordered Dec. 13, 1926 by W.B. Frazee.

   

   

  
  Links

  

  Stafford County, Kansas Genealogy Info

  

  Santa Fe Trail Research

  

  Kansas Humanities Council

  Stafford County Official Website