Well Staircase
The Geology of Kansas encompasses the geologic history of the US state of Kansas and the present-day rock and soil that is exposed there.
Kansas land, soil and rock formations are comprised of minerals formed during the Phanerozoic period. This period consists of three geologic eras: the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic.
The Big Well is made of Stone pulled from the Medicine River to the South of Greensburg. The river consists of the rock from the Cenozoic Era. Cenozoic rocks in Kansas consist of river silt, sand, freshwater limestones and some volcanic ash derived from eruptions in the western United States.
Near the beginning of the Paleogene period, the Rocky Mountains were born, as were the streams and rivers heading eastward out from the mountains into Kansas. Over 60 million years of erosion, the Rocky Mountains created a wedge of material extending to the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas.
The Quaternary Period in western Kansas was very similar to the Neogene, continual erosion of the Rocky Mountains deposited additional sediments into the state. Quaternary rocks in Kansas consist of glacial drift river silt, sand, gravel, dune sand and wind blown silt.
The western third of Kansas is in the High Plains area known as the High Plains physiographic region. The uplift of the Rocky Mountains during the Cenozoic resulted in erosion and deposits of vast quantities of non-marine sediments eastward across the High Plains.
The Ogallala Formation is a large wedge of unconsolidated sands and silts that that make up a significant aquifer under the plains. In the southern portion of Kansas, the Ogallala contains a sandstone layer cemented with opal; another kind of sandstone which is a hard, dense, gray-green rock. This opaline sandstone is occasionally used as a building material. A common sedimentary rock, sandstone is made up largely of quartz grains that are held together by some natural cement such as calcium carbonate, iron oxide, or silica. In the High Plains, the most common rock in the Ogallala Formation is a porous sandstone made up of quartz and feldspar grains that are cemented by very fine-grained calcium carbonate. Because these rocks look like concrete, they are known locally as mortar beds.
The answers are not posted on the internet for the specific purpose of visiting this site. You are able to check your answers with the front desk in the souvenir shop. Once you have verification of the correct answers, you may email them to TheLabGuys to log the Earthcache. The correct answer will gain you the smiley!
•Name the stone that was carried from the Medicine River.
•What is the dimension the stones were shaped (LxWxH)?
•How many stones were used to form the well?
•What is the total weight of the stones used to form the well?
Located at 315 S. Sycamore in Greensburg, KS 67054; This new museum opened in May 2012 and once again allows visitors to descend a spiral staircase into the Big Well and view exhibits that feature Greensburg’s history, the tornado, and our rebuilding as a sustainable community
Museum Hours: Monday-Saturday 9am-6pm, Sundays 1-6pm
Go Down the Big Well Admission:
Admission $8 per adult
$6 seniors 60+, Children 5-12 yrs and Military
4 and under free
Family Pass $25. 2 Adults plus children under 18 accompanying
Group rate 15+ people $5 each
Kiowa County Residents $4
Winter Hours January –February Monday-Saturday 9am-5pm Closed Sundays
The story of the Big Well began in 1887 when the city granted a franchise for a water works system to cost approximately $45,000, a huge sum of money in those days. The well served as a source of water for the city until 1932.
Construction of the well is a masterpiece of pioneer engineering. Workers were engaged at sun-up and paid at sun-down, fifty cents to a dollar a day. Crews of 12 to 15 farmers, cowboys, and transients worked using shovels, picks, half barrels, pulleys and ropes. The stone used for the well casing was brought in wagons from the Medicine River 12 miles south of Greensburg, over roads that were little better than cattle trails. Dirt from the well was hauled away by the same wagons which had slatted beds. By opening the slats and dumping the dirt in low spots, streets and roads to the quarry were leveled.
A wide shaft was cribbed and braced every 12 feet with rough two by twelve inch planks that reached from wall to wall in a wagon wheel type support as the digging progressed. This was done for safety of the workers as they shoveled soil into barrels and hoisted the barrels to the surface. The braces were sawed off after the stones were fitted around them. When the desired depth was achieved, numerous lengths of perforated pipe were driven horizontally at the bottom of the wall into the water bearing gravel. This served to increase the flow of water into the well basin.