Dodge City Things to Do

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The old municipal building is worth a visit, if for nothing else it's good hillside view of the old downtown and gospel hill. The original police building was nearly destroyed during an apparently low budget 1929 rebuild of the municipal building, but a distinctive buffalo entrance remains from the original 1880 structure. In front are various tributes to the cowboy and cattle drive days, mostly in a state of poor repair. See next tip for more details on this.

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At the corner of Central and Cedar Ave. is a home that is historical for the family that lived there from 1915 to 1978. P. H. Sughrue was a cousin of early Dodge City lawmen of the same name. The home is not available for viewing, but note the decorative ironwork that surrounds the front garden of this home, and the similar less well preserved neighboring house.

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Fellow VT member writes more detail about this outstanding locally quarried yellow sandstone building, located on the corner of Vine Street and Avenue A, that was once a residence. It was constructed between 1879 to 1881 and appears to be the oldest residence in town.

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Founded two years after the Presbyterian congregation, in 1882, the current Sacred Heart Cathedral is actually older than the protestant church building by 9 years. Both churches are on Central Avenue. The Spanish Mission architecture includes a stone surround on the front doorway, stained glass windows, and a large altar mural.

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The most impressive church architecture on Gospel Hill would have to be the First Presbyterian Church (1925). Located on a spot where early wooden churches look down upon the debauchery of Front Street saloons, the congregation roots (1880) served as an important milestone toward more civilized Dodge City. The church has stained glass windows and interior woodwork, in addition to the outstanding stone exterior and red tile roof.

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Clearly the oldest church in town is that of St. Cornelius (1898), which has retained a sanctuary of original native stone, but has considerable additions further uphill. The building appears rather odd and modest architecturally for a church building, as it was actually built as part of a commercial ice house owned by Henry Sturm. Sturm demolished the ice house and donated the stone building to the church. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is often open for viewing.

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The central portion of downtown remains paved in 16 miles of quaint brick, although there were some residents I talked to who argued that the old cracked up brick of downtown ought better be removed and replaced with fresh asphalt. The intersections have an interwoven pattern to prevent being dislodged by heavy vehicles turning corners. The brick buildings of downtown Dodge City are significant but meager inventory of most early 20th century construction. There's a theatre and most importantly, the Carnegie Library building. Also, the tallest building in town, the (1930) Bank of America which has a western mural with a stagecoach painted by local artist, Stan Herd. The Gunsmoke Trail of Fame wanders through this part of town.

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The original building in Dodge City was built of earthen sod in 1871, and then locally quarried yellow sandstone, but the days of fame in Dodge City brought imported wood on the railroad to build the saloons and houses. Not surprisingly wooden Dodge City suffered three terrific fires--all in 1885. The first started in a grocery store and burned down nearly an entire block of Front Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. The second claimed the block of Front between 1st and 2nd Avenues, and the third claimed the northside block of Gunsmoke, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. During the 1880's to early 20th century, most of these blocks were virtually all constructed of brick, and in 1970, the last of the old downtown was bulldozed in an "urban renewal" project. In an effort to rediscover the romance of the original downtown, a facsimile was built on Boothill, and a museum was added. I didn't want to pay to walk along a synthetic boardwalk, having walked along many authentic ones in California, nor did I care to pay the museum entrance fee to browse scavenged artifacts from the old west. So these image will have to do. In the parking lot is an early locomotive of interest.