Camp Criley 1872

Andreas's History of the State of Kansas, published in 1883, records that a colony from Geneva, Ohio, settled Garfield Township in May 1873, and that E. W. Grover opened a general store at Garfield and became its postmaster on June 14 of that year. The town is named for James A. Garfield, who became the twentieth president. Big Coon Creek empties into the Arkansas River here, and Garfield Township counted 446 people in the 1880 census, when N. O. Waymire was selling hardware from a two-story store built in 1878.

What the plaque says

Camp Criley 1872 Camp Criley was established in 1872 as a supply station for workmen building the Santa Fe Railroad, name changed to Garfield in 1873 by pioneers settling here. This park was planned in 1880 and the first trees planted in April 1882. The Band Shell erected in the early 1900's used for many concerts by local musicians. Hitching Post and Stone Stile used in the early days by ladies when mount- ing their horse brought from the former A.H. Moffet place. Band Shell and stone fixtures were restored in 1975 with funds from Jordaan Foundation. M.A.W. Jordaan and sons were pioneer farmers in the area. Congregational Church organized August 1873 Methodist Episcopal Church chartered October 1878 Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church June 1879 Bricks in base of the sign are from the school building erected in 1884 and made in local kiln. Restoration project sponsored by The Camp Criley Belles for the Bi-Centennial of 1976.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Larned National Historic Site — 7.5 mi
  Nine sandstone buildings of 1866-68 on the Pawnee Fork, a post that guarded the Santa Fe Trail and served as the agency where the Plains nations came for the annuities promised at Medicine Lodge.
• Santa Fe Trail Center — 9.6 mi
  Pawnee County's museum and archive two miles west of Larned, ten buildings on ten acres that carry the story from the trail years into the town that grew up beside Fort Larned.

More markers nearby

• Birthplace of Farm Credit — 9.3 mi
• Battle of Coon Creek — 12 mi
• Discoverer of Pluto — 17 mi
• Pawnee Rock — 20 mi