Thursday, May 19, 2011

Stone Fences



I've always loved stone fences. When I went to school at UK, I would drive around the area outside of Lexington and see them on the farms.

There are some places in Kansas where you see them, too. Recently I ran across this marker near Alma, Kansas, that explains a law in 1867 abolished open range and landowners got forty cents per rod (a little over 16 feet) to build and maintain a 4 1/2 foot stone fence.


Needless to say, that spurred many pioneers to start building. Some of the fences are in disrepair now, which is sad. They're a testament to another time.