In the distant past, much of present day Kansas was covered by a shallow sea. The sediments that were laid down in this sea eventually formed into limestone deposits. An area of north central Kansas almost exactly equivilent to the region of the Central Kansas Library System, provides a layer of stone that has become known as "fence post" limestone.
Stone posts are known in other regions of Kansas and of the United States. Indeed, travelers have reported stone fence posts India, southern Africa, and northern and central Europe. But, no where else has the use of the stone been so prevelent as to provide the name for a layer of stone used for fence post production.
In addition to fence posts, several immigrant groups used the stone for building material on the relatively treeless area of the Great Plains. Buildings of native stone reange from small homes and out buildings, to schools, Courthouses, and churches. Some of the buildings in the area include: Fossil Station Museum in Russell, the Lincoln and Ellis county courthouses, and the "Cathedral of the plains" in Victoria.
A Post Rock museum was opened in LaCrosse in 1964. It displays items relating to the stone posts, their production, and their importance in the development of the region. Perhaps appropriately, this museum has sparked the establishment of barbed-wire museum, also located in LaCrosse. In addition to this museum, many of the small town museums of the area have artifacts, tools and displays relating to the stone and or stone posts.
Buchanan, Rex and James R. McCauley. Roadside Kansas A Traveler's Guide to Its Geology and Landmarks. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1987.
Buchanan, Rex, ed. Kansas Geology An Introduction to Landscapes, Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils.. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1985.