Kansas Off The Beaten Path Tips by Bwana_Brown Top 5 Page for this destination

Asylum Bridge

A few hundred feet down the road from the Historical Markers, the road turned both left and right at the gates to a large Hospital set in spacious grounds. The road to the left interested me because it was entirely paved with very old-looking red bricks, and a sign posted beside it said 'Road Closed'. That was like waving a red flag at a bull, so I drove down it around a curving hill to see what the problem was. After crossing a large flat marsh area at the bottom of the hill, the road ended at a strange-looking bridge that was barricaded and covered in bushes at one end.

This steel structure turned out to be Asylum Bridge, built over the Marais des Cygnes (Swan Marsh stream) in 1905 at a total cost of $4800. A plaque said that this pin-connected reverse-Parker truss designed bridge is 219 feet long and 16 feet wide. Although now too decrepit for even foot traffic, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

While standing there admiring its unusual shape, I heard strange laughs and howls coming from the hillside behind me, so turned to have a look.

State Hospital

As I looked up on the hillside of the distant State Hospital, I could see many figures dressed in white moving erratically among the tall trees growing on the hillside. From the whoops and shouts, I guessed that they must be playing some sort of game and seemed to be having a good time of it. That was when I finally figured out that this was a State Hospital for the Insane, stuck out in the middle of nowhere.

The old historic markers must have been simple headstones for the many inmates who passed away at this location over the years. It was a bit of a strange feeling to be standing alone at the end of a dead-end road, beside a forlorn and closed old bridge while listening to the sounds echoing from the hilltop beside the State Hospital. Almost like I had slipped into the Twilight Zone!! It's a good thing that I don't have an active imagination!

It turns out that the Kansas Insane Asylum was established here in 1866 and then changed its name to the Osawatomie State Hospital in 1901. The old Asylum Bridge used to be the main link across the Marais des Cygnes river to the village of Osawatomie.

Mystery Markers

About an hour after I had left the Kansas City area, I pulled off Highway 169 at a sign that said this is where I could divert onto the less-travelled Highway 7. It turned out to be near the small village of Osawatomie. I very quickly came across this pretty scene at the top of a small knoll, with a large white sign saying 'Historic Memorial Site'.

I got out to have a look around for more details but there was not another thing to be seen. Simply row upon row of very small marker stones with nothing on them except a single number - starting from '1' and ending part-way down the final row at '346'. I thought that I would have to do some checking up later on to find out what was so Historical about this place. However, as I drove further down the road, it was not long before the mystery was solved!

At least it was a pleasant looking spot and it was nice to stretch my legs in the sunshine and gentle breezes.