Wilson, Kansas

A grain elevator complex at Wilson, KS. This elevator appeared in the 1973 film Paper Moon

In 2020 my friend and fellow photographer Joel Jensen came across the small town of Wilson, Kansas, on Google Earth while researching for an upcoming trip to photograph the state. Dropping a pin for a street view the first thing he saw was the elevator complex pictured above with a wonderful Sunflower Coal advertisement printed on it. He also discovered an old railroad hotel there, the Midland Hotel, and suggested it may be an interesting town to visit and spend a night in. In March of 2021 we made our first visit to Wilson and were immediately hooked. I’ve since been there two more times and Joel has been there twice that. Coming to Wilson is like stepping back in time. Many of the buildings in the business district are constructed of native limestone, most of which date back over a century (unfortunately many are currently sitting empty). An old service station serves as the town welcome center. There’s at least two working payphones in town. Spending an evening walking around town it was completely silent and I didn’t run across anyone, despite the fact the town has 859 residents. And then there’s the Midland Railroad Hotel, over 120 years old and refurbished into a gem on the plains.

A still from the 1973 film Paper Moon, the same elevator complex as pictured above. Several scenes were filmed in Wilson and many others filmed in surrounding towns.

Before the railroad there was the Butterfield Overland Despatch wagon trail, which established a stage stop about a half-mile south of present-day Wilson in 1865. The Kansas Pacific Railroad, already built from Kansas City to Salina, acquired status as a land grant railroad from the U.S. government and in 1869 began building west towards Denver. In 1871 the station of Wilson was established (originally it was to be called Bosland) on the railroad, however the town wasn’t incorporated until 1883. The area attracted large numbers of Czech immigrants from Bohemia who started coming to the Wilson area in 1874. Wilson still honors its Czech heritage with a festival each year, the world’s largest Czech egg, and the claim to be the “Czech Capital of Kansas.”

The world’s largest Czech egg. A Czech egg is a painted or embellished egg exchanged at holidays and celebrations between friends and is known as “kraslice” in the Czech culture. The 20 foot egg was commissioned by the city in 2016 and created by local artist Christine Slechta.

The Midland Railroad Hotel in Wilson, originally constructed in 1899 and rebuilt in 1902 after a fire.

The crown jewel of Wilson is the Midland Railroad Hotel. It was originally constructed in 1899 as the Powers Hotel. The hotel was constructed of native limestone three stories tall and located behind the Union Pacific Railroad depot (Union Pacific was the successor to the Kansas Pacific). It catered to travelers on the railroad going between Kansas City and Denver. The original hotel was gutted in a 1902 fire but was rebuilt as the Midland Railroad Hotel, complete with gas lights and other modern-day conveniences. Traveling salesmen frequently used the hotel basement to showcase there wares in what would eventually become known as the “Sample Room,” which today maintains the same name but houses a restaurant and bar. The Midland maintained its status as one of the premier hotels of the region through the 1920s.

The hotel, like the rest of the world, went through some hard times during the Great Depression. Rooms were often rented out to boarders and the entire third floor was converted into a chicken coop to raise poultry for the restaurant. The hotel survived, however, and continued in operation until 1988. The hotel sat vacant until 1997 when it was purchased for $35,000 by the Wilson Foundation. The hotel underwent a six-year, $3.2 million renovation and re-opened in 2003. The hotel is currently owned by Melinda Merrill, who has roots going way back in the community. She is constantly working to improve on the hotel to offer the best service possible. In 2021 she acquired a barn that had originally sat behind the Midland but had since been moved to a farm and moved it back, converting it into a bar, restaurant, and venue space. The hotel and “The Barn” are once again becoming popular gathering places and even hosting live music occasionally.

Melinda Merrill, owner of the Midland Railroad Hotel and Midland Mercantile

In addition to the hotel Melinda also owns the Midland Mercantile, a store that sells local arts and crafts. The store will soon be moving up the street into another historic building that will undergo renovations with one side holding the mercantile and the other a Czech heritage museum. On the same block the city is also raising funds to save and repurpose the Wilson Opera House. The Opera House was constructed in 1901 with native limestone but was unfortunately gutted by fire in 2009. Rather than rebuild the Opera House the city is planning to stabilize the still-standing walls and transform the interior into an open air amphitheater. It’s a unique approach to saving a building that otherwise probably couldn’t be completely rebuilt.

Limestone, brick, and wood buildings make up Wilson’s business district.

A Wilson resident out for a walk enjoying the pleasant spring weather.

Limestone buildings across the tracks from the Midland Hotel, the Midland Mercantile is located in the building with eggs painted on the windows.

Wilson also had a brush with fame in Peter Bogdanovich’s 1973 film Paper Moon, the town serving as one of the filming locations in the movie. The movie stars Ryan and Tatum O’Neal in a comedy-drama road trip film set in Kansas during the depression. Ryan plays Moses, a con-man that befriends recently orphaned Addie, played by his daughter Tatum, who agrees to take her to relatives in Missouri. The pair are made for each other, running scams across the state while forming their own father-and-daughter-like relationship (albeit a bit strange one!). The film was (and still is) loved by critics and won several awards. Scenes filmed in Wilson include a grain elevator (see above), a gas station (constructed in Wilson specifically for the movie), a scene on Main Street, exteriors of the Midland Hotel, and a few interiors of the Midland (cut together with hotels from neighboring towns). The Midland Hotel is holding a 50th Anniversary party for Paper Moon in May 2023 where people are encouraged to dress in period clothing and attend a screening of the film projected on the side of the hotel.

Wilson also has a cafe, gas station, bank, grocery store, and museum. Just to the north of town is Lake Wilson, boasting the clearest water in Kansas. A wonderful monument to locals lost in The Great War stands in a park in front of the Midland Hotel. Even with these businesses Wilson, like many Great Plains towns, isn’t quite what it used to be. Many of the historic buildings remain empty, and in 2022 one was even blown down by strong winds. But luckily locals are working to preserve what they can, even if Wilson can never reach the heights it once did.

This magnificent building in Wilson was destroyed by strong winds in early 2022. It has since been demolished.

Melinda Merrill watches a passing Union Pacific train from the windows of the Midland Mercantile. The railroad first built through what would become Wilson in 1869.