![]() Goodland Explorations
Learn more about Goodland by following the links below:
Driving on brick streetsAddress:
12th and Main
Email Address: director@visitgoodland.com About this Exploration: ![]() ![]() Brown was in Liberal in Southwest Kansas just before coming to Goodland. Kansas' road network was so poor in those days that travel from Liberal to Goodland was fastest if the traveler passed through Topeka in the northeast part of the state.
Once base was laid, Brown started laying bricks. He laid 125 to 150 bricks per minute, 36,000 bricks a day. Six men were constantly
bringing bricks to him using an instrument similar to ice tongs. The tongs carried a stack
of nine pound bricks. His bricklaying became a spectator sport. The project lasted until December.
![]() Frank Hoffman challenged Brown to a bricklaying contest in Olathe, Kansas, on September 12, 1925. Brown laid 200 tons of bricks, 46,664 bricks, 1,755 more than Hoffman. He received a "Middle Western Champion" medal, but he claimed to be the
"World's Champion Bricklayer". Although his claim was challenged, he was
never defeated.
![]() Some Goodland citizens complained about the quality of the bricks, their placing and that the overall work was unsatisfactory.
Unsatisfactory? Not hardly. Although the many of the bricks on Main Street have been replaced since 2011, some of those bricks are still in place, especially on side streets.
![]() A restaurant on Main Street is called On the Bricks Cafe and the mural on its south wall is titled Bygone Days on the Bricks. The restaurant's sidewalks were constructed from Jim Brown's bricks. Streets were named No. 6 in 2008's Eight Wonders of Sherman County contest.
|
![]() Donna Price
925 Main
Goodland, KS 67735 Phone: 785.890.3515 Fax: 785.890.6980 ![]() |