Butler County Historical Society & Kansas Oil Museum, El Dorado, Kansas

Project Overview:
El Dorado is located in the Flint Hills/Tall Grass Prairie region of Kansas. This region extends from the Nebraska to the Oklahoma border and spans an area approximately four counties wide. It is expansive and beautiful with legions of passionate protectors. The rich prairie grasses that once supported vast herds of buffalo, now feed millions of beef cattle. Lower lying lands provide farm ground for such crops as corn, wheat, soybeans, milo (historic kaffir corn) and sunflowers.

Since the discovery of oil in the 1920s, the Flint Hills have produced energy and recently the seemingly endless prairie winds are being harnessed to provide electricity, replacing traditional windmills with graceful wind turbines.

In more recent decades, the Butler County History Center & Kansas Oil Museum has focused on the area’s oil heritage, with stories of ranching and farming being all but forgotten. In their redesigned introductory gallery, encompassing approximately one-third of their total space, the BCHS has restored the much-needed balance to their story. The BCHS also wished to act as an unofficial visitors center to the Flint Hills, giving the traveler a sense of the space and inviting further exploration along the Flint Hills National Scenic Byway. Traub Design Associates teamed with Nicholas Traub Photography and Graphic Design who set out to capture the essence of the region. The exhibit uses nine panoramic photomurals (some as large as 4’ x 12’) as the backdrop for telling these forgotten stories. A photo band of enlarged historic images from the museum’s collection, sprinkled with other newly created images provides a continuum for the exhibition and interpretation of the farm and ranching artifacts in the collection. Sounds from the prairie and quotations from the extensive writings of Rolla Clymer, a local legendary journalist, enrich the visitors’ experience.