Kansas stone cellars tours offered in May

After having to turn people away in droves the first time around, The Volland Store in the Kansas Flint Hills is offering two more tours of historic arched stone cellars.

The first tours were held in conjunction with an exhibit of Emporia photographer Tom Parish’s 360-degree photographs inside the archaeological remnants of the time of the earliest settlements on the prairie. Anthropology professor Jack Hoffman of University of Kansas, who has researched the caves extensively, believes they often served as a family’s original dwelling until a stone or frame house could be built.

The stone caves, Hoffman believes, were an earlier version of the sod houses later built farther west in Kansas, where stone was not readily available.

Local guides will accompany visitors on buses to several vaulted caves on private land that otherwise are not open for public viewing. The caves are generally tall enough to stand in and well-ventilated.

The tours will depart Volland store at 1 p.m. and return by 5 p.m. on May 22 and May 28. Tickets cost $15 and can be purchased at thevollandstore.com or by calling Wrenn Pacheco at 405-633-1273.

The Volland Store, an art gallery and community gathering space, is located just south of I-70 between Alma and Alta Vista on Old K-10 highway, about an hour and 45 minutes’ drive from downtown Kansas City.

Volland Store owner Patty Reece advises tour-goers to wear good walking shoes because the ground is uneven, and to bring water and a snack.

This story was originally published May 13, 2016 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Kansas stone cellars tours offered in May."