Media, Kansas

The Midland Railway was a heritage railroad operating 16 miles of line in Franklin and Douglas counties, Kansas between Ottawa, Kansas and Baldwin City, Kansas. It was chartered in 1982 to find an abandoned railroad line to operate. Midland purchased the line from Baldwin City to Ottawa, Kansas from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1987, and began running excursion trains on part of the line later that year. Total length of the line is 16 miles (17.7 km). Midland operated a demonstration historic railroad, and its mission was to "educate the public about the role railroading played, and continues to play, in the commercial, social, and cultural life of America's Heartland." Midland's base of operations is the depot built in 1906 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway at 1515 High Street in Baldwin City. This building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Midland had received two matching federal grants to rebuild track. Private grants have and are being used to rebuild railroad equipment. Starting in 2004, excursion trains are run all the way from Baldwin City to Ottawa. The regular operating season ran from Memorial Day (last Monday of May) to October 31 (Halloween). Special events and fairs were held at various times through the year. Weekend Boy Scout camps were held in the spring and fall. Midland's Scout program was one of the few in the country to offer the Railroading merit badge.

Baldwin City is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States, about 12 miles (19 km) south of Lawrence. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,826. The city is home to Baker University, the state's oldest four-year university.

Baker University is a private university in Baldwin City, Kansas. Founded in 1858, it was the first four-year university in Kansas and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Baker University is made up of four schools. The College of Arts and Sciences and the undergraduate courses in the School of Education (SOE) are located on the campus in Baldwin City, Kansas. The School of Professional and Graduate Studies (SPGS) and the graduate branch of the SOE serve nontraditional students on campuses in Overland Park, Kansas, and online. The School of Nursing, which is operated in partnership with Stormont Vail Health in Topeka, offers a Bachelor of Science in nursing (BSN) and an online Master of Science in nursing (MSN). Enrollment in all four schools has grown to a student population more than 3,000, with about 900 students on the Baldwin City campus.

Prairie City is a ghost town in southeast Douglas County, Kansas, United States, near present-day Baldwin City.

Old Castle Hall was the first building of Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas. It was built in 1857–58 to house the university on its first two floors, with the Palmyra Masonic Lodge occupying the third floor. It was used for classes until 1871, when other buildings were constructed for the purpose, and later used as a mill, a dormitory and for storage. The third floor was rebuilt during its service as a mill to address structural problems. The building was restored in the 1950s and maintained as the Old Castle Museum. The museum features artifacts from early state, Methodist, and University history. The hall is of rubble stone construction with crude quoining at the corners. The reconstruction of the third floor is visible by the change in material pattern on the outside. The overall plan is a rectangle. The interior has been extensively altered.Old Castle Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 24, 1971.

Baldwin High School is a public secondary school in Baldwin, Kansas, United States. It is operated by the Baldwin City USD 348 school district.

Liston Stadium is a sport stadium in Baldwin City, Kansas, United States. The facility is primarily used by Baker University for college football, track and field, and soccer. It is also host to other university and city athletic and non-athletic events. The facility is also used for local high school football games.The stadium was named for former Baker football coach and athletic director Emil Liston.

Louisiana (also known as Brooklyn and Salem) is a ghost town in Douglas County, Kansas, United States.

Baldwin Woods, formally called the Baldwin Woods Forest Preserve, is a 456-acre (185 ha) nature reserve in Douglas County in the U.S. state of Kansas. The forest preserve is located near the municipality of Vinland within the Lawrence, Kansas metropolitan area. Formerly a 3,700-acre (1,500 ha) old-growth forest grove of white oak and hickory, with interspersed tallgrass prairie savanna, the old-growth portion of the forest preserve has been reduced to its present size. The park is managed by the KU Field Station, a division of the University of Kansas (KU). The forest preserve was named a National Natural Landmark in 1980.The KU Field Station operates Baldwin Woods for the longitudinal study of the ecosystem dynamics of a woodland that is experiencing minimal human intervention onsite. The Woods is not managed for access; it is a scientific site with no public parking. Infrequent public tours, for which pre-registration is required, are sometimes offered. The KU Field Station acquired the Baldwin Woods tracts in a series of land transfers fromn 1965 through 2016.

The skirmish near Brooklyn, Kansas was a skirmish of the American Civil War on August 21, 1863, between Quantrill's Raiders and pursuing Union forces immediately after the Lawrence massacre. James Henry Lane led a small group of survivors of the massacre in pursuit of Quantrill's men, and were joined by a force of about 200 Union Army cavalrymen, commanded by Major Preston B. Plumb. Lane's and Plumb's men fought with Quantrill's Raiders to the south of the town of Brooklyn, Kansas, which the raiders had burned. The Confederates began to panic, but a charge led by George Todd halted the Union pursuit. Quantrill's men escaped across the state line into Missouri and then scattered; a few were later caught and executed.