Coronado Heights

Coronado Heights is a hill northwest of Lindsborg, Kansas, United States.[1] It is alleged to be near the place where Francisco Vásquez de Coronado gave up his search for the seven cities of gold and turned around to return to Mexico. Coronado Heights is one of a chain of seven sandstone bluffs in the Dakota Formation and rises approximately 300 feet.[2]

Castle-like shelter on the hilltop
Coronado Heights
Coronado Heights viewed from near Lindsborg

History

In 1915, a professor at Bethany College in Lindsborg found chain mail from Spanish armor at the Sharps Creek site, an Indian village excavation site a few miles southwest of the hill,[3] and another Bethany College professor promoted the name of Coronado Heights for the hill.

In 1920, the first road was built up the hill, known as Swensson Drive, with a footpath known as Olsson Trail.

In 1936, a stone shelter resembling a castle was built on top of the hill as a project of the Works Progress Administration.

In 1988, a sculpture by John Whitfield was placed half-way up the hill with the inscription "Coronado Heights 'A Place to Share'".[2]

The hill is now Coronado Heights Park, owned by the Smoky Valley Historical Association. It is possible to see for miles from the summit, and wildflowers bloom on the hill in spring and summer. In summer, there are many prairie racerunners around the castle.

References
  1. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) details for Coronado Heights Park; United States Geological Survey (USGS); October 13, 1978.
  2. "Coronado Heights History" (PDF). Lindsborg, Kansas. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 7, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  3. Amy Bickel (September 2, 2007). "Swedish culture, Spanish lore, natural beauty merge in area". Hutchinson News. Archived from the original on June 9, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2008.

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