Longing for Kalida’s Castle

Kalida's Castle was built near Yates Center more than 125 years ago. The sandstone structure remains an architectural marvel.

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Local News

February 17, 2020 - 9:44 AM

A pink-orange fall sun sets behind Kalida Castle and utility barns on the Davidson Farm in central Woodson County. Photo by Trevor Hoag / Iola Register

After months of waiting to gain access to the sandstone castle cave at the old townsite of Kalida, southeast of Yates Center on Osage Road, I sat beneath one of its multi-ringed towers, reveling in the bursts of cool air that dipped and swooped in front of the structure.

All of that waiting, anticipation and curiosity, and yet I only felt longing, bearing the burden of someone’s absence.

The architectural marvel, inspired by the Chicago World’s Fair and constructed on the Davidson Farm in 1893, loomed above me, its wide base stretching more than one hundred feet, yet it was my new love’s slender frame that singularly occupied my thoughts.

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