By DEB GRUVER

Staff writer

At least 31 historical markers make their home in Marion County.

Take a day or two to venture to each — or, depending on time available, some of them — this fall.

For this issue of Explore, we’ve included the first 15. We’ll include the rest in our next edition of Explore.

The Historical Marker Database lists these for the county:

• Alexanderfeld Village, Holly and 180th Rds. — A monument commemorates Mennonite families who settled here from Ukraine.

• Santa Fe Trail, near Durham — A marker is on an unpaved road that runs parallel to and between 250th and 240th Rds., about 0.1 miles west of Chisholm Trail Rd. and about five miles southwest of Durham.

• Moses Shane Memorial Park, U.S. 77 near 5th St. on the right when traveling south — Shane was a pioneer who settled in Florence, building a log cabin there in 1858.

• Veterans Memorial, Main and 4th Sts., Florence.

• Banman Wheat Threshing Stone, Bison Road (K-15) north of 130th Rd., on the right when traveling north — Marker is at a roadside pullout just south of Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church. The stone says it is a symbol of pioneer life and was used by Elder Heinrich Banman.

• The Mennonites in Kansas, Bison and 130th Rds. near Goessel — This marker is at a roadside pullout just south of Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church.

• A Place of Meditation, Memorial Park, about 800 feet south of D St. in Hillsboro — It is dedicated to residents who served in the military and lost their lives.

• Ebenfeld Centennial, intersection of Kanza and 150th Rds., on the left when traveling south on Kanza Rd — It commemorates the first organized Mennonite Brethren Church in North America.

• First Mennonite Church, Ash St. south of Grand Ave., on the left when traveling south.

• Alfred Schroeder Field at Hillsboro Airport, D St. — Lt. Schroeder was a U.S. Navy pilot who died in the line of duty March 29, 1945.

• Replica of the Statue of Liberty, Memorial Park, about 700 feet south of D St. in Hillsboro — The replica was dedicated by the Boy Scouts.

• Crossing of Historic American Trails, intersection of D and Ash Sts., Hillsboro — It marks the crossing of the Chisholm and Santa Fe Trails.

• Veterans Memorial, Memorial Park, about 800 feet south of D St. in Hillsboro — It is dedicated to those who uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution.

• Frantz Groening memorial, Main St. east of Prospect Ave. in Lehigh — It commemorates Groening, who began grinding wheat into flour with mill rocks in 1898.

• Wilbert Henry Otte Cemetery, Vista Rd. north of 7th St. in Lincolnville — It memorializes Navy Fireman First Class Otte.