Blue Rapids, Kansas: Dorothy Gale's Tornado Horror: Inspired Oz
A lonely monument is pretty much all that remains of Irving, flattened by two tornadoes in one day in 1879. The name of Dorothy Gale, a victim found with her head in the mud and legs straight up, was in Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz.
- Address:
- Zenith Rd, Blue Rapids, KS
- Directions:
- From Hwy 9 at the east end of Blue Rapids, turn south on Railroad St., then left onto 6th St. Drive 1.5 miles. Turn left on Vista Rd/Fas 1222. Drive 2.5 miles. Turn left onto Zenith Rd. Drive one mile. Just past the intersection of 12th Rd, you'll see the Irving monument on the right.
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Do NOT Google Map to Irving, Kansas -- this Irving no longer exists but there is one in eastern Kansas! I realized that two hours later. We finally made it, and although not much to look at - I was fascinated to learn the story about the real Dorothy Gale.
[Nina, 10/20/2020]There is no reference whatsoever to Dorothy Gale. That was a big disappointment to me being such an Oz fan! The story of the former town is interesting from what I've read, but the monument doesn't tell you anything.
[Angie H., 08/22/2017]
I thought I would be disappointed, but there was a tombstone for the town and a mailbox with a notebook for people to sign in. Very cool after a long ride down a gravel road.
[Meghan, 05/19/2016]Nearby Offbeat Places
Monument to the Ice Age, Blue Rapids, KS - 4 mi.
Black Squirrel Town, Marysville, KS - 14 mi.
Manhattan's Hollywood-Style Letters, Manhattan, KS - 31 mi.Latest Tips Across Roadside America
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In 1879, when one of two twisters hit her family's house, Dorothy Gale was blown into the air. Newspapers described how she was found dead with her head in mud, her legs sticking straight up, and all of her clothes gone. Her name made it into traveling salesman-turned-author Frank Baum's "Wizard of Oz" as his tornado-plagued main character.