Stone By Stone

Shirley McClintock has dedicated her life to preserving the history of Council Grove, Kansas.

- Jana Bommersbach

No, no, no, no!” That’s what they told Shirley McClintock when she asked her neighbors to save an old building along the Santa Fe Trail in Council Grove, Kansas.

“Don’t take this on because I won’t help you.” That’s what husband Kenneth told her.

But what she was told and what she heard were two different things. What she heard was: “Shirley, you have to do it your- self—don’t worry, they’ll fall in line.” And they did. That’s how a dump of a place was saved in 1994 and discovered to be a beautiful 18611 stone building—perhaps the oldest stone house still standing along the historic ic trail.