Built in 1887. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
“The Big Well is a large historic water well in Greensburg, Kansas, United States. Visitors enter the well for a fee, descending an illuminated stairway to the bottom of the well.”
Wikipedia article Big Well (Kansas), CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 3 National Register listings published here for Kiowa County · listed in 1972 · category: Structure · built in 1887.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the National Register database, National Park Service
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Greensburg Well between 2012 and 2016, burning about 437 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 September 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 2015017 |
| 21 July 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 420 acres | Kansas Counties | 2012019 GRASS |
| 12 March 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 2015009 |
| 4 December 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 2015021 |
| 22 January 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 2016003 |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Greensburg, the town this property stands in, in 172 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 113 hail, 37 thunderstorm wind, 14 tornado, 6 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | $70,000 | Pivot sprinkler overturned...siding stripped off a house and a shed was destroyed. |
| June 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | $50,000 | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | $30,000 | All out buildings destroyed. |
| July 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | $10,000 | Barn destroyed and trees uprooted. |
| March 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | $8,000 | Downburst removed a tin roof off a building and damaged part of the wall. |
| April 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | $5,000 | Roof blown off a modular home under construction |
| May 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | $2,000 | Four power poles were blown down. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | $1,500 | Power poles blown down. |
| May 2025 | Tornado (EF3) | Greensburg | - | A NWS storm survey confirmed reports of a tornado. Some damage included broken power poles, tree trunk snaped, an irrigation pivot broken and tossed. |
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | A personal weather station, Kents station, recorded a 71 mph wind gust. |
| September 2025 | Hail | Greensburg | - | A storm chaser reported 1 inch hail. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | A 65 mph wind gust was reported. |
| May 2024 | Heavy Rain | Greensburg | - | Rainfall report of 2.39 inches. |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | There was significant tree damage. |
| March 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | There was roof damage. |
| March 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | There was single damage to a roof. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | Winds were estimated to be 70 MPH. One to two inch diameter tree branches were broken by the high wind. |
| September 2019 | Hail | Greensburg | - | Mostly dime sized hail was observed but a few the size of a quarter were noted. |
| September 2018 | Flood | Greensburg | - | Water was flowing across highway 183. |
| May 2018 | Flood | Greensburg | - | Flood water in fields spilled out onto several county roads. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Greensburg | - | Hail was around 6 inches deep. Hail fog formed and reduced the visibility. |
| June 2017 | Hail | Greensburg | - | Golf ball and baseball sized hail was observed. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | Winds were estimated to be 70 MPH. |
| December 2016 | Tornado (EF0) | Greensburg | - | This QLCS damaged a few trees and destroyed a small shed and carried the debris around 100 yards. |
| July 2014 | Heavy Rain | Greensburg | - | Rainfall of 4.65 was reported. |
| May 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | A very large tree branch was blown down across a power line. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | Winds were estimated to be 60 MPH. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | Winds were estimated to be 60 to 70 MPH. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | Winds were estimated to be 60 to 70 MPH. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | Winds were estimated to be 60 MPH. |
| April 2012 | Hail | Greensburg | - | Hail ranged from golf ball to tennis ball size. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | Wind gusts of 60 MPH were reported. |
| August 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | The home lost shingles due to the high wind gusts. |
| July 2012 | Heavy Rain | Greensburg | - | Rainfall of 1.48 was observed. |
| July 2012 | Heavy Rain | Greensburg | - | Rainfall of 1.90 was observed. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | An 80 foot tall pine tree was uprooted. This appeared to be the forward flank downdraft of a large rotating supercell thunderstorm. |
| August 2010 | Heavy Rain | Greensburg | - | Rainfall of 2.53 was observed. |
| June 2010 | Heavy Rain | Greensburg | - | Rainfall of 3.66 was reported. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | The storm chaser estimated winds of 60 mph. |
| May 2008 | Tornado (EF0) | Greensburg | - | This was a small tornado that passed over farmland. |
| May 2007 | Tornado (EF1) | Greensburg | - | While doing a storm survey and in the town of Greensburg, this tornado was observed moving rapidly north but west of Greensburg. It did EF1 damage to a barn. |
| May 2007 | Tornado (EF0) | Greensburg | - | This was another satellite tornado (to the big Greensburg tornado) that appeared to be anticyclonic. It did not strike anything. |
| May 2007 | Tornado (EF0) | Greensburg | - | Yet another satellite tornado associated with the large Greensburg tornado. This satellite tornado did not strike anything to damage. |
| September 2006 | Tornado (F0) | Greensburg | - | This was very brief tornado. |
| April 2003 | Tornado (F0) | Greensburg | - | This weak tornado (Landspout) drifted northeast without hitting anything. |
| May 2002 | Tornado (F0) | Greensburg | - | This was a very brief tornado (but not a gustnado). |
| May 2002 | Tornado (F1) | Greensburg | - | This very large tornado moved straight east and entered Pratt county at 1856 CST. At times the circulation was over a mile wide. |
| May 2001 | Hail | Greensburg | - | Hail swath in the vicinity was 13 miles long and 2 miles wide. Considerable of crop damage. |
| June 2001 | Tornado (F0) | Greensburg | - | Brief contact with the ground from this landspout. |
| March 2000 | Tornado (F0) | Greensburg | - | Tornado started in Kiowa county but did the damage in Edwards county. |
| June 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | Five inch diameter branches broken. |
| May 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Greensburg | - | Large tree limbs blown down. |
| April 1994 | Tornado (F0) | Greensburg | - | Tornado touched down briefly over open farm land. This tornado was probably spawned from the same storm which tracked across Seward, Meade, and Clark Counties. |
| May 1993 | Tornado (F0) | Greensburg | - | Tornado moved over open farmland with no damage or injuries reported. |
| October 2023 | Hail | Greensburg | - | no account filed |
| June 2019 | Hail | Greensburg | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Greensburg | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Greensburg | - | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Hail | Greensburg | - | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Hail | Greensburg | - | no account filed |
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | S.D. Robinett Building | under 500 feet | 2009 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 72000507 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Kiowa County | All 3 listed properties in this county. |
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