Built in 1879 (vernacular architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
“The Cottonwood Ranch is a historic site near Studley in Valley Township, Sheridan County, Kansas, United States. The ranch is now preserved as a Kansas State Historic Site.”
Wikipedia article Cottonwood Ranch, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 2 National Register listings published here for Sheridan County · listed in 1983 · category: Building · built in 1879, vernacular architecture.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the National Register database, National Park Service
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of John Fenton Pratt Ranch in 2018, burning under an acre 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 July 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Kansas Forest Service | 180033 |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Studley, the town this property stands in, in 21 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 14 hail, 4 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 flash flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2008 | Tornado (EF1) | Studley | $25,000 | This tornado moved into Sheridan county from Gove county north of Quinter. Damage occurred to utility poles and trees. No homes or outbuildings suffered damage. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Studley | $2,500 | Report of several large tree branches down. The largest was around 14 inches in diameter and landed on a truck. No significant damage was noted to the truck. |
| May 2021 | Hail | Studley | $100 | Trained spotted reported 2 inch hail which cracked the windshield on their vehicle. |
| September 2025 | Hail | Studley | - | Multiple reports from mPing along Highway 24 of hail ranging from 1.5 to 2.25 inches. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Studley | - | The power has been out for the last 10 minutes. |
| May 2021 | Hail | Studley | - | Report received of hail up to golf ball size at location that covered the ground. |
| December 2021 | Hail | Studley | - | A line of weak storms developed along the cold front as it exited Northwest Kansas and entered Central Kansas. As the line moved over Sheridan County, it produced dime to penny sized hail. |
| August 2017 | Hail | Studley | - | The wind driven hail ranged from baseball to softball in size. A nearby corn field was chopped down to six inches tall. |
| August 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Studley | - | The FFA VLR tower had the top antenna ripped off. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Studley | - | Large limbs from old cotton wood trees were blown down at Sheridan State Fishing Lake. Estimated time of report from radar. |
| August 2014 | Flash Flood | Studley | - | Water was reported over county roads near Sheridan Lake. |
| May 2010 | Hail | Studley | - | This report was relayed via The Spotter Network. |
| May 2008 | Tornado (EF0) | Studley | - | Report relayed from the National Spotter Network. Descriptions by storm chasers included wedge tornado early and stovepipe appearance later. This tornado tracked over open fields with no known damage. |
| October 2017 | Hail | Studley | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Studley | - | no account filed |
| April 2008 | Hail | Studley | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Studley | - | no account filed |
| September 1998 | Hail | Studley | - | no account filed |
| September 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Studley | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Hail | Studley | - | no account filed |
| May 1995 | Hail | Studley | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Shafer Barn | 7.4 miles | 2009 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 83000442 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Sheridan County | All 2 listed properties in this county. |
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