Things to Do in Newton

In 1919, discouraged that artifacts of Wichita and Sedgwick County were disappearing, the Sedgwick County Pioneer Society began collecting and displaying historical items in the Sedgwick County Courthouse. Nearly a century later, what began as a modest collection of early memorabilia has expanded to nearly 70,000 Sedgwick County and Wichita-related artifacts, which together trace the history of the region from 1865 to the present. Now housed in Wichita’s original, renovated City Hall, the collection’s photographs, clothing, decorative arts, and household items enrich award-winning exhibits that tell tale of the area’s Buffalo-hunting days, Great Depression–era dust storms, and aircraft industry.

The museum is also home to three re-created environments from the region’s past. The garage re-creation holds a 1916 Jones Six automobile, the only such Wichita-built vehicle on public exhibit, and the drug store reproduces the feel of the popular early 20th-century neighborhood gathering place. Over in the Wichita Cottage, seven rooms of a Victorian-style 19th-century home house authentic period items such as a wooden icebox, a gas-and-electric ceiling light fixture, and a phone powered by animosity toward Rutherford B. Hayes.

Rumbling balls and clattering pins create a cacophonous symphony at Seneca Bowl, where electronic scoring screens glint off 36 glossy, well-maintained lanes. Staffer and PBA bowler Lonnie Waliczek roams this family-friendly facility, doling out bowling tips during private lessons and schooling youngsters on the arcade's pinball machine. After the final strut and strike, bowlers can clink celebratory glasses of soda at the snack bar or meander into the pro shop to purchase night-vision goggles for the alley's next cosmic-bowling event.

Stationed inside a vaudeville venue first designed by the Boller brothers in 1928, the Crown Uptown Theatre has continued to nourish creative appetites with delectable dinners and Broadway-style productions since 1977. Concocted by an expert culinary team led by Kevin Gillenwater, formerly of Chester’s Chophouse and Wine Bar, plated entrees are served alongside helpings of soup, salad, and rolls. An enthusiastic waitstaff delivers each meal directly to customers' tables. Crown Uptown Theatre can accommodate up to 400 theatergoers or scarecrows stuffed with recycled playbills during evening performances each Thursday–Sunday, and matinee plays for children every Friday and Saturday.