Working the roads in Anderson County
Anderson County has no interstate. Its major highways are US-59, US-169, K-31, K-52 and K-58, and the first three cross at Garnett, the county seat. The nearest interstate, I-35, lies north of Garnett, so heavy trucks in this county travel the US highways and state routes rather than a freeway. The Garnett Industrial Airport sits along US-169. North-east of Garnett, Greeley stands in the Pottawatomie Valley near where the North and South forks of Pottawatomie Creek meet, on a rail line the Missouri Pacific brought through in 1879 that now runs as part of the Union Pacific.
Garnett has a railroad and is served by freight lines and interstate carriers, and its old Santa Fe rail bed now carries the Prairie Spirit Trail State Park bike path instead of trains. Greeley still has its Union Pacific track and the grade crossings that go with it. The county's economy was built on farming, with some coal mining from local deposits, and settlement began near Greeley in 1854 on fields the Potawatomi had worked. Around Garnett, name the highway and which side of town you are on. In Greeley, Brown Avenue is the main street to mention, and out on K-52 or K-58, give the nearest crossroad and the direction you were heading.