{{Short description|Caves in Kansas, United States}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox protected area | name = Faris Caves | iucn_category = | iucn_ref = <!-- images --> | image = | image_caption = Front view of two hand-dug caves <!-- map --> | map = USA Kansas Ellsworth County | image_map = | map_width = | map_caption = Location of Faris Caves in Ellsworth County, Kansas | relief = <!-- location --> | location = Kanopolis, Kansas, Ellsworth County, Kansas, Smoky Hills, Kansas, United States | nearest_city = | nearest_town = | coordinates = {{coord|38.695546|-98.103041|display=inline,title}} | coords_ref = <!-- stats --> | length = | length_mi = | length_km = | width = | width_mi = | width_km = | area_ref = | elevation = {{convert|479|m|ft|abbr=on}} | elevation_avg = | elevation_min = | elevation_max = | dimensions = | designation = <!-- dates & info --> | authorized = | created = | designated = | established = | named_for = | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | visitation_ref = | governing_body = | administrator = | operator = | owner = <!-- website, embedded --> | website = | module = }}
'''Faris Caves''' are a series of artificially excavated caves located along the Smoky Hill River in central Ellsworth County, Kansas. Each of the three caves are about 12-feet square, with 10-foot arched ceiling, dug out of the Dakota Sandstone with a pickaxe by Coloradan miner Charles Griffee in the 1880s.<ref name="kansas adventures">{{cite web |url=http://kansasadventures.com/kansas-travel/faris-caves.html |title=Faris Caves |publisher=Kansas Adventures |date=2015-11-29 |access-date=15 January 2018 |archive-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103074515/http://www.kansasadventures.com/kansas-travel/faris-caves.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Fresh spring water flowed through one of the caves to help keep food and supplies cool in the hot months.
Griffee sold his land and caves to Winfield and William Faris in 1893. A house was built nearby, with the caves continuing to be used for storage, a spring house, generator room, and for a short time, a schoolhouse.<ref name="konza">{{cite web |url=https://konza-life.blogspot.com/2011/01/faris-caves.html?showComment=1516033357970#c6008218795224535385 |title=The Faris Caves|publisher=Konza Life |date=2011-01-26 |access-date=15 January 2018}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Ellsworth County, Kansas}}
Category:Protected areas of Ellsworth County, Kansas Category:Tourist attractions in Ellsworth County, Kansas
{{EllsworthCountyKS-geo-stub}} {{Kansas-protected-area-stub}}