One of the dolls collected by Nellie Kuska, pictured in this April 21 photo, is a centerpiece in the display at the Prairie Museum of Art and History at Colby. The Cooper Barn on the museum grounds, touted as the largest barn in captivity, was named one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas Architecture.

Hays ? It is, of course, home to the Thomas County Historical Society, replete with local items of interest and genealogical information.

But the doll and crystal and glass collections that were gathered up for a former Colby resident sets the museum apart from any other.

And that’s before stepping foot outside the museum itself, onto the 24-acre grounds that include a sod house — complete with cactus growing on the roof — a one-room school, a country church and a 1930s-style farmstead.

It’s the biggest barn in Kansas, however, that beckons many travelers to leave the high-speed lanes of Interstate 70. The Cooper Barn — touted as the largest barn in captivity — is massive, and was named one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas Architecture.

For a time, the William Thomas barn near Woodston was 16 feet taller than the Cooper Barn at Colby, but it was lost in a massive fire. Out of respect, the Thomas County folks have carefully crafted how they describe the barn.

But it is enough to draw people in.

Chris Maxey and his wife, Charlie, both hailing from Portland, Ore., were en route to Texas recently when they decided to stop off for a visit.

“The largest barn in Kansas,” Maxey said of what prompted them to stop.

From the outside, they weren’t especially impressed.

Once inside the loft, however, they were wowed by the sheer size of it.

The barn had been moved — in one piece — from a point about 16 miles northeast of Colby to its resting spot on the museum grounds.

Inside the museum, it’s the Kuska collection that shines — gathered up through the years by Nellie Kuska, a Hill City native who married Joe Kuska, an agronomist at the Kansas State University Research-Extension Center at Colby.

After retirement, the Kuskas moved to California where many items were on display.

When Nellie Kuska died, museum director Sue Taylor said, there were a number of California museums that had the chance to obtain the collection, but they wanted to pick and choose what they took.

The Prairie Museum was willing to take the entire collection.

“It is the collection that sets us apart,” Taylor said of the Kuska centerpiece.

Dolls of all types are included in the collection, as are ceramics and glass pieces.

“Her collection was very eclectic,” said Rosanne Dougherty, program director for the museum.

It filled her house, even lining the stairway leading to the second floor of their home. Was she a hoarder?

“I don’t think so,” Dougherty said.

These were dolls that don’t get played with, crystal and ceramics that were set apart from the ordinary.

Today, that collection draws in about 10,000 visitors a year from throughout the world, including Bob Kinnane, Townsville, Australia, who was visiting the United States with friends he made nearly 25 years ago.

The Kuska collection makes up three-fourths of the museum’s holdings.

But Nellie Kuska did not keep close track of her collecting.

“It took them five years to describe the collection,” Taylor said of the massive collection. “It was during the ’30s, and they were having lots and lots of estate sales. So she got things very cheaply.”