McPherson is a small city in central Kansas, set in the wheat and prairie country along I-135, about midway between Wichita and Salina. It is quiet for much of the year, but has more to it than first appearances suggest.
The McPherson Museum & Arts Foundation is a well-maintained local history and art museum with some genuine curiosities, including exhibits on the McPherson Meteorite and the city's connection to the first synthetic diamond. The McPherson Opera House, built in 1888 and carefully restored, is one of the better small-city Victorian theatres remaining in Kansas. The McPherson County Courthouse, in Richardsonian Romanesque sandstone, anchors a downtown that has held onto most of its late-19th-century commercial fabric.
The city comes alive on the fourth weekend of September for the Festival of Cultures — originally the McPherson Scottish Festival & Highland Games, renamed in 2016 to reflect the broader immigrant heritage of the county. The Highland athletics and pipe band competitions remain the centrepiece, drawing competitors and visitors from across the region.