OTTAWA — Once the National Park Service gives the final OK, the new Freedom’s Frontier National Historical Heritage Area will qualify for federal grants and advice how to tell the history of the two-state area, said Deb Barker, executive director of the Franklin County Historical Society and a member of the Freedom’s Frontier board. She gave a presentation to last week’s joint government meeting. Franklin County has several historically-significant sites and Barker said she hopes to get federal money to help pay for signs directing tourists to them. Another federal grant will allow museums in the Freedom’s Frontier area to link together in a Web network to direct history tourists to sites and to answer questions about the region’s history. Freedom’s Frontier includes counties in both Kansas and Missouri including Franklin County.
