Nearing the town of Iola, Kansas, you’ll pass a billboard that reads “Our square is bigger than yours!” In fact, Iola is home to the largest downtown square in the United States, as determined by the local Chamber of Commerce, and the town has aligned its tourism around its big central tract of land. The downtown square was formalized after the completion of the Allen County Courthouse in 1904, but it wasn’t until recently that the town began to compete for the largest town square title in the country. After…
