Designed and sculpted by artist Max Nixon (1915-2000), the Mennonite Settler was dedicated by the City of Newton on September 10, 1942, with funding from Newton citizens, the Junior Chamber of Commerce, and the U.S. Works Progress Administration, while local wheat farmers often contributed a few bushels from their fields at harvest time. The limestone sculpture depicts a farmer standing in his wheat field and holding his hat in his hands in a gesture of reverence. Its tile mosaic bears the message, “Commemorating Entry into Kansas from Russia of Turkey Red Hard Winter Wheat by Mennonites 1874.” In 1997 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and after a thorough restoration it was rededicated on October 1, 2000.