History (original) (raw)

Histories of Rush County, Kansas and its Communities

Rush County was surveyed in 1867 and organized on December 5, 1874 by Kansas Governor Thomas Osborn. The county was named in honor of Captain Alexander Rush, Company H of the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry.Learn more about Rush County...

• 
  Alexander The county's first settlement started as a trading post on the Fort Hays-Fort Dodge Trail...

• 
  Bison The town is named after the native Bison that once freely roamed the area...

• 
  Hargrave Hargrave was a railroad stop named for a state representative and county official...

• 
  La Crosse A bitter county seat battle finally ended with La Crosse becoming the county seat in 1888...

• 
  Liebenthal The first Volga-German settlers in Western Kansas established Liebenthal...

• 
  Loretto Once, Loretto had a baseball team that competed with some of the largest communities in Kansas...

• 
  McCracken Railroad contractor J. K. McCracken, relative of railroad tycoon Jay Gould, founded the community in 1886...

• 
  Nekoma At its peak, Nekoma had 100 inhabitants but was a area trading hub...

• 
  Otis Founded by railroad promoter Erastus C. Modderwell, the town and its streets bear his family's names...

• 
  Rush Center First founded as Walnut City, the first county seat once boasted over 1000 people...

• 
  Shaffer Shaffer was once a railroad stop along the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad...

• 
  Timken Named for Henry Timken, of Timken Roller Bearing Fame, who once owned the land when the town sits...

• 
  Order Books About Rush County History “Rush County - 125 Years in Story & Pictures”
  Over 250 pages of stories and photographs that tell the story of Rush County, Kansas. (hardcover)
  “A Century of Rural Banking in Rush County”
  The story of rural banking using Rush County as a model (paperback).
  Hidden Histories of Rush County (Available Summer 2024)”
  Little known and unique histories of the people and places in Rush County, Kansas (paperback)
  Post Rock Country (Available Through Arcadia Publishing)
  The story of the unique fence posts and buildings that grace central Kansas (paperback)
  Books are also available for purchase during regular business hours from:
  The Kansas Barbed Wire Museum and The Post Rock Museum - La Crosse