CyberCivics

Marion County

• County Seat: Marion
• County Code: MN
• Established: August 30, 1855
• Organized: July 6, 1865
• Region in Kansas: East Central

Origin of Name: American Revolutionary War hero General Francis Marion of South Carolina.

Did you know?

• Marion County was one of the two original Kansas Territory counties created by the second act to establish counties passed by the first Territorial Legislature of 1855.
• From 1865 to 1866, Marion County covered more than a third of the area of Kansas extending to the Colorado and Oklahoma Territory lines.
• The first Harvey House, a chain of restaurants, hotels and other hospitality industry businesses, was located in Florence.
• Although based in fact, many stories of legendary proportions surround the area of land one section wide and 18 sections long along the east boundary of Marion County. A murder had been committed in the area and Marion County did not want to have the trial so it gave those sections to Chase County to make certain the murder had occurred in that county.
• The town of Lost Springs was named after the Santa Fe Trail stop Lost Springs. It was one of the favorite stopping points on the trail because it generally had an ample supply of good water. The spring apparently got its name because it is a periodic spring, drying up at times for a week, a month, or even two years, so those visiting the site could not locate the spring on a return trip.
• Pilsen is home to St. John Nepomucene Church and was home to Father Emil Kapaun, a priest and military chaplain who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War. As a prisoner, Kapaun sacrificed his own health to preserve the health of other POWs until his death in 1951. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor and the Roman Catholic Church declared Kapaun a Servant of God, the first stage on the path to sainthood. Each November there is a military pilgrimage to St. John Nepomucent Church in honor of Kapaun.
• Filmmakers for the science fiction comedy Mars Attacks! traveled to the Marion County town of Burns to film the pre-title sequence in which a herd of cattle is set afire by Martians near a farmhouse. Scenes including Donut World, the shop where Richie works part time in the movie, were also filmed here. The movie, based on the cult trading card series of the same name, is said to take place in the fictional Kansas town of Perkinsville. Other scenes were filmed in Wichita, El Dorado and Leon.

Notable Residents:

Emil Kapaun, Shirley Knight, Fay Moulton

Marshall County

• County Seat: Marysville
• County Code: MS
• Established: August 25, 1855
• Organized: August 25, 1855
• Region in Kansas: Northeast

Origin of Name: General Frank J. Marshall, who established a ferry on the Big Blue River at the crossing of the old Independence-California Road in 1849, and was a prominent member of the first Legislature who had his own name applied to the county.

Did you know?

• Marshall County was one of the 33 original Kansas Territory counties created by the first act to establish counties passed by the first Territorial Legislature of 1855.
• In 1854 the first post office in the Kansas Territory was opened in Marysville.
• Blue Rapids has the oldest public library west of the Mississippi River that has been in continuous operation in the same building since it was built in 1875.
• Blue Rapids claims to be the smallest town in the U.S. to have hosted a Major League Baseball game. On October 24, 1913, more than 3,000 fans watched the Chicago White Sox and the New York Giants play a world tour exhibition game on the local ballfield that is still in use today.
• Marysville is known as the Black Squirrel City due to an isolated community of all-black squirrels that make their homes in the town. The squirrels are said to be the result of escapees from a traveling circus.
• Marysville was a stop on the famed Pony Express from 1860 to 1861. The original barn and stables where the riders would change horses still stands and is museum dedicated to the short-lived mail route. The barn was built in 1859 and is the oldest building in Marshall County.
• The Oregon Trail crossed the Big Blue River at Independence Crossing, about six miles south of Marysville. The Donner party came through there in 1846 and named a spot near their campsite Alcove Spring. Today this site is considered one of the most important Oregon Trail sites in Kansas.

Notable Residents:

Ruth Blaney Alexander, Peggy Hull Deuell, Kendra Wecker

McPherson County

• County Seat: McPherson
• County Code: MP
• Established: February 26, 1867
• Organized: March 1, 1870
• Region in Kansas: Central

Origin of Name: Major-General James B. McPherson, United States Volunteers, who was killed at the Battle of Atlanta, Georgia, July 22, 1864, becoming the second highest ranking Union officer killed during the Civil War.

Did you know?

• Established in 1859, the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge is preserved natural prairie comprised of rolling hills, creeks, springs, prairie grasses and wildflowers. Here 50 elk and 200 head of bison roam free, one of the three largest herds of buffalo in Kansas.
• Every year since 1882, the Bethany Oratorio Society, of Bethany College in Lindsborg, has presented Handel's Messiah.
• Lindsborg is known as Little Sweden because it was settled by Swedish immigrants in the late 19th century. Today 30 percent of the population are of Swedish heritage. Occurring in October of odd-numbered years, the residents of Lindsborg host a community-wide festival, Svensk Hyllningsfest, and don traditional Swedish folk costumes to celebrate the Swedish pioneers who settled in the Smoky Valley in 1868-1869. The festival features arts and crafts, special foods, and ethnic music and dance.
• Lindsborg has an art museum showcasing the works of artist, and later resident, Birger Sandzén. The Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery houses the largest and most extensive collection of his paintings, prints, drawings and watercolors found anywhere in the world.
• Canton has two water towers, one labeled "HOT" and the other "COLD." The words were painted on the towers as a tourist attraction in 1956. Both tanks hold water at an ambient temperature.
• Established in 2004, the Kansas Motorcycle Museum is located in Marquette.
• Conway is home to a large underground refined petroleum storage facility. It consists of large caverns carved into the underlying salt beds, has a holding capacity of more than four million barrels and holds approximately 30 percent of the propane stored in the United States.
• The city of McPherson hosts the annual When Pigs Fly event on Labor Day weekend, which includes an airplane fly-in and a barbeque contest.

Notable Residents:

Ted Kessinger, Dev Nelson, Birger Sandzén

Meade County

• County Seat: Meade
• County Code: ME
• Established: March 20, 1873
• Organized: November 4, 1885
• Region in Kansas: Southwest

Origin of Name: Major-General George G. Meade, a career United States Army officer who served as a Union general during the Civil War, best known for defeating Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.

Did you know?

• Meade County was originally established in 1873 but was dissolved and merged into Ford County in 1883. Meade County was re-established to its current boundaries in 1885.
• The Lone Tree Massacre occurred in August 1874. A survey party sent by the U.S. government to survey land southwest of Dodge City was attacked and killed by Cheyenne Indians.
• In the late 1870s and early 1880s, the discovery and use of artesian wells in the northern part of Meade County contributed significantly to the county's settlement and growth.
• The city of Meade was home to Eva Whipple, the sister of the Dalton Gang, a group of outlaws from the 1890s that was known for robbing banks and trains. Eva's home served as a hideout for the gang, and after her disappearance new residents discovered a hidden tunnel between the house and a stable that was not highly visible. The home and its hideout were turned into a museum, which some people consider to be haunted.
• Meade hosts its annual Dalton Days Wild West Festival at the Dalton Gang Hideout each June. The festival includes a reenactment competition by the Reenactment Guild of America, a quick-draw competition, a homemade ice cream crank-off and musical entertainment. The festival is held in conjunction with a rodeo at the Meade County Fairgrounds.