Ellis County, Kansas - History and Information


Ellis County - Page 2

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At a special election in April, 1870, Hays City was made the permanent county seat. Settlement of the county was slow, but in 1872, a small colony from Ohio located near the now extinct town of Walker, in the eastern part of the county. These folks were soon followed by two more groups of settlers, one from Pennsylvania and one from New York. The same year an Englishman named George Grant purchased 50,000 acres of land from the railroad company, intending to colonize it with English farmers, and during the next two years some 300 Englishmen, several of them with their families, immigrated to the area. The grasshopper scourge of 1874 caused a large number of the settlers to leave the county, but in the three years beginning with 1875 a large number of Russian immigrants came to take the places of those who had left.
Hays, Kansas in the late 1800's. This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

A few miles west of Walker, a village called Victoria was established on the line of railroad. Before long, its residents had built a stone depot, a stone church known as St. George's Chapel, a grain elevator, a general store and some 25 houses for its population that grew quickly to about 150 people.

From 1875 to 1877, large numbers of Russian immigrants came into the county and established five separate Settlements including Schoenchen, Catherine, Munjor, Pfeifer, and Victoria (aka: Herzog,) which was regarded as the “capitol” of these Russian settlements.

Many of these early settlers; however, found they had made a mistake in settling in Ellis County, as farming was not profitable. After years of effort, many of them moved away in the early 1880s. Of those who stayed, they turned to ranching and before long; cattle and sheep became a primary mainstay of Ellis County residents.

By the early 1900s, Ellis County's population was over 12,000 and over the next century continued to grow to its current population of over 27,000 people. The county, over the next century, figured out how to more efficiently farm the land, which is now filled with golden wheat fields as well as livestock ranches. Fort Hays University, established in 1902, has drawn new residents by the thousands each year and Hays has continued to be the county’s largest city.

The county’s rich history can be seen at a number of museums and historic sites including the Fort Hays State Historic Site, the Ellis County Historical Society Museum, the Sternberg Museum, and the Walter Chrysler Home & Museum in Hays; the 1911 limestone St. Fidelis Church in Victoria; and the Ellis Railroad Museum in Ellis, Kansas. For outdoor enthusiasts, Cedar Bluff State Park provides over 14,000 acres of water and wildlife area for hunters, campers, and fishermen.

The current towns of Ellis County include:

City	Population (estimated 2007)
Antonino (unincorporated)	?? (Ghost town)
Catharine(unincorporated)	??
Ellis	1,873
(County seat)	20,013
Munjor (unincorporated)	??
Pfeifer (unincorporated)	??
Schoenchen	214
Victoria	1,208
Walker (unincorporated)	??

More Information: Ellis County, Kansas 1204 Fort Street Hays, Kansas 67601 785-628-9410 About the Article: Much of the historic text in this articles comes from Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, edited by Frank W. Blackmar, published in 1912 as well as Kansas: History of the State of Kansas, by William G. Cutler; published in 1883. However, other sources have also been used, the content combined, and heavily edited.	Compiled and edited by Kathy Weiser/Legends of Kansas, updated April, 2010. Ellis County Courthouse, courtesy U.S. Economic Research Service.
Post rock fence in Ellis County, March, 2009, Kathy Weiser.	Ellis County has a number of beautiful stone churches built by German-Russian immigrants in Pfeifer, atharine, Victoria, and Schoenchen.

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