Editing Bronson, Kansas (section)

==History==
Bronson was founded in the 1880s. The first store and post office opened in September 1881.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_o8X5krq3fP8C | title=Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc. | publisher=Standard Publishing Company | author=Blackmar, Frank Wilson | year=1912 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_o8X5krq3fP8C/page/n231 235]}}</ref> The city was formerly named '''Wilsonville''', but it was later renamed after Ira Bronson, a [[Fort Scott, Kansas|Fort Scott]] attorney.<ref name=Rydjord>{{cite book|last=Rydjord|first=John|title=Kansas Place-Names|year=1972|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press, Norman|page=497|isbn=0-8061-0994-7}}</ref> Bronson was moved to its current location when the [[Missouri Pacific Railroad]] bypassed the original town site.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xdchAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bp8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=1319%2C4231292 | title=Many Towns Have Disappeared | work=The Fort Scott Tribune | date=Jul 16, 1976 | access-date=16 May 2015 | pages=2C}}</ref>

Midway between Fort Scott and [[Iola, Kansas|Iola]] on the highway and railroad, it became a prime shipping and supply point for the agricultural region. Growth was slow but steady. From a handful of residents in 1885, by the 1910 Census Bronson had 595 residents. In 1912 it had two banks, an international money-order post office with four rural routes, express and telegraph offices, telephone connections, the semi-weekly ''Bronson Pilot'' newspaper, a downtown retail district and public schools.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o8X5krq3fP8C&pg=PA235 | title=Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc.| isbn=9780722249055| last1=Blackmar| first1=Frank Wilson| year=1912}}</ref>

In 1910 Bronson held the world's first horseshoe pitch tournament.<ref name=Ringgold>{{cite web|last1=Becker|first1=Sharon R.|title=Frank Elroy Jackson; Kellerton, Iowa|url=http://iagenweb.org/ringgold/biographical/files/bio-jacksonfrank.html|website=Welcome to Ringgold County|publisher=Iowa Gen Web Project|access-date=4 July 2014}}</ref>