Editing Courtland, Kansas (section)

==History==
[[File:Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 Republic County.png|thumb|left|1915 Railroad Map of Republic County]]
The first settlement was made at Courtland in 1885.<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/n457 461]}}</ref> A post office was opened in Prospect (an extinct town) in 1878, but it was moved to Courtland in 1888.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county:RP |title=Kansas Post Offices, 1828-1961 |publisher=Kansas Historical Society |accessdate=21 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009123556/http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county%3ARP |archivedate=October 9, 2013 }}</ref> The community was named after [[Cortland, New York]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=4560 | title=Profile for Courtland, Kansas | publisher=[[ePodunk]] | accessdate=21 June 2014 | archive-date=July 15, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715003714/http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=4560 | url-status=dead }}</ref> but may also be named for [[Courtland, Minnesota|Courtland]], a city near Mankato, Minnesota, which shares the same spelling.

In 1887, [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] built a branch line from [[Neva, Kansas|Neva]] (four miles west of [[Strong City, Kansas|Strong City]]) through Courtland to [[Superior, Nebraska]].  In 1996, the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] merged with [[Burlington Northern Railroad]] and renamed to the current [[BNSF Railway]].  Most locals still refer to this railroad as the "Santa Fe".

Courtland was incorporated as a city in 1892.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/historyofrepubli02sava | title=A History of Republic County, Kansas | publisher=Jones & Chubbic | author=Savage, Isaac O. | year=1901 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofrepubli02sava/page/188 188]}}</ref>