Editing Ellinwood, Kansas (section)

==History==

===19th century===
[[File:Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 Barton County.png|thumb|left|1915 Railroad Map of [[Barton County, Kansas|Barton County]]]]
For millennia, the land now known as Kansas was inhabited by [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]].  In 1803, most of [[History of Kansas|modern Kansas]] was secured by the United States as part of the [[Louisiana Purchase]].  In 1854, the [[Kansas Territory]] was organized, then in 1861 [[Kansas]] became the 34th [[U.S. state]].  In 1867, [[Barton County, Kansas|Barton County]] was founded.

The first claim at Ellinwood was staked in 1871<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/n573 577]}}</ref> when it was certain the Santa Fe railroad would be completed nearby.  The railroad was finished in 1872 and the city was named after Colonel John R. Ellinwood, a civil engineer working for the Santa Fe railroad.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n116 117]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ks-ellinwood.civiccities.com/index.aspx?nid=765 |title=Ellinwood History |access-date=April 12, 2013 |archive-date=February 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202171847/http://ks-ellinwood.civiccities.com/index.aspx?nid=765 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Although neither the founder nor the original settlers were German, many of the main streets were given German names, in order to appeal to German immigrant buyers.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/biographicalhist00unse_4 | title=Biographical History of Barton County, Kansas | publisher=Great Bend Tribune | year=1912 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/biographicalhist00unse_4/page/204 204]}}</ref>

[[File:Ellinwood KS - 1917.jpg|thumb|left|Ellinwood - 1917]]

In 1878, [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] and parties from [[Marion County, Kansas|Marion]] and [[McPherson County, Kansas|McPherson counties]] chartered the [[Marion and McPherson Railway Company]].<ref name="MarionCountyBook">''Marion County Kansas : Past and Present''; Sondra Van Meter; MB Publishing House; [[LCCN]] 72-92041; 344 pages; 1972.</ref>  In 1879, a branch line was built from [[Florence, Kansas|Florence]] to [[McPherson, Kansas|McPherson]]; in 1880 it was extended to [[Lyons, Kansas|Lyons]] and in 1881  was extended to Ellinwood.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZIwpAAAAYAAJ Fourth Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners for the Year Ending December 1, 1886 in State of Kansas; Kansas Publishing House; 1886.]</ref>  The line was leased and operated by the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]].  The line from Florence to [[Marion, Kansas|Marion]] was abandoned in 1968.<ref name="Abandon Railway 1968">[http://www.abandonedrails.com/Marion_to_Florence Railway Abandonment 1968]</ref>  In 1992, the line from Marion to McPherson was sold to [[Central Kansas Railway]]. In 1993, after heavy flood damage, the line from Marion to McPherson was abandoned.  The original branch line connected Florence, Marion, [[Canada, Kansas|Canada]], [[Hillsboro, Kansas|Hillsboro]], [[Lehigh, Kansas|Lehigh]], [[Canton, Kansas|Canton]], [[Galva, Kansas|Galva]], McPherson, [[Conway, Kansas|Conway]], [[Windom, Kansas|Windom]], [[Little River, Kansas|Little River]], [[Mitchell, Kansas|Mitchell]], Lyons, [[Chase, Kansas|Chase]] and Ellinwood.

===20th century===
In 1973, the rock band [[Kansas (band)|Kansas]] rented the Ellinwood Opera House as a 'tryout show' for New York record executive [[Wally Gold]], using free beer as a marketing tool, and charged a USD $0.25 entry fee to help cover some of their expenses.  The story is told in the 2015 documentary ''Miracles Out of Nowhere''.<ref>[http://cjonline.com/news/2013-06-17/kansas-more-dust-wind# Kansas more than 'Dust in the Wind'; The Topeka Capital-Journal; June 17, 2013.]</ref>

===21st century===
In 2018, the annual After Harvest Festival held during the third weekend in July, instituted a ban on coolers at the dance that takes place on the third and final night of the festival.