Editing Herington, Kansas (section)

==History==

===19th century===
Herington was named after its founder, Monroe Davis Herington.  His name at birth was Davis Monroe Herrington, but he later dropped the second "r" from his last name.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://skyways.lib.ks.us/towns/Herington/history.html |title=Herington History |access-date=2010-07-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100719010832/http://skyways.lib.ks.us/towns/Herington/history.html |archive-date=2010-07-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The first post office in Herington was established in February 1884.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county:DK |title=Kansas Post Offices, 1828-1961 (archived) |publisher=Kansas Historical Society |access-date=8 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909023757/http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county%3ADK |archive-date=9 September 2013 }}</ref>

In 1887, Mr. Herington successfully got the [[Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway]] to build through Herington.  He gave the land and right-of-way for Herington to become a division point with shops, two round houses, freight house, bridge yards, telegraph office and many other buildings.  He furnished the limestone for the freight house, and for a two-story depot that was {{convert|28|x|66|ft}} and later enlarged to {{convert|28|x|105|ft}}.<ref name="Herington History">[http://www.skyways.org/towns/Herington/history.html Herington History]</ref>  That same year, the [[Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway]] built a main line from [[Topeka, Kansas|Topeka]] to Herington.  Also in 1887, the [[Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway]] extended its main line from Herington to [[Pratt, Kansas|Pratt]].  This line is called the "Golden State Limited".  That same year,  the [[Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway]] built a branch line north-south from Herington to [[Caldwell, Kansas|Caldwell]].<ref name="Rock Island Rail History">{{Cite web |url=http://home.covad.net/~scicoatnsew/rihist4.htm |title=Rock Island Rail History |access-date=2011-04-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110619230000/http://home.covad.net/~scicoatnsew/rihist4.htm |archive-date=2011-06-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref> By 1893, this branch line was incrementally built to [[Fort Worth, Texas]].  This line is called the "OKT".

The [[Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway]] was foreclosed in 1891 and was taken over by [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway]], which shut down in 1980 and reorganized as [[Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Railroad]], merged in 1988 with [[Missouri Pacific Railroad]], merged in 1997 with [[Union Pacific Railroad]].  Most locals still refer to this railroad as the "Rock Island".

===20th century===
The [[National Old Trails Road]], also known as the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, was established in 1912, and was routed through Herington, [[Delavan, Kansas|Delavan]], and [[Council Grove, Kansas|Council Grove]]. The [[American Discovery Trail]] passes through Herington.

In [[World War II]], [[Herington Army Airfield]] was built and was one of only two fields that processed heavy bombardment crews and equipment staging to the coasts for overseas duty. The field was later turned over to the City of Herington and is currently used as a municipal airport.<ref name="Herington History"/>