Editing Hutchinson, Kansas (section)

==History==
[[File:1880 Hutchinson Kansas.png|thumb|left|1880s Hutchinson]]
[[File:Bisonte Hotel in Hutchinson, Kansas.jpg|thumb|left|The Bisonte Hotel, built in 1906 and closed in 1946. It was the [[Fred Harvey Company|Harvey House]] and [[Santa Fe Railroad]] station in Hutchinson.]]
[[File:Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 Reno County.png|thumb|left|1915 railroad map of Reno County]]
{{See also|History of Kansas}}

The city of Hutchinson was founded in 1871 when frontiersman Clinton "C.C." Hutchinson contracted with the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway|Santa Fe Railway]] to make a town at the railroad's crossing over the [[Arkansas River]]. The town actually sprang up about one-half mile north, on the banks of [[Cow Creek (Kansas)|Cow Creek]], where a few houses already existed. Hutchinson later founded the Reno County Bank in 1873, and by 1878 had erected the state's first water mill at Hutchinson.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The United States Biographical Dictionary: Kansas Volume|date=1879|publisher=S. Lewis & Co.|location=Chicago|hdl = 2027/uc1.c2861587| oclc=213826447}}</ref> The community earned the nickname "[[Temperance movement|Temperance]] City" due to the prohibition of alcohol set by its founder who placed a deed restriction on every lot prohibiting the sale or gifting of any alcoholic beverage which, if violated, would result in forfeit of the lot, improvements and payments associated with its sale and purchase.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dexknows.com/hutchinson-ks|title=Products and Services in Hutchinson, KS|website=www.dexknows.com|access-date=2019-08-09}}</ref> Hutchinson was incorporated as a third class city in August 1872.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=prI_kG_QmvoC&pg=PA200 | title=Kansas: A Guide to the Sunflower State | publisher=Works Progress Administration | author=Federal Writers' Project | author-link=Federal Writers' Project | year=1939 | page=200| isbn=978-0-403-02167-3 }}</ref>

In 1887, the [[Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway]] built a main line from [[Herington, Kansas|Herington]] through Hutchinson to [[Pratt, Kansas|Pratt]].<ref name="Rock Island Rail History">{{cite web|url=http://home.covad.net/~scicoatnsew/rihist4.htm|title=Rock Island's Family Tree - Page 4|website=home.covad.net|access-date=April 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110619230000/http://home.covad.net/~scicoatnsew/rihist4.htm|archive-date=June 19, 2011}}</ref> In 1888, this line was extended to [[Liberal, Kansas|Liberal]]. Later, it was extended to [[Tucumcari, New Mexico]] and [[El Paso, Texas]]. It 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".

Also in 1887, local salt deposits were discovered for the first time, when Ben Blanchard, a land speculator who founded [[South Hutchinson, Kansas|South Hutchinson]], drilled for oil in the area. [[Salt mining]] would become a major industry in Hutchinson, with the city eventually earning the nickname "Salt City".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kspatriot.org/index.php/articles/56-kansas-local-history/345-hutchinson-kansas-history.html|title=Hutchinson, Kansas History|author=Federal Writer's Project|website=Kansas State History|language=en-gb|access-date=2019-08-09}}</ref>

Hutchinson had been holding county fairs since 1873. By 1900, many referred to the Hutchinson Fair as the Kansas State Fair, even though there was no state-supported Kansas State Fair yet. In 1913, after lobbying in the Kansas Legislature, Hutchinson gifted the State of Kansas the land that became the Kansas State Fairgrounds. The official Kansas State Fair has been held in Hutchinson ever since.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kansasstatefair.com/p/about/history-of-the-fair/kansas-state-fair-timeline/1800s-to-1913---how-the-kansas-state-fair-came-to-hutchinson|title=1873 to 1912 - How the Kansas State Fair came to Hutchinson|last=Hanks|first=Kathy|date=2013|website=Kansas State Fair|language=en|access-date=2019-08-09}}</ref>

In 1943, German and Italian prisoners of [[World War II]] were used in Kansas and other Midwest states as a means of solving the [[United States home front during World War II#Farming|labor shortage]] caused by American men serving in the war effort. Large [[prisoner-of-war camp]]s were established in Kansas: [[Camp Concordia]], [[Camp Funston]] (at [[Fort Riley]]), Camp Phillips (at [[Salina, Kansas|Salina]] under [[Fort Riley]]). [[Fort Riley]] established 12 smaller branch camps, including Hutchinson.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gentracer.org/powcampsKS.html|title=POW Camps in Kansas|website=www.gentracer.org|access-date=April 1, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ksrcgs/otherrecords/kansasstatefair/fair.htm|title=RootsWeb.com Home Page|website=www.rootsweb.ancestry.com|access-date=April 1, 2018}}</ref>

On January 17, 2001, {{convert|143|Mcuft|m3}} of [[compressed natural gas]] leaked from the nearby Yaggy storage field.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Hydro/Hutch/GasStorage/yaggy.html |title=KGS-Hutchinson Response-Gas Storage |publisher=Kgs.ku.edu |date=May 11, 2001 |access-date=2010-06-02}}</ref> It sank underground, then rose to the surface through old [[brine]] or salt wells, making around 15 gas blowholes. An explosion in the downtown area at 10:45&nbsp;am destroyed two businesses and damaged 26 others. An explosion the next day in a mobile home park killed two people. The [[Kansas National Guard]] was called in to help evacuate parts of the city because of the gas leaks, and a team of specialists checked the city for leaks after the event. These events were televised on news stations across the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accesskansas.org/ksadjutantgeneral/News%20Releases/2001/01-012.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061215175904/http://www.accesskansas.org/ksadjutantgeneral/News%20Releases/2001/01-012.htm|archive-date=December 15, 2006|title=UPDATE ON ACTIVITIES RELATING TO GAS EXPLOSIONS IN HUTCHINSON}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.fema.gov/emanagers/2001/nat020101.shtm|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060114144853/http://www.fema.gov/emanagers/2001/nat020101.shtm|archive-date= January 14, 2006|title= Kansas Natural Gas Explosion Update}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Hydro/Hutch/|title= KGS-Hutchinson Response Web Site<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref>

On June 21, 2013, following a grassroots campaign in an effort to promote Smallville Con, a [[Comic book convention|comic-book convention]] hosted at the Kansas State Fair, the mayor of Hutchinson decreed the city's name would be changed to "[[Smallville (comics)|Smallville]]" for one day in honor of [[Superman]]'s fictional Kansas hometown of the same name. The tradition has continued annually, coinciding with the convention for two days every June.<ref>{{Cite web|last=KWCH|title=Proclamation temporarily changing Hutchinson to 'Smallville'|url=https://www.kwch.com/content/news/Proclamation-temporarily-changing-Hutchinson-to-Smallville-484632891.html|access-date=2020-06-25|website=www.kwch.com|language=en}}</ref>