Editing Lehigh, Kansas (section)

==History==
[[File:Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 Marion County.png|thumb|left|1915 Railroad Map of [[Marion County, Kansas|Marion County]]]]

===Early history===
{{See also|History of Kansas}}
For many [[millennia]], the [[Great Plains]] of [[North America]] was inhabited by [[nomadic]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]].  From the 16th century to 18th century, the [[Kingdom of France]] claimed ownership of large parts of [[North America]].  In 1762, after the [[French and Indian War]], France secretly ceded [[New France]] to [[Spain]], per the [[Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762)|Treaty of Fontainebleau]].

===19th century===
In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France.  In 1803, most of the land for [[History of Kansas|modern day Kansas]] was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000 square mile [[Louisiana Purchase]] for 2.83 [[Penny (United States coin)|cents]] per [[acre]].

In 1854, the [[Kansas Territory]] was organized, then in 1861 [[Kansas]] became the 34th [[U.S. state]].  In 1855, [[Marion County, Kansas|Marion County]] was established within the [[Kansas Territory]], which included the land for modern day Lehigh.<ref name="Marion-Co-History">[http://www.marioncoks.net/AboutMarionCounty/History/tabid/7634/Default.aspx The History of Marion County and Courthouse]</ref>

The source of the Lehigh name was not well documented. One of the rumors is the city being slightly higher altitude which was "lay high" above the prairie, the other rumor that it was named by representatives of [[Lehigh County, Pennsylvania]] who came to Kansas and considered settling the area in the 1870s or 1880s.<ref>''Marion County Kansas - Past and Present''; Sondra Van Meter; 1972.</ref>

Four and one-half miles north of Lehigh is the junction of the old [[Santa Fe Trail]] and [[Chisolm Trail]], which is near the site of the municipal water well for the city.  The Santa Fe Trail was active across Marion County from 1821 to 1866,<ref>[http://www.santafetrail.org/chapters/cottonwood/ History of the Cottonwood Crossing Chapter, Santa Fe Trail Association.]</ref> and the Chisholm Trail was active from 1867 to 1871.<ref>[http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/208628 Route of the Chisholm cattle trail in Kansas; Kansas Historical Society, 1960s.]</ref>

As early as 1875, city leaders of [[Marion, Kansas|Marion]] held a meeting to consider a branch railroad from [[Florence, Kansas|Florence]].  In 1878, [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] and parties from 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]], in 1881 it was extended to [[Ellinwood, Kansas|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, Kansas|Florence]] to 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 through Lehigh to McPherson was abandoned and removed.  The original branch line connected Florence, Marion, [[Canada, Kansas|Canada]], [[Hillsboro, Kansas|Hillsboro]], Lehigh, [[Canton, Kansas|Canton]], [[Galva, Kansas|Galva]], McPherson, [[Conway, Kansas|Conway]], [[Windom, Kansas|Windom]], [[Little River, Kansas|Little River]], [[Mitchell, Kansas|Mitchell]], [[Lyons, Kansas|Lyons]], [[Chase, Kansas|Chase]] and [[Ellinwood, Kansas|Ellinwood]].  The former 1879 Lehigh rail depot was moved to [[Walton, Kansas|Walton]] and sits next to [[U.S. Route 50 in Kansas|Highway 50]].<ref>[http://depotmaps.com/Images/DepotKS/LehighKS.jpg Photo of 1879 Lehigh depot.]</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=End of line is new beginning for Lehigh depot |url=http://www.kansas.com/news/local/article171643242.htm |publisher=[[The Wichita Eagle]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910053042/http://www.kansas.com/news/local/article171643242.html |archive-date=September 10, 2017 |date=September 6, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

A post office was established at Lehigh on April 23, 1880.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county:MN |title=Kansas Post Offices, 1828-1961 (archived) |publisher=Kansas Historical Society |accessdate=14 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009130856/http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county%3AMN |archivedate= 9 October 2013 }}</ref>

Lehigh was [[plat]]ted in 1881.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Qi9cXyTWt9EC | title=Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Volume 2 | publisher=Standard Publishing Company | author=Blackmar, Frank Wilson | year=1912 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Qi9cXyTWt9EC/page/n127 137]}}</ref>

===20th century===
Lehigh was incorporated in 1901 and at the time of the [[1910 United States census|1910 census]] had a population of 385. At one time it boasted a bank, several mercantile businesses, and a German weekly Mennonite newspaper, ''Das Echo'', started in 1897.<ref name="Krahn">{{cite web |url= http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Echo,_Das_(Periodical)&oldid=123108.|title=Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online |last1=Krahn |first1=Cornelius  |date=1956|website=|publisher=Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online.}}</ref>

The [[National Old Trails Road]], also known as the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, was established in 1912, and was routed through Lehigh, [[Hillsboro, Kansas|Hillsboro]], [[Marion, Kansas|Marion]], [[Lost Springs, Kansas|Lost Springs]].