Editing Lyons, Kansas (section)

==History==
[[File:Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 Rice County.png|thumb|left|1915 Railroad Map of Rice County]]
For millennia, the land now known as Kansas was inhabited by [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]].

Although [[Francisco Vásquez de Coronado|Coronado]]'s exact route across the plains is uncertain and has been widely disputed, his men and he are thought to have camped near the present location of Lyons on their quest for ''[[Quivira]]'', a Native American place that Indians to the southwest had told them was fabulously wealthy in gold.

West of Lyons is a cross commemorating [[Juan de Padilla]], a member of Coronado's expedition, who returned the following year as a missionary.  He was killed in 1542 by Native Americans after establishing a church in the area, and is considered the first [[Christianity|Christian]] [[martyr]] in [[North America]].<ref>Engelhardt, p. 14: "...[in] 1542, three Friars Minor were martyred in [[New Mexico]] as victims of their zeal for the Christian Faith. They were Fr. Juan de Padilla, Fr. Juan de la Cruz, and Brother Luis de Ubeda or Escalona.</ref>

In 1803, most of [[History of Kansas|modern Kansas]] was secured by the United States as part of the [[Louisiana Purchase]].

Lyons Main Street ([[U.S. Route 56|U.S. Highway 56]]) is based on the [[Santa Fe Trail]].

In 1854, the [[Kansas Territory]] was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. state.  In 1867, Rice County was founded.

Lyons was originally called '''Atlanta''', and under the latter name was founded in 1870. It was renamed Lyons in 1876, in honor of Freeman J. Lyons.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5zdAAQAAMAAJ | title=Biennial Report of the Board of Directors of the Kansas State Historical Society | publisher=Kansas State Printing Plant | author=Kansas State Historical Society | year=1916 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5zdAAQAAMAAJ/page/n379 272]}}</ref>

In 1878, [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] and parties from [[Marion County, Kansas|Marion County]] and [[McPherson County, Kansas|McPherson County]] 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, and in 1881, it was extended to [[Ellinwood, Kansas|Ellinwood]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZIwpAAAAYAAJ|title=Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners, for the Year Ending ...|first=Kansas Board of Railroad|last=Commissioners|date=May 23, 1886|publisher=Kansas Publishing House, T.D. Thacher, state printer|via=Google Books}}</ref> The line was leased and operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The line from Florence to Marion, was abandoned in 1968.<ref name="Abandon Railway 1968">{{Cite web|url=http://www.abandonedrails.com/lyons-to-florence|title=Lyons to Florence, KS - Abandoned Rails|website=www.abandonedrails.com}}</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, Kansas|Ellinwood]].

Lyons was incorporated as a city in 1880, the same year the railroad was built through it.<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/n189 199]}}</ref>

In 1890, the Western Salt Company put down its first shaft to mine salt in Lyons.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/frisco/magazines/fem_1926_11/fem_1926_11.pdf|title=One of World's Largest Salt Producting Centers on Frisco Lines at Lyons, Kansas; The Frisco Employes' Magazine; November 1926.}}</ref>

Lyons was home to a [[minor league baseball]] team. The [[Lyons Lions]] team played from 1909 to 1913. Lyons teams played as members of the [[Class D (baseball)|Class D]] level [[Kansas State League]] from 1909 to 1911, the [[Central Kansas League]] in 1912 and Kansas State League in 1913. The Lyons franchise permanently folded after the 1913 season.<ref name="encyc">{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball |editor-first1=Lloyd |editor-last1=Johnson |editor-first2=Miles |editor-last2=Wolff |edition=Third |publisher=[[Baseball America]] |date=2007 |isbn=978-1932391176}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=Lyons, Kansas Encyclopedia|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>

In the 1970s, the federal government was interested in using a local site for the burial of high-level nuclear waste.<ref>Brown, Taylor Kate. (March 6, 2014). "The radiation leak site that wants more nuclear waste". [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-26441154 BBC website] Retrieved January 29, 2017.</ref>