Editing Pratt, Kansas (section)

==History==

===19th century===
Pratt was founded in 1884<ref>{{Citation | title = City of Pratt, Kansas Web Site | year = 2008 | url = http://www.cityofprattks.com/info.php | access-date = September 11, 2009 | archive-date = May 5, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090505142352/http://www.cityofprattks.com/info.php | url-status = dead }}</ref> and named after [[Caleb S. Pratt]], a young Civil War officer from the Kansas [[Infantry]], who was killed in the [[Battle of Wilson's Creek]] near [[Springfield, Missouri]]<ref name="chamber">{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20070720143030/http://www.prattkan.com/history.php Pratt Chamber of Congress, retrieved August 24, 2009]}}</ref> The first post office in Pratt was established in June 1884.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county:PR |title=Kansas Post Offices, 1828-1961 |publisher=Kansas Historical Society |access-date=22 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009132939/http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county%3APR |archive-date=9 October 2013 }}</ref>

In 1887, the [[Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway]] built a main line from [[Herington, Kansas|Herington]] to Pratt.<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>  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 St. Louis and Southwestern "Cotton Belt" Railroad, a subsidiary of Southern Pacific Railroad which merged in 1996 with [[Union Pacific Railroad|Union Pacific]].  Most locals still refer to this railroad as the "Rock Island".

===20th century===
Built in 1930, [[Hotel Roberts (Pratt, Kansas)|Hotel Roberts]] is the largest and most highly styled historic hotel in Pratt. Construction of the hotel was initiated by the Pratt Chamber of Commerce, which formed a committee in the late 1920s specifically to facilitate the construction of a large new hotel. Seen as a potentially valuable asset for the community, the hotel was financed in part through a public subscription campaign, and constructed on land provided by the Chamber. The Pratt Hotel Company owned and operated the hotel and hired Wichita architect Samuel S. Voigt and Kansas City contractor Webster L. Elson to design and build the building. Elson not only supervised the rapid construction of the "fire-proof" building, he was a founding member of the Pratt Hotel Company, and he retained an ownership interest in the property for many years. The community hospital was established on the eighth floor of the building in 1932, complete with an operating room and an x-ray machine. Architecturally, the building is significant as an early and sophisticated example of the Art Deco style in central Kansas. The hotel opened as the Hotel Roberts in 1930, and continued under that name until 1959, when it was purchased by Monte Parrish and renamed the Hotel Parrish. In January 2015 it was listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places for its local significance in the areas of architecture and community planning and development.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.kshs.org/index.php?url=natreg/natreg_listings/search/county:PR | title=Pratt County, National and State Registers of Historic Places | publisher=Kansas Historical Society | access-date=12 February 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216184304/http://www.kshs.org/index.php?url=natreg%2Fnatreg_listings%2Fsearch%2Fcounty%3APR | archive-date=16 February 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

During World War II, the nearby [[Pratt Army Airfield]] was the first base used for training [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress]] bomber crews and also served as a staging area for getting early aircraft combat-ready, in what became known as the [[Battle of Kansas]].<ref name="chamber" />

The [[Miss Kansas]] Parade and Pageant are held here.<ref name="misskansas">[http://www.misskansas.org/ Miss Kansas Pageant]</ref>

The state headquarters of Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks was constructed southeast of the town.