Editing Russell, Kansas (section)

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

In 1865, the [[Butterfield Overland Despatch]] established a short-lived station named Fossil Creek Station along its route from [[Atchison, Kansas]] to [[Denver, Colorado|Denver]] near the site of modern Russell. In 1867, the [[Kansas Pacific Railway]] reached the area and built its own station, also named Fossil Creek, later just '''Fossil''', north of the Butterfield station.  That same year, the [[Kansas Legislature]] established the surrounding area as [[Russell County, Kansas|Russell County]]. In 1871, colonists from [[Ripon, Wisconsin]] established a permanent settlement at Fossil Station, renaming it '''Russell''' after the county.<ref name=russell2>{{cite web | title = The Early History of Russell County | publisher = Russell County Historical Society | url = http://www.rwisp.com/~rchs/history/history.html | access-date = 2009-08-29}}</ref> Russell was incorporated and named the provisional county seat in 1872, and, after a two-year dispute with neighboring [[Bunker Hill, Kansas|Bunker Hill]], it became the permanent county seat in 1874.<ref name=russell1>{{cite web | title = The City of Russell, Kansas | publisher = City of Russell | url = http://www.russellcity.org/html/about_russell.html | access-date = 2009-07-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | contribution = Russell County | title = Kansas: a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. | editor-last = Blackmar | editor-first = Frank W. | volume = 2 | pages = 613–615 | place = [[Chicago]] | publisher = Standard | year = 1912 | contribution-url = http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/1912/r/russell_county.html }}</ref> In 1876, [[Volga Germans]], mostly from the area around [[Saratov]] and [[Samara, Russia|Samara]] in [[Russia]], began settling in and around Russell.<ref>{{cite web | title = Volga Germans | publisher = Kansas Trails | url = http://genealogytrails.com/kan/russell/VolgaGermans.html | access-date = 2009-08-29}}</ref>

The first discovery [[oil well]] in Russell County was drilled west of Russell in 1923. An [[oil boom]] ensued and lasted through the 1930s, attracting settlers from [[Oklahoma]] and [[Texas]]. [[Petroleum]] production became a staple of the local economy.<ref>{{cite web | title = Russell | publisher = Russell County Economic Development & CVB | url = http://www.russellcoks.org/Attractions/Russell/tabid/193/Default.aspx | access-date = 2010-12-11}}</ref>

Russell came to national attention in the mid-1990s as the hometown of [[United States Senate|U.S. Senators]] [[Bob Dole]] and [[Arlen Specter]] when both men campaigned for the [[President of the United States|U.S. presidency]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Senators | publisher = Russell County Historical Society | url = http://www.rwisp.com/~rchs/Senators/senators.html | access-date = 2009-08-29}}</ref>  Dole was born and raised in Russell, and it remained his official place of residence throughout his political career.<ref>{{cite web | last = Stengel | first = Richard | title = Campaign '96:  Russell, Kansas:  You Can Go Home Again | work = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date = 1996-04-01 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984325-2,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121107040958/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984325-2,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = November 7, 2012 | access-date = 2011-04-16}}</ref>