Editing WaKeeney, Kansas (section)

==History==
James Keeney, a land speculator in [[Chicago]], purchased land at the site of modern-day WaKeeney from the [[Kansas Pacific Railway]] in 1877. He and business partner Albert Warren formed Warren, Keeney, & Co., surveyed and plotted the site in 1878, and established a colony there in 1879.<ref name=FHSU>{{cite web | title = Homesteading in Trego County - WaKeeney | work = Kansas Heritage Project | publisher = [[Fort Hays State University]] | url = http://www.fhsu.edu/library/ksheritage/WaKeeney/ | access-date = 2010-02-09}}</ref> They named the colony WaKeeney, a [[portmanteau]] of their surnames, and billed it as "The Queen City of the High Plains", advertising and holding celebrations to attract settlers.<ref name=City1>{{cite web | title = History | publisher = WaKeeney, Kansas | url = http://www.wakeeney.org/history.html | access-date = 2010-02-09}}</ref> The colony grew rapidly, but crop failures drove settlers to leave in 1880 as quickly as they had come. By 1882, all that was left were "five poorly patronized retail stores".<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/n840 858]}}</ref> Years later, [[Volga Germans]] began settling the area.<ref name=FHSU/>

WaKeeney became the county seat in June 1879 and was [[Municipal corporation|incorporated]] as a city in 1880.<ref name=FHSU/><ref name=City1/>