Editing Alexander, Kansas (section)

===19th century===
Alexander is the oldest city in Rush County, Kansas.  It was established in 1869 after becoming an important stopping point on the Fort Hays/Fort Dodge Trail (officially a part of the Santa Fe Trail).  The name of the town originated from Alexander Harvey a Scottish emigrant who operated a stockaded trading post on the trail crossing of the Wet Walnut Creek.  Harvey was a prominent and connected figure in western settlement.  He was a friend of renown trapper, trader, and Indian Agent [[William Bent]] who established Bent's Fort in Eastern Colorado.  Harvey's daughter Adaline at age 20 married the 60 year-old Bent.

In its early days, Alexander was a trading post for trappers, buffalo hunters, wild horse wranglers, and other early Westerners.  Buffalo Bill Cody, George Custer, and other prominent figures in American western settlement traveled through the community.  Alexander Harvey himself was a former member of the 6th Cavalry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rushcounty.org/history.html |title=History of Rush County |publisher=Rush County Economic Development |accessdate=22 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322024039/http://www.rushcounty.org/history.html |archivedate=March 22, 2012 }}</ref>

The first post office in Alexander was established in February 1874.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county:RH |title=Kansas Post Offices, 1828-1961 |publisher=Kansas Historical Society |accessdate=22 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009133319/http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county%3ARH |archivedate=October 9, 2013 }}</ref>

At its peak in the late 1800s, the community included a bank, hospital, newspaper, lumberyard, a Santa Fe Railroad Depot, hotel, multiple churches, multiple grocery and general stores.  At varying times, the community's commercial activity has included cream and egg buying stations, a railroad stockyard for shipping cattle and sheep to eastern markets, and multiple grain elevators.{{citation needed|date=November 2012}}