Editing Burns, Kansas (section)

===19th century===
In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France.  In 1803, most of the land for [[History of Kansas|modern day Kansas]] was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000 square mile [[Louisiana Purchase]] for 2.83 [[Penny (United States coin)|cents]] per [[acre]].

In 1854, the [[Kansas Territory]] was organized, then in 1861 [[Kansas]] became the 34th [[U.S. state]].  In 1855, [[Marion County, Kansas|Marion County]] was established within the [[Kansas Territory]], which included the land for modern day Burns.<ref name="Marion-Co-History">{{Cite web |url=http://www.marioncoks.net/AboutMarionCounty/History/tabid/7634/Default.aspx |title=The History of Marion County and Courthouse |access-date=2014-04-23 |archive-date=2018-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227021903/http://www.marioncoks.net/AboutMarionCounty/History/tabid/7634/Default.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1877, the [[Florence, El Dorado, and Walnut Valley Railroad Company]] built a branch line from [[Florence, Kansas|Florence]] to [[El Dorado, Kansas|El Dorado]], and a station called '''Burns''' was built north of the present city location.  In 1881, the rail line was extended to [[Douglass, Kansas|Douglass]], then later to [[Arkansas City, Kansas|Arkansas City]].<ref name="MarionCountyBook">''Marion County Kansas : Past and Present''; Sondra Van Meter; MB Publishing House; [[LCCN]] 72-92041; 344 pages; 1972.</ref><ref>[http://cdm15942.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15942coll26/id/13 1935 Rand McNally Standard Map of Kansas]</ref>  The line was leased and operated by the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]].  The line from [[Florence, Kansas|Florence]] through Burns to [[El Dorado, Kansas|El Dorado]] was abandoned in 1942.<ref name="Abandon Railway 1942">[http://www.abandonedrails.com/Florence_to_El_Dorado Railway Abandonment 1942]</ref>  The original branch line connected [[Florence, Kansas|Florence]] through [[El Dorado, Kansas|El Dorado]] to [[Arkansas City, Kansas|Arkansas City]].

At the present location, a city named '''St. Francis''' was platted in August 1880. When the town incorporated, they discovered the official city name of [[St. Francis, Kansas|St. Francis]] was already taken, so they changed the name to be the same as the nearby '''Burns''' train station, then soon afterward the station was moved into the new city. The original station was named after a railroad company official.<ref name="MarionCountyBook"/>

A post office was established in Burns on November 30, 1880.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county:MN |title=Kansas Post Offices, 1828-1961 (archived) |publisher=Kansas Historical Society |accessdate=14 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009130856/http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county%3AMN |archivedate=October 9, 2013 }}</ref>