Editing McPherson, Kansas (section)

===20th century===
[[Image:Union Hotel, McPherson Kansas.JPG|thumb|left|McPherson Union Hotel, 1907 postcard]]
The [[National Old Trails Road]], also known as the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, was established in 1912, and was routed through [[Windom, Kansas|Windom]], [[Conway, Kansas|Conway]] and McPherson.

In the 1930s, the local refinery sponsored the [[McPherson Globe Refiners]] basketball team ([[Amateur Athletic Union|AAU]]). They were coached by [[Gene Johnson (basketball)|Gene Johnson]], former head coach of Wichita University (now [[Wichita State University]]). The Refiners were best known for their tall centers, [[Joe Fortenberry]] (6–8) and [[Willard Schmidt (basketball)|Willard Schmidt]] (6–9) and their fast-break style of play. Billed as "The Tallest Team in the World", the Refiners often held their opponents to low scores because of the centers' ability to deflect shots on the way to the basket in what today would be called goaltending.{{citation needed|date=February 2010}} Coach Johnson was one of the innovators of the fast break and full-court press. The Refiners won the AAU national championship in 1936 against the Hollywood Universal team. This earned them the right to compete for the first ever [[Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics|USA Olympic basketball team]] in 1936. Hollywood Universal narrowly beat the Refiners at [[Madison Square Garden]] and the USA team was composed of both Universal and Refiners players and one college student. Coach Johnson was selected to be the assistant coach. After a long journey by boat to Europe, the team played in alternating squads at the Olympics. The Refiners' portion of the team took the court to defeat Canada 19–8 in the gold medal game on August 14, 1936, at the [[1936 Summer Olympics|Summer Olympics]]. The Refiners' home court is now the McPherson Community Building at 121 East Marlin and can be toured by contacting the local Convention and Visitors Bureau. A mural in honor of the Refiners was completed in 2010 at the intersection of Kansas and Ash, south of their home court in preparation for the 75th anniversary celebration of their victory in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcphersonsentinel.com/newsnow/x684373693/Globe-Refiners-mural-dedicated|title=Globe Refiners mural dedicated - The McPherson Sentinel - November 16, 2010|website=mcphersonsentinel.com|access-date=5 April 2018}}</ref>