Editing Highland, Kansas (section)

=== The Highland Town Company ===
On May 16, 1857, the Highland Town Company was formed buying town lots to resell to what they had hoped to be a bustling town. Bayless was the Company's president with Johnson acting as Secretary and Irvin as the treasurer. The town company had built some amenities such as a large hotel despite slow growth. The town struggled to gain population but despite its small size the town had a newspaper called The Highlander and the first bank arrived by 1862 being opened by Johnson. These three founding fathers hoped that Highland would become not only an educational center but also a religious center for Kansas and surrounding territories.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Parish |first=Arlyn John |title=History of Highland Community College |year=1983 |edition=1st |pages=9–10}}</ref> In November 1857 the Highland Presbytery was organized as part of the Missouri [[Synod]] and eventually came to encompass all 21 old school presbyteries in the Kansas and Nebraska territories.