|
HISTORY OF HAYS AND ELLIS COUNTY
Hays and Ellis County are located in western Kansas at the midway point between Denver and Kansas City. One of the largest cities in western Kansas, Hays has a population of 20,013 and serves as the regional center for business, education, technology, air service, and health care. Ellis County is also a regional hub that serves over 110,000 people. The area has a rich cultural history that not only typifies the popular legends of the Plains and the Old West, but reaches beyond, into the prehistoric age, when it was a warm Cretaceous sea. Although there was a day when Hays was a lawless frontier town, and the gunfire every night sounded like the Fourth of July, there has not been a show-down in the streets for a number of years, buffalo no longer stampede the city, and the seashore is quite a bit farther away these days. 
The Blockhouse at Fort Hays, completed in 1867, was originally used as post headquarters. (Photo courtesy of Bob Wilhelm, Fort Hays Director) |
|
Return to Home Page
