A Sketch of White City, Kansas: A Colorful Past
Morris County, Kansas

At the ridge of the Flint Hills in Morris County lies the rural community of White City, Kansas. Today, with 618 people, White City is still a viable community, but it bears little relation today to the regional consumer and mercantile center it once was. Like many other Kansas towns, the railroad played a large role in White City’s founding. “As early as September 1865, Morris County settlers had expressed their eagerness to obtain a railroad by voting to aid Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe with $100,000 to lure a line into their area.” The Katy Railroad Company began recruiting settlers and pushing land sales to attract people to the area. A few years later, the Rock Island Railroad also constructed a line through the town, attracting even more settlers.

Brooke L. Hollis

The Chapman Center for Rural Studies

Fall 2011

The Chapman Center for Rural Studies

Kansas State University, Department of History

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