Girard, Kansas

Girard is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 2,789.

History

Girard was founded in the spring of 1868, in opposition to Crawfordsville, and named after the town of Girard, Pennsylvania, the former home of trustee Charles Strong. It was based around the surveyed line of the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf Railroad, in an attempt to gain an advantage over its rival.

The first post office in Girard was established in September, 1868.

The first celebration in Girard occurred on July 4, 1868. It was a Sunday school celebration and a celebration of the nation's natal day, both in one. Under a law passed in March, 1871, Girard became a city of the third class, and in the early part of April elected her first city officers. The last meeting of the trustees was held April 5, and the first meeting of the new Council was held on the 7th.

Frank Playter started the first bank in Girard in June, 1871. In 1872, he erected for the accommodation of his business a two-story brick building, the first brick building in the city. In June, 1879, this bank was succeeded by the Bank of Girard, established by E. R. Moffit. The Bank of Girard was succeeded in 1882 by the Girard Bank.

Kansas

Kansas ⁱ/ˈkænzəs/ is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name (natively kką:ze) is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind", although this was probably not the term's original meaning. Residents of Kansas are called "Kansans". For thousands of years, what is now Kansas was home to numerous and diverse Native American tribes. Tribes in the eastern part of the state generally lived in villages along the river valleys. Tribes in the western part of the state were semi-nomadic and hunted large herds of bison. Kansas was first settled by European Americans in the 1830s, but the pace of settlement accelerated in the 1850s, in the midst of political wars over the slavery issue.

When it was officially opened to settlement by the U.S. government in 1854, abolitionist Free-Staters from New England and pro-slavery settlers from neighboring Missouri rushed to the territory to determine whether Kansas would become a free state or a slave state. Thus, the area was a hotbed of violence and chaos in its early days as these forces collided, and was known as Bleeding Kansas. The abolitionists eventually prevailed, and on January 29, 1861, Kansas entered the Union as a free state. After the Civil War, the population of Kansas grew rapidly when waves of immigrants turned the prairie into farmland. Today, Kansas is one of the most productive agricultural states, producing high yields of wheat, corn, sorghum, and soybeans. Kansas is the 15th most extensive and the 34th most populous of the 50 United States.

Kansas (band)

Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on album-oriented rock charts and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind". The band has produced eight gold albums, three sextuple-platinum albums (Leftoverture, Point of Know Return, The Best of Kansas), one platinum live album (Two for the Show) and a million-selling single, "Dust in the Wind". Kansas appeared on the Billboard charts for over 200 weeks throughout the 1970s and 1980s and played to sold-out arenas and stadiums throughout North America, Europe and Japan. "Carry On Wayward Son" was the second-most-played track on classic rock radio in 1995 and No. 1 in 1997.

History

1970–73: Early years

In 1969, Lynn Meredith, Don Montre, Dan Wright and Kerry Livgren (guitars, keyboards, synthesizers) were performing in a band called The Reasons Why in their hometown of Topeka, Kansas. After changing the band's name to Saratoga, they started playing Livgren's original material with Scott Kessler playing bass and Zeke Lowe on drums.

Kansas, Ohio

Kansas is a census-designated place in northwestern Liberty Township, Seneca County, Ohio, United States. Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 44841. It is located along State Route 635.

Kansas was platted in early 1855 along a line of the Lake Erie and Louisville Railroad. A short distance south of the community on State Route 635 is the Michaels Farm, which has been named a historic site.

References