Here’s how 21 cities in Kansas got their unique and interesting names

Four men who founded Cawker City in northern Kansas in 1870 played poker against each other to win the name.

The winner, Colonel EH Cawker, named the city after himself.

Cawker City is a community of approximately 450 people in Mitchell County and is perhaps best known as the home of the largest ball of twine in the world.

It is one of many incorporated cities in Kansas with interesting and unique names. Here are 20 more.

Topeka means ‘a good place to dig potatoes’

The name of the state capital — Topeka, located in Shawnee County in northeastern Kansas — comes from an Ioway word meaning “a good place to dig potatoes.” That name was chosen by the founders of the city, which has a population of about 126,000.

Cherokee got that name by accident

A town of about 600 in southeastern Kansas, Cherokee residents incorporated it under that name because they thought it was in Cherokee County, according to the town’s website. In fact, the town of Cherokee was — and still is — in Crawford County.

Dexter is named after a horse

Dexter, a town of about 225 people in Cowley County in southeastern Kansas, is named after a famous and successful trotting horse owned by Robert Bonner of New York, according to the town’s website.

Grenola was created by combining ‘Greenfield’ and ‘Canola’

Grenola, population 151, was formed after the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway built a line halfway between the rival communities of Greenfield and Canola, three miles apart in Elk County in southeastern Kansas. Residents of those communities responded by founding a new town along the line, naming it “Grenola” and moving there, Frank Wilson Blackmar wrote on page 796 of an encyclopedia of state history published in 1912.

Great Bend was given its name because it is located on a ‘big bend’ in a river

Great Bend, a town of about 15,000 in Barton County in central Kansas, was so named because it is located on a “great bend” in the Arkansas River, according to page 145 of a 1916 Kansas Historical Society report.

Council Grove was the place where a council was held amidst a grove of trees

Council Grove, a town of about 2,100 in Morris County in central Kansas, was so named after an agreement was reached at a council there between American settlers and the Osage Nation that allowed settlers to drive wagons through the area on the Santa Fe Trail heading west, according to the National Park Service website. Pioneers gathered near a grove of trees so their wagon trains could unite for the journey west, the report said.

Osawatomie got its name by combining ‘Osage’ and ‘Potawatomi’

Osawatomie, a city of about 4,300 people in Miami County in east-central Kansas, gets its name from a combination of the names of the Osage and Potawatomi tribes, according to the city’s website.

Argonia is named after heroes from Greek mythology

Argonia, a city of about 450 people in Sumner County in south-central Kansas, is named after the “Argonauts,” a group of heroes from Greek mythology whose mission was to find the legendary Golden Fleece, according to the city’s website. Argonia residents elected Susanna Madora Salter as the first female mayor in the U.S. in 1887.

Gas owes its name to the abundance of natural gas in the area

Gas, a town of about 475 residents in Allen County in southeastern Kansas, gets its name from the abundance of natural gas found in the area, according to the town’s website.

Junction City got its name because it is located at the intersection of two rivers

Junction City, a city of about 23,000 in Geary County in north-central Kansas, was so named because it was founded at the confluence of the Republic and Smoky Hill rivers, where the Kansas River originates, according to the website of Junction City Main Street, an organization formed to stimulate economic development in the city’s downtown area.

Liberal was the place where an early settler became known for giving away water

Liberal, a town of about 20,000 in Seward County in southwestern Kansas, was so named after an early settler there became known for giving away water to thirsty travelers, who would respond with, “That’s very Liberal of you,” according to the town’s website. Liberal is also known for engaging in a friendly competition each Shrove Tuesday with the town of Olney, England, in which women from both communities run 415 yards through the streets and make pancakes.

Olathe’s name comes from the Shawnee root word for “beautiful”

Olathe, which has a population of about 141,000 and is located in Johnson County in northeastern Kansas, is derived from the Shawnee root word for “beautiful,” according to the city’s website.

Kanorado combines ‘Kansas’ and ‘Colorado’

Kanorado, a town of about 150 people in Sherman County in northwestern Kansas, was given its name — a combination of “Kansas and Colorado” — because the town sits right on the border between the states of Kansas and Colorado, according to the website “Travel Kansas.”

El Dorado means ‘a place of fabulous wealth or opportunity’

“El Dorado,” exclaimed one of the founders, Joseph Cracklin, when he first saw the site of the community, now home to about 13,000 people in Butler County in south-central Kansas, according to the city’s website. “El Dorado” is Spanish for “a place of fabulous wealth or opportunity.”

Abbyville is named after baby Abby

Abbyville, population 83, is located in Reno County in south-central Kansas. It is named after Abby McLean, the first baby born there.

Neodesha named after the Osage tribal word meaning “where waters meet”

The name of Neodesha, a town of about 2,300 people at the confluence of the Verdigris and Fall rivers in Wilson County in southeastern Kansas, comes from an Osage word meaning “where waters meet,” according to the town’s website.

Emporia is named after an ancient coastal city in North Africa

Emporia, a city of about 24,000 in Lyon County in east-central Kansas, is named after a thriving ancient market center on the northern coast of Africa that was founded by the Greeks, according to the city’s Chamber of Commerce website.

Stockton was given that name in an effort to attract a railroad company

Stockton, a town of about 1,480 in Rooks County in north-central Kansas, was so named because ranching was the only industry at the time and residents thought the name “Stockton” would help bring a railroad there, according to a website chronicling the county’s history. “Hopes that the town would become a ranching center never materialized,” the site says. “The arrival of the railroad, however, would prove essential in keeping Stockton as a viable community.”

Paxico was given the anglicized version of the name of the Native American medicine man

Paxico, a town of about 210 people in Wabaunsee County in northeastern Kansas, was given a name that was an anglicized version of “Pashqua,” the name of a Native American medicine man who lived in the area on the banks of Mill Creek, according to the website Travel Kansas.

Alton was given that name to replace ‘Bull City’

A historical marker in Alton, population about 100 in Osborne County in north-central Kansas, tells how Hiram C. Bull and Lyman T. Earl set out from Cawker City and founded the community in 1870, with a coin toss that initially called it Bull City instead of Earlville. Bull and two other men were killed by Bull’s pet elk in 1879. Some residents then tried to rename the town Alton, Illinois. “So after a legal challenge to change the name failed, a fraudulent petition was sent to Washington, D.C., with signatures clipped from a popular road petition and pasted onto the name change petition,” the historical marker says. The town’s name was then changed, it says.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at [email protected] or 785-213-5934.

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